markbhx

The thought of living in the burbs.... shivers down my spine, might as well live in the outback

BadgeIsBack

Melbourne's beaches are fine for walking along etc, swimming, you name it.

And stacks of people derive all sorts of pleasure from using them, and living next to them.

ProudVIC

Plenty of surf beaches on the Mornington Peninsula as well.

There's nothing wrong with Melbourne's bay beaches. They are much safer and gentler than Sydney's beaches and there is a much more relaxed and cultured focus around them whereas Sydney's beaches are very touristy, all about surf culture and not everyone is into that.

saveme

There are plenty of people who prefer to swim on the safe harbour beaches in Sydney - Watsons Bay, Parsley Bay, Shark Bay (Neilsen Park), Redleaf & Seven Shillings - where I was today in fact - plus other beaches on the northern side of the harbour - Balmoral, Clontarf, maybe - all very safe for children and families, all with shark proof nets.

They can be 'touristy' of course but there's a very good reason for that, just as there's an equally good reason that other beaches are not 'touristy.'

You can usually find a bit of 'culture' around them too, even at Bondi Beach. MY GOD,they even stage PLAYS in the pavillion sometimes, and of course the history of surf lifesaving goes back over a hundred years now.

saveme

Unfortunately, it's all relative. I thought I was a pretty cool dude living in Surry Hills but it turns out that people in Bondi think I'm a 'Westie!'

saveme

I was a bit inaccurate, I must admit. I should have said, 'imagine a city without world-famous surf beaches,(most excluded to dogs too with good reason), a world-famous bridge, a world-famous opera house, and a world-famous harbour, what have you got left?

markbhx

Melbourne has the world famous.........??.........??........?? oh yes the culture and back alleys....... known all over the world them

BadgeIsBack

True, but again, it's about living not about gawking. Without all those things, Sydney needs to be like Melbourne, and of course, it's not a complete oasis.

A lot of people I know knew of Melbourne and saw that as the place to be when I was gunning for Sydney!

Buzzy--Bee

What you have left is a place that is not so good for tourist photos but excellent as a place to live long term.

...and I am not here to take tourist photos....

BB

saveme

They HAVE started to use the back alleys here for something other than dumping syringes. I keep looking up the narrow lanes off Crown St and seeing lines of people, and wonder what they are doing?

markbhx

Why the hell would you want to drink in an alley, I can do that on my own with six pack from the bottlo. Give me a pub on the harbour any day

tartankoala

Where is that pro-Melbourne joker when you need him for a well balanced argument??

IvanM

Keep yer flanno On.


West of Oxford St. When you live in Bondi it is hard to leave.

saveme

Well, you are right of course. It IS rather hard to believe that an 'alley' is world famous isn't it?

Mind you, Melbourne likes to boast that it has the best coffee in the world but no sane person would want to go more than a mile for a good cup of coffee, let alone 12,000!

Buzzy--Bee

Melbourne, where people are more impressed if you say you are a Barista than if you say you are a Barrister.

BB