Why Perth?
 

I'm intrigued as to why so many people on here are keen to go to Perth. Is it the weather, is it the fact that it's full of British expats (not a great draw for me I'm sorry to say, may as well stay in the UK), is it because there's lots to do, cheap houses, great jobs? Or do the relos live there? To me, Perth seems to be an isolated outpost and separated from the rest of civilisation by a little patch of sand called the Nullabor Plain, and involves either a 3 day train ride to the east coast or a 5 hour flight.

I'd love to visit Perth via the overland Indian Pacific from the east coast, which is where we intend to settle, but don't have any desire to live there due to the fact it seems so isolated.

Could anybody sell it to me please, and tell me why they chose Perth rather than the more easterly areas?

Re: Why Perth?
 

I would be very interested in the answer to this question.

Were going to Brisbane area and from there your not that far from GC, SC Sydney etc etc, Perth seems very isolated, but lots seem to go and love it!

Mark

Re: Why Perth?
 

What Perth does have that is lacking on the East coast is:

Safe driving
Community atmosphere (it feels like a giant village)
Self-sufficiency
Unspoiled natural environment
Slower, gentle pace of life
Higher standard of state education
Infrastructure to match the rate of development and growing population
Forward planning for water supplies
Not so commercialised.

We did all our reccie trips to Perth before migrating, then when we migrated we only stayed there a fortnight!! That wasn't because of the isolation though, it was because hitting Perth in summer (reccies were in winter) was a nasty shock, no grass anywhere, just sand!


[/QUOTE]To me, Perth seems to be an isolated outpost and separated from the rest of civilisation by a little patch of sand called the Nullabor Plain, and involves either a 3 day train ride to the east coast or a 5 hour flight.[/QUOTE]

Or you can drive, it takes about 6 days.

Y.

Re: Why Perth?
 

Perth and wa is almost a seperate country to Australia.

Call it Aussielight - It has all the stuff that makes australia but seems to lack the brashness of the east.

If Sydney is halfway between london and LA in its culture

Perth is halfway between Bath and Sydney.

Therefore it seems to flow well with the Pommies.

Just me anyway

Re: Why Perth?
 

A perfectly valid and understandable question ...

We're going in February and I've asked the same questions that you have put forward over and over again.

It's difficult to try and justify our decision when I delve a bit deeper into the reasons for our choice ...

Climate: Brizzie, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide all offer much improvement on the UK so why are we choosing Perth ?

Jobs: The Eastern States certainly "appear" to offer more in terms of employment opportunities so why Perth ?

Housing: Perth is the only state where property is still showing significant growth in terms of prices achieved so why not try somewhere that has levelled out ?

Schools: There's not much difference in terms of education throughout the whole of Australia so that's not an angle.

Lifestyle: Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane all offer more in terms of things to do and nightlife so why isolated Perth ?

Why then:

???

Three Legs

Re: Why Perth?
 

It was a process of elimination for us.

Sydney - Too busy, too expensive, too long commuting times. Pretty harbour but little else appealed
Melbourne - An early favourite, especially with all the sports that are based their but the weather isn't much better than England and it would still have left me with a large mortgage and long commutes. If we had been a two not a three we would have gone there
Adelaide - Sam has an uncle there and it was nice enough where we stayed in Glenelg. But the city centre reminded me of Coventry's concrete, the people seemed less pleasant than anywhere else and it has a reputation as being either somewhere to retire to or somewhere for gruesome murders and other odd behaviour
Brisbane - Has become very pricey in recent years so big mortgage again without the things a big city can offer. The heat in the east can be oppressive because of the humidity. Hated the one way system in the city and Gold Coast / Sunshine Coast had very limited job prospects for a professional.

So despite being the only place we didn't visit 2 1/2 years ago we went for Perth. Job prospects are good for me as I used to work for Rolls-Royce Energy Division and there is a strong sector in that field on the west. Heat is dry so more bareable. Property much cheaper (but still rising) so Sam can give up work. More relaxed lifestyle than bigger cities but still has major rock concerts and other big city attractions, but that isn't really that important to me.

And yes it is very remote. But if you wanted to go from Brissie to Sydney you would still end up flying in all probability. By the time you include transfer / check-in times etc the extra 3 hours is not that much of an issue. What we save on property we can afford to spend on flights east whenever we fancy it.

Re: Why Perth?
 

Interesting ... as are the other points of view in this thread. Tell me more about the engineering opportunities over that way, hubby is a manufacturing engineer (he currently works for Rolls Royce Jet Engines). We might change our minds! Any other sellers please feel free to contribute.

Re: Why Perth?
 

Probably Perth's largest employment sectors is extractive industries. This includes mining (of all sorts of things) and oil / gas extraction. RR Energy had a customer - Woodside Petroleum who have their global HQ in Perth. Wood Group are based in Aberdeen but they have a major joint venture with RR servicing and supplying spares - they are aslo very big in WA. There are also some large property companies in WA. Major employers include BHP Billiton and Santos.

Many months ago I used the websites for employment agencies in my field (accountancy) and a few times searched for jobs by city at my level. As expected Sydney and Melbourne had most but there are more people after them. But there were virtually no jobs advertised outside the major cities and Perth had about 20% more than Adelaide and Brisbane. Maybe try something similar? If you don't know industry specific agencies try generic ones like Seek, CareerOne and jobserve - they often list the agencies they heard of jobs from.

Re: Why Perth?
 

Boomimg economy .
Good infratsucture .
Clean , quiet city .
Got everything you could need .
Best surf is always on the west coast .
Good cilmate ,low humidity.
Lots of house for your money .
Nice people.
Free parking on the beach :D
Loads of awsome places to visit on your hols in WA .
The plane to Sydney took under 4 hours last year , not bad and only $200 one way !
Hot enough to need and use a pool ;) in summer .
Very nice native flowers come out in spring .
Thats enough for me :p

Re: Why Perth?
 

I have been to cairns in the summer brisbane and adelaide brisbane is stifling and hard to sleep at night without aircon on temperatures dont seem to drop at night as much as they do in perth , and for the wife there arent so many gigantic creepy crawlies in the garden of which you will never know which are poisonous , perth just has redbacks and white tips to which ioam told there are no repoted deaths.
Eastern aussies are a lot less tolerant of pommes and you will often here them on at you and calling you a whinging pomme and more i have not found this of western australians , nice people and so layed back they are horizontal
if you want the rat race and london pace of life then the east is for you , good luck

Re: Why Perth?
 

Well for us a big factor has to be the fact that we both have relatives in Perth, to be honest the other cities didn`t particularly appeal. The only other place that held interest for me was Tasmania (does that give you the drift of what we are looking for??) :D

Re: Why Perth?
 

Dh was offered the choice of two jobs - one in Sydney and one in Rockingham. The Rockingham one paid better money, and had a better relocation package. When we visited both places, we found Sydney very hectic, quite intense and quite commercialised. The people were pretty friendly, but didn't really have time for *passing*, iykwim. We found that WA had a more relaxed lifestyle, better roads, friendlier people who were happy to stop and chat all day given the opportunity, and an altogether gentler way of life. So between the attraction of the area and the people, and the better salary, there really was no choice for us. And apart from the dreadful problem we're having getting a rental - which isn't limited to us - we're loving it. Being an older couple, we're not interested in night-life, clubbing or gigs; we are just looking forward to enjoying a relaxed family life, with plenty of outdoor socialising. We think we'll find it here.

Sue

Re: Why Perth?
 

Right everyone - are you ready for this?

YOU SOLD ME!!!!

I've looked at property, tourism, jobs etc and hubby and I have come to the conclusion that WA/Perth/South Western Australia is a genuine contender. We want to buy some land and use it for development (little holiday cabins, play area, pool and the like) in a developing tourist area, and we were getting a little disheartened about the land prices in NSW being so high. WA seems to have a lot to offer because it's still developing which is a good sign for us. We are also an "older couple" (OK we're not yet 40 but it's not long) who like a more relaxed lifestyle and have two little ones to consider. As we don't have any relatives anywhere in Australia any more it doesn't really matter where we go - the only reason we thought about the east coast is because we have friends there and we've been twice. Another reccie beckons!

I'm a bit concerned about this lack of rental properties though, is it just in the Perth area or more widespread? We're looking at areas further south.

Keep on selling, my excitement is growing.

Re: Why Perth?
 

I've just moved to Perth (1 week in) & so far am enjoying it. I don't get the isolation idea. It's 5 hours to Sydney or 5 hours to Singapore, same difference to me. I have no affiliation or attachment to the east coast of Australia. It may as well be a differnent country as far as I'm concerned. I visited Brisbane last year & thought that it was a hole (you should hear what the Perthites say about Qld!). In my field, engineering, I could not earn any more or have better job prospects anywhere else in Australia than I do right here in Perth. It is clean, cosmopolitan & self contained.

So far so good.

Re: Why Perth?
 

I agree, and if there are good engineering opportunities in the Perth area then it's good for hubby too to fall back on while we establish ourselves. The big issue for us is property prices, they seem to be lower in WA and you get more for your money. Some of NSW seems to be on a par with the UK.

What do the Perthites say about Queensland? (I can sort of guess but I'd love to know!). :D

Re: Why Perth?
 

I wouldn't say there's a lack of rentals, just that most of them are absolute crap, filthy dirty and old fashioned.

It's all to do with negative gearing and investment properties, buy a crappy house, rent it out, save loads on your tax bill with negative gearing, sell it and pocket the profit.

We are lucky to have a great rental but when hunting around whenever we drove in to the road you would always tell which was the property for rent as it would always be the crappiest house in the street.

Re: Why Perth?
 

Hi

We are off to Perth next month. We personally prefer it to the east coast. Sydney too expensive, Melbourne is lovely, I worked there for 4 months but found the weather pretty much like England. Brisbane, humidity too much to handle. One of things that appeals to us in Perth are the changing seasons. It does rain a lot in winter, but hey we need it!!

We do not feel that Perth is isolated at all, it has everything you need, and dont think we will feel the need to keep popping over to the east coast. I live 18 miles from Central London and rarely visit.

We have 3 children and we are not into nightclubs (too old 38), nightlife is not a big issue. Perth has lots to offer families, it has beautiful parks, clean beaches, great schools, excellent job opportunities and the people are really friendly and helpful.

At the end of the day, its personal choice, we found what we were looking for in Perth.

B

Re: Why Perth?
 

When my parents immigrated to Perth back in 1983 (taking me then aged 8 and my Brother 7 with them) it was mainly because they had friends who were sponsoring them there, but after seeing Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney & Brisbane - I definately think Perth is the best! :)

We have a small city, but nothing makes me more emotional than touching down in Perth and seeing the sky scrapers (like all 4 or something of them) :D from the plane window! I love the greenery (yes - not as green as England...but who cares, it's not meant to be England) I love the shimmering heat from the tarmac, I love my brownes Coffee Chill (my Dad has one waiting for me when I come through Arrivals!)

I miss Perth! I miss Whitfords City Shopping centre (where I used to work)

I miss the beach - the 460 bus route would take me past miles of glittering coast line. I miss Catalogues that come out on a regular basis! I miss BBQ's, VB, Aussie Accents, Aussie Christmas's & Sunshine.

Ohhh no, now I feel really homesick :(

Re: Why Perth?
 

mmmm Brownes Choc Chill!!

Either that or Mocha!

Yum - better that the stodgy Yulp gulp crap in England -

Re: Why Perth?
 

Nothing like a bit of nostalgia to make you really depressed ...
I'm the opposite of you, parents emigrated to Australia, had me and my brother and sister, then took us all home when I was 3 so lived the rest of my life in England (mother got lonely and didn't like the heat :rolleyes: . I was too young to really remember much about Australia so feel a bit peeved that I never got the chance to get to know the place before being dragged to the UK. And now I'm nearly 40 I want to go back and see what I've missed out on. Perth/WA is definitely on our list of potential places to settle.