M0zza

A salary of $135k in Sydney is not good for a family but decent for a single person and would enable you to rent a one bed apartment by yourself somewhere near the CBD, it won’t be a flash apartment but it would be respectable.

Have you been told that you have flexibility over leave in Australia? Or is this an assumption based on a perception of laid back Aussies? I have never come across anyone with such flexible leave arrangements. Australians work hard and there are many with huge accumulated leave balances because they never take it. The Australians that take long holidays do so either because they have not had a holiday for four years prior or they are using “long term leave” which is something that accumulates in Australia and you can access after spending seven years with a single employer. But typically no, Australians do not take leave as and when they please.

I am sure you would enjoy Sydney if you chose it. But as a single 30 year old, I think that NY is the far better choice. It will be much more career enhancing and a stand out on your CV, secondly whilst Sydney is a fabulous city it doesn’t have the buzz of New York and US visas and sponsorships are much harder to come by, I wouldn’t be turning one down. Sydney will keep, a US and NY opportunity might not come along again.

retzie

I'm a Melburnian living in NYC

I earn less that you will be and have my own apartment in Queens. I don't think money will be a problem. However, housemates can be a great way to get established in a new city, so I would definitely recommend looking for both.

I was in Sydney a few months ago and it felt like a sleepy little town! (I think the same thing when I'm back in Melbs too.) If you're looking to maximise career growth and 'live the life', there is no competition whatsoever. Partly because of the cities, but also the prevailing cultural attitudes towards work. To generalise, Australia is less welcoming of visible effort and achievement in the workplace (see Tall Poppy Syndrome). Of course, on the flip side, the US and NYC in particular are unhealthily addicted to it.

My plan (inasmuch as I have one), is to live in NYC while I have the drive to feed off the energy. Aside from being a massive boost to my career, I also get to enjoy whatever level of excess I feel like pursuing in any given week (sometimes it's none; sometimes it's plenty )

Longer term, I plan to head back to Oz. After four years in NYC I still haven't got sick of the hustle, but I can see that it might happen at some point.

Oh, since you're single, you might be interested to know that the demographics are massively in favour of straight men (there are farrrrrrrrr more women looking).

SofiaC

OP. I have lived in all 3. You are right to be getting out of London, that's the first thing. I don't really understand so many replies are contemplating how easy it is for you to get back to the very place you want to leave!
Sydney... outdoor lifestyle 10 months of the year. You probably need a car, its so spread out like LA. Where exactly is your job? Don't live in the CBD. Look to the eastern suburbs.
NYC.. more self sufficient in that you just turn up and everything is so accessible and on your doorstep. Any subway / metro in the world is gross.
May I ask what is stopping you from doing both eventually? I would go to Sydney now, provided you can get sorted with housing and possibly wheels. And then do NYC in a few years. Once you get into the 30's in Sydney the thing to do is dinner parties and backyard bbq's and life does become a robotic routine after a while. Yet, the beauty about NYC is that anything goes, the energy lives on, and there's no wondering why you're 35 and no kids. Feel free to PM any Q's.

Another thing... consider healthcare options! Sydney will look after you. In NYC forgeddabouit, a third world country standard if you don't pay hefty monthly fees for healthcare.

Rete

Is that 14 days vacation? In the US it is called vacation days and holidays off are different Usually one starts with 5 days up to 10 days off the first year (1 week or 2 weeks) and then there are usually another 7 to 10 holidays off for i.e. Christmas, Labor Day, July 4, Memorial Day, etc. So what are you being offered? Vacation plus holidays?

Also I see that Unions and Mafia were mentioned. The construction industry is unionized in the US but it is not Mafia controlled. In the NYC area, you will find a heavy concentration of Irish in the skilled trades and they are usually the heads of the unions.

carcajou

I had a friend on that kind of money who took an apartment in Spanish Harlem, and there were a lot of younger people there. But the apartment was a shoebox.

But I have other friends on that kind of money who went to Queens (as Retzie noted) and it's OK.

Commuting is also an option but not one I think that will fit with what you are looking for. Another friend also had a shoebox in Spanish Harlem, but got tired of that lifestyle and moved to a much bigger place in Connecticut for the same money - she accepted the hour commute to NYU every day from there but was much happier. But you don't seem the type who is wanting to move to New York, so you can live in suburban Connecticut.

Englishmum

You might want to check out this website for expat Aussies:

Australians Abroad (it has a regular “Letter from New York”)

I’ve also been to a number of social events with my Aussie expat mates organized by the American Australian Association in NYC (they also have them in other US locations) which were a lot of fun:

American Australian Association

Sadly I only have one Aussie friend left in the US - there were a dozen of them they’ve all had green cards or US citizenship but have had enough of the US and gone back to Oz (one to Singapore)