Melbourne or Sydney??

[Ferrit]

Hello everyone, I am new to his forum but am hoping for some helpful advice!

I am based in the UK at the moment and have two offers of employment from two different companies, one in Sydney and one in Melbourne. They are sponsoring myself, my girlfriend and our baby Jack who is 4 months old under a 457 VISA.

I am finding it difficult to decide which city to move to, I understand the climate in Sydney is better and the cost of living is less in Melbourne but I am wondering about the following -

1) What is the climate actually like in both cities all year round?

2) myself and my girlfriend enjoy a good social life (seperate and together)so which city would have the most to do, football (soccer), golf, gyms, restaurants, beaches etc?

3) What is public transport like? which would be easier to get around?

4) I have looked at the following areas in both cities, am I looking in the right places? easy to get into the city? access to beaches? (Melbourne - brighton, hampton, sandringham, black rock, beaumaris, richmond. Sydney - crows nest, st leonards, neutral bay, mosman, cremorne)

Any help or advice would be brilliant, I am pulling my hair out and need to come to a decision!

Thanks

[SGAus]

Melbourne is like Europe more art, more cafe-culture.
Sydney is more beautiful, nice beaches, but expensive, more modern, more like USA

Got the above information from one UK guy who studied in Sydney.

[ash1901]

Originally Posted by SGAus

Melbourne is like Europe more art, more cafe-culture.
Sydney is more beautiful, nice beaches, but expensive, more modern, more like USA

Got the above information from one UK guy who studied in Sydney.

Hi. So I recently went through the same as yourself. I choose Sydney. I am currently typing as I sit near the water. It's July 1st and it's sunny and 18 degrees. I travel a good bit to Melbourne, it's 4 weathers in 1 day and is currently cold. In the summertime both places are great.

If money/cost is a factor atall in your decesion, choose Melbourne. In Sydney expect to pay atleast $2k for a small 2 bedroom or $2k for a large 1 bedroom. Sydney is busy, lots of tourist, etc. if you go into suburbs it's a nice atmosphere with lots to do.

I also feel being in Sydney CBD, that I am in mini new York at times and that's what I escaped moving from the states. It all depends on your personal preference where you want to live as you will get good nightlife, footy pubs, etc in both places. If weather is what you are after sydney wins.

Also food cost is slightly higher then Melbourne.

Sorry if I went off the tangent but if you have any questions, ask away.

Good luck!!!

[jb12]

Originally Posted by Ferrit

Hello everyone, I am new to his forum but am hoping for some helpful advice!

I am based in the UK at the moment and have two offers of employment from two different companies, one in Sydney and one in Melbourne. They are sponsoring myself, my girlfriend and our baby Jack who is 4 months old under a 457 VISA.

I am finding it difficult to decide which city to move to, I understand the climate in Sydney is better and the cost of living is less in Melbourne but I am wondering about the following -

1) What is the climate actually like in both cities all year round?

2) myself and my girlfriend enjoy a good social life (seperate and together)so which city would have the most to do, football (soccer), golf, gyms, restaurants, beaches etc?

3) What is public transport like? which would be easier to get around?

4) I have looked at the following areas in both cities, am I looking in the right places? easy to get into the city? access to beaches? (Melbourne - brighton, hampton, sandringham, black rock, beaumaris, richmond. Sydney - crows nest, st leonards, neutral bay, mosman, cremorne)

Any help or advice would be brilliant, I am pulling my hair out and need to come to a decision!

Thanks

Your personal preference will be the deciding factor. But you really can't know until you move there and experience daily life and how much your expenses will be per month. You asked about transportation. Are you planning to get a car or will plan to depend on public transportation?

I have visited both Sydney & Melbourne and used mostly the trains while on vacation. I purposely selected where I would stay at a hotel depending how far it was from the train station since I didn't really want to rent a car since I've never driven on the opposite of the road as I do here in the US.

One suggestion that can help you determine about which city might work out better for public transportation:

Obtain the addresses of the two office locations of your company. Visit the train and bus station websites in Sydney & Melbourne. Find out in google maps under Directions to determine if that office location is close to a bus stop or train station. If there is not or it's way too far to walk, then it's likely that you may need to get a car to drive to work. It is also dependent where you will live and how far you are from public transportation.

I found that in Melbourne area, there isn't a lot of train stations that go out to the suburb areas. Just from my experience in trying to visit someone that lived in the suburbs. In Sydney, most of the tourist locations you can take a train and there would be a stop nearby and just walking distance. There is even a train that goes all the way to visit the Blue Mountains. Compared if you visit the 12 Apostles located outside of Melbourne which there is no accessible train. You may need to google these two tourist stops to know what they are.

I don't think you can go wrong with living in either city. You just need to decide with the salary package you have been offered wihich city will allow you to have enough money to pay your expenses as well as saving some money for the future. If it's the same salary for either Sydney or Melbourne, Melbourne might be the choice. Check out the Internet for comparing rental properties or even how much houses cost in both cities to make comparisons.

Whatever you decide, I'm sure in the future if one city you have selected isn't what you and your wife want, you can request a transfer to the other location. Just be happy that you have been offered a job before you even arrive in Australia.

[sherlock]

Can anybody tell me about the kind of IT jobs that we may find in Sydney and Melbourne. For example, many cities have jobs related to a particular field in under IT unmbrella ... like SAP jobs, finance related software jobs etc.

Do Sydney and Melbourne have any particular types of IT jobs associated with them ?