Perth?

[Fallen_Horse]

From what I have read: it appears to have good weather (minus the winds), an average crime rate, an average cost of living, not enough useful public transit, and it's quite far from every other major city. Does this sound about right? Anyone live there? Any thoughts?

[NatB]

Its very lovely. And about as far away from anywhere else as you can ever be! Not cheap to live (nowhere in Oz is these days). House prices are extortionate. Can I ask why Perth? Would recommend Melbourne over it any day!

[Fallen_Horse]

Perth is where the job might be.

How bad are house prices? Rent here in LA is $1100/mo for a 1 bedroom apartment.

[sosso]

You could get a 1 bedroom apartment there for $250-$300/week.

[knackers]

I know few people in Perth and also have a sister that just recently moved to there, she lives less than 15 minutes out of the heart of the city and pays less than 400 a week for a decent house in a good neighbourhood.
When I was working over in w.a I dodged Perth on the way there and back so can't give firsthand advice, as I was in geraldton which is about 5 hours north and starts to get very hard to find accommodation, but Perth itself is apparently ok.
Lots of people have been going over there for work over the years, not surprising its a job luring there as generally the pay rate is higher.
Most people say its like a big country town, more laid back and spread out than most other cities.
It looks like I will be working over that way very shortly myself, but am too stubborn to relocate..

[TimS]

I lived in Perth from January to June 2011. I found it to be quite a decent place to live in but decided to come back to Brisbane.

True, it is quite isolated from the rest of Australia. The closest crowds you can access from there are in Singapore and Indonesia, not too far to travel to and cheap on a budget airline.
The climate is quite ok, very often sunny and the winds during the winter time are quite bearable (though I didn't life through the whole winter there).
Definitely it feels like country town, except you can see some high rise buildings, the streets are wide and there are lots of old huge buildings made of red clay bricks. At first you feel lonely since you can hardly see any human beings there. At weekends and during holidays most of them travel to the beaches and nature reserves nearby.

About property prices I can't tell much. I lived in a veg*n sharehouse community and paid less than $150 per week, quite the same as in Brisbane. I lived in an area with lots of Asians and bought my fruits, vegetables, tofu and sprouts in small local Asian stores and made friends with the staff-owners. I didn't notice big difference in variety and prices compared to other parts of Australia, mainly Brisbane.

I used to local commuter trains system quite a lot and was happy with it. Fares are quite acceptable, cheaper than in Brissy. I usually use bicycle-train combination but more and more used bicycle only in Perth. The streets are wide and empty, ideal for cycling and there are plenty of beautiful bikeways around the city area.

There are a few vegan eating places in Perth and quite an active vegan community. I found the locals quite curious about newcomers, friendly but after the first impression, a bit more reserved so it may be more difficult to develop deeper friendships. A few other newcomers that I talked to, confirmed my perception.

I would move back to Perth if there would be a good reason for it. It is still quite liveable place

[NatB]

you chose Brisvegas over Perth?

[TimS]

Yes, for now, I like this place the best in Ausralia so far.
But as said, I might move back to Perth some day. My lifestyle is very nomadic.

[NatB]

Am only teasing! I grew up in Brisbane and got a one way ticket out in '96. Had my own reasons. Have you been to Melbourne? lived there for 6 years. its my fave place in Oz! Though London is now home

Is there much of a vegan scene in Bris? last time i was there i think the only vegan place was Forest Cafe in the West End. There is a Brisbane Vegan Meetup Group though and they seem quite active!

[TimS]

I think I would do the same, i.e. leave the place I have grown up or lived for more than 5 years. As I said I am nomadic and can't stay in one place for too long.

No, I haven't been to Melbourne yet. In January I started cycling towards Sydney and Melbourne, but made it only to Byron Bay because of some technical problems and rainy weather. Yes, Melbourne may be a good place to live in but a bit too cold for me I think.
May be I should still try Melbourne. I may like it since there are lots of Asians and I like Asian environment ...

The forest cafe is still there, and they still say they are vegan cafe but offer dairy milk with their coffee as an option There are several other veg places here too, for example Loving Hut and Green Vegetarian in Mt Gravatt, Kuan Yin in Fortitude Valley Chinatown, and few other Asian places. And we also have a vegan shop in Enoogera with yummy burgers and pies and cakes. In the CBD in Myers centre there is a vegan friendly vegetarian fastfood outlet called Vegerama.
Even better places are in Gold Coast, especially a pizza place called Mandala.
And then we have at least 2 vegan farm animal sanctuaries in the countryside nearby.

Yes, I am member of the Vegan Meetup group both in Bris and Gold Coast. In addition there are also other active groups like Animal Liberation and the Green Earth group. I am not ver active them though, only with social groups Also the Vegan & Vegetarian society organises monthly gatherings.

[NatB]

Wow its more vegan friendly than i remember. Grew up as a veggie there in the 90s and remember the abuse I got. Not very progressive is QLD!

If you can make a trip to Melbourne you will love it. its the most vegan friendly place in the world that i have been to!

[TimS]

Some old Brisbanite-friends of mine keep telling how the attitude has changed here towards cyclists as well. In 1980's and 90's there were practically no bike paths at all and if you were riding on the roads you were yelled at and even someone tried to knock you over.
Well, it still happens sometimes, and it happened to me in Perth that people yelled at me, but now there are lots of bike paths here, and where there are no bike paths then there are symbols of bikes painted on the roads showing that bicycles have their right to be here. And the city council has active cycling policy aiming to improve conditions of cyclists.

Ok, I try to visit Melbourne some day. Though I really can't complain about being vegan in Brissy as well. I mostly cook and eat at home and use simple basic ingredients like rice & legumes, and almost all I need can be found in nearby Woolworths or IGA.

[Fallen_Horse]

I lived in Perth from January to June 2011. I found it to be quite a decent place to live in but decided to come back to Brisbane.

True, it is quite isolated from the rest of Australia. The closest crowds you can access from there are in Singapore and Indonesia, not too far to travel to and cheap on a budget airline.
The climate is quite ok, very often sunny and the winds during the winter time are quite bearable (though I didn't life through the whole winter there).
Definitely it feels like country town, except you can see some high rise buildings, the streets are wide and there are lots of old huge buildings made of red clay bricks. At first you feel lonely since you can hardly see any human beings there. At weekends and during holidays most of them travel to the beaches and nature reserves nearby.

About property prices I can't tell much. I lived in a veg*n sharehouse community and paid less than $150 per week, quite the same as in Brisbane. I lived in an area with lots of Asians and bought my fruits, vegetables, tofu and sprouts in small local Asian stores and made friends with the staff-owners. I didn't notice big difference in variety and prices compared to other parts of Australia, mainly Brisbane.

I used to local commuter trains system quite a lot and was happy with it. Fares are quite acceptable, cheaper than in Brissy. I usually use bicycle-train combination but more and more used bicycle only in Perth. The streets are wide and empty, ideal for cycling and there are plenty of beautiful bikeways around the city area.

There are a few vegan eating places in Perth and quite an active vegan community. I found the locals quite curious about newcomers, friendly but after the first impression, a bit more reserved so it may be more difficult to develop deeper friendships. A few other newcomers that I talked to, confirmed my perception.

I would move back to Perth if there would be a good reason for it. It is still quite liveable place

Great to know, thank you! My fiance and I are seriously considering moving their after our 2 year 'training' period is over at our new company. God only knows where we will be in 2 years, but Perth sounds like a pleasant option!

[knackers]

Just got back from a 5-6 week stint in perth, I was living in the northeast suburb of Embleton bout 15-20 mins out of cbd. Couldnt beleive how good the weather was for winter untill it turned and I almost got taken out by a tornado walking to the pool! <true story> LOL

What a busy, busy place! Definitely nothing like a big country town at all.. Very multicultural aswell, some times I had trouble finding australians, lots and lots of people from africa, uk, asia and just about every other country available!
Very choked up place, lots of traffic issues trying to get around.
No emergency stopping lanes, had to help push a few broken down cars onto nature strips.
Everything is more expensive than melbourne. Petrol is 20 cents dearer straight up, and Im talking equivalent from city to city. Prices of services and new goods, even food and beverages all dearer..
They dont call it the fastest growing city in Oz for nothing, and everyone is trying to cash in on the mining boom, lots of foreign workers being brought in on 457 visas on the cheap, high unemployment rate for aussies.
On a positive note: Does have pretty good night life though, sunday sessions are big over there, supermarkets arent open as late as they are in Vic... must be a perth thing.
Vegan food!! Had a ball eating out, found some good cheap places
> Tuart Hill P.A.W.S restaurant. They have great tasting food here and great value, I went here often. Im talking 6 bucks a tub which is cheap as dirt for high quality packed to the brim vegan food. Everything in store is vegan and P.A.W.S are a vegan organisation that also have a shop at 120 beaufort street, Perth, which has massive freezers stocked with heaps of frozen mockmeats of every variety, plus lots of other vegan related food aswell as takeaway, the store is a bit pricey but 10/10 for the tuart hill restaurant.
> Veggie Mama - awesome cafe with lots of vegan options, again just off beaufort street.
> Soul food cafe - awesome tofu burger, some good vegan options, on baufort street corner/william street
> Lotus - took my newly vegan sister here for her birthday. WOW, awesome place, great food, concept just like white lotus in melbourne but the owner toldd me white lotus got the idea from them.
> Many, many more places, too many to list.
Great guide to eating out - http://veganperth.org.au/eating-out/