G'day :)
I'm a Danish game artist moving to Australia in September, with my girlfriend to relax and maybe work a little 3D related freelance. We're still discussing in which city to settle in, and we have narrowed our choice down to Sidney, Brisbane or Melbourne. I've already found a lot of information searching your forum, but I still wonder about one thing.
Are there any differences in living costs in the 3 cities? For instance, the price for renting an apartment in our capital Copenhagen is often twice as expensive as the price for a comparable apartment in our second largest city. I could imagine that living in Brisbane is cheaper than living in Sidney, but can you confirm that?
Also, I've been looking for other Australian online 3D communities to gain information. Can you recommend me any besides Sumea?
Edit: By the way... We're staying for a year, so it's not just some short term vacation :)
Brisbane - Melbourne - Sydney
Cheapest to most expensive.
It's worth noting that most of the game dev studios are based in Brisbane or Melbourne because of tax breaks and other incentives as well.
It comes down to more a personal preferance as well ... Brisbane is hot and sunny, bit more of a country town, laid back, but still quite modern ... Sydney is the biggest city in Australia, all go go go, lots of history, very fast paced, kinda dirty ... Melbourne is very cultured, a cafe on every street corner, very trendy and friendly.
Thats my take anyway :)
Well if it is smog that you mean then Sydney is a large city, and every city has smog - even those that have well developed and maintained public transportation systems. You can blame the oil and car companies for all the smog: http://www.sonyclassics.com/whokilledtheelectriccar/
Every city has its advantages and disadvantages to living their. For all of Melbourne's advantages, and I am not saying I wouldn't live there, I find the place to be rather shallow and full of leeches trying to get something for free - usually at your expense.
Thanks a bunch for all your answers. It's great with all of these opinions, before we can make up our minds. I have a mate who visited Melbourne and Sydney earlier. He describes Sydney as one big pile of garbage with a pretty opera house, while he loved Melbourne. I would prefer Brisbane for the weather, the prices and the job opportunities, so I'll use your answers as arguments to convince me girlfring :)
I still wonder about one thing. Is it normal to rent places from big real estate sites like domain.com.au and realestate.com.au that's mentioned earlier? In Denmark, there is a big gap between buying and renting apartments. Renting isn't organised the same way. Often when you need to rent an apartment, you'll be on the lookout for paper notes hanging in supermarkets or reading a special section in the local newspaper, while when buying an apartment you'll go to a real estate broker.
quote:
one big pile of garbage with a pretty opera house
That's imho, I was born there and lived there for 2 thirds of my life. Best yet, they built a bloody big block of flats slap bang in front of that opera house (there's a good quote about opera houses in my profile btw)
edit: though don't take it too seriously- on my part or Boulez's.
G'day moo, yeah Sydney is more expensive the Brisbane. Have a look at domain.com.au and realestate.com.au for a general idea of prices.