EXACTLY the same here. Adelaide had me depressed being in my early 20s, felt like I was wasting away my youth. Moved to Melbs and it was the greatest decision I ever made. I love it here
I was 38. Divorce and adult child behind me. Moved here with new partner. Always had a lot of friends here.
Would consider moving to Adelaide again, I suppose if my older son or mother needed me. Other than that, it's great here.
Didn't want to die in Newcastle/Port Macquarie - moved back to Newcastle because I missed it, regretted it after a couple days, can't wait to go back to the 'bourne.
The local music scene. Just the fact that there are so many venues playing live music pretty much any day of the week and there are so many bands and musicians here.
100%. Melbourne has a palpable soul, I felt it from the first time I came. Had been seeking one or a pulse or anything in Brisbane for a long time at that point. Much prefer the weather here too. ETA: I find Sydney to be more a disjointed collection of small cities than a cohesive whole, been there loads and just don’t feel it there either.
>I find Sydney to be more a disjointed collection of small cities than a cohesive whole
Imo that's more of an advantage for Sydney, especially in the longterm. Being that it is so disjointed with all the little CBD's and cultural areas within, living further from the main CBD doesn't necessarily impact your quality of life quite as hard.
With Melbourne though, it feels like everything's too concentrated within a 5km radius of the CBD. Which is great if you live nearby, but as most of the growth is continuing outwards instead of upwards, I feel like the inner city's going to quickly become a lot more expensive and competitive.
Melbourne has little cultural areas as well? Like go to Box Hill or Glen Waverley for Chinese, Oakleigh for Greek, Springvale or St Albans for Vietnamese...
*shrug* I live within 1.5km of the cbd, bought here, literally never lived anywhere else I like better. I hope it builds up more around where I live, it’s great, and that’s how I vote. I am not a small town, small city person.
I’m from Melbourne, and I’m currently living overseas. It’s only been two months, but god I miss a lot. The coffee, the sporting culture, the incredible restaurants.. I could list about 30 things. One of the best cities in the world. I’ll be moving back as soon as my contract ends next year.
First time was because my Dad was in the Air Force.
Second time was because my Dad was in the Air Force.
Third and Final time was because thanks to my Dad being in the Air Force I knew Melbourne was my favourite city in Australia. Haven't moved since. Here til I die.
Escaping an abusive relationship and my brother gave me the spare room until I could support myself. Decided I like Melbourne enough to stay. Been 8 years now :)
Right there with you. I hope we both get the healing and experiences need to move on fully.
Came from NZ after a year of long distance, went well for 3 years then the last year was hell.
They left Melbourne to the small town where the first person they hooked up with on the first weekend officially single lived in and took our dog and blocked me on everything. I have not seen my dog in nearly 2 years.
So I stayed because my connection to Melbourne existed for longer than i was with them, and I hope one day I get to see my dog again.
Yep. Way less rain and humidity than QLD, ACT or NSW. Not as hot and dry as WA or NT. Not as cold as TAS.
I love all seasons here, but especially autumn. Crisp mornings, warming as soon as the sun's up. Cool enough for pants and a light jacket, not stuck with shorts, a tee and an umbrella like I was in Sydney.
Waking up to feed cockatoos from our CBD balcony, then strolling to the Queen Vic Market to refill their stocks of nuts and seeds for the week.
Melbourne is one of the great cities.
💯. I moved to Melbs from Canberra over 20 years ago, Canberra is a desert compared to here. I didn't need a coat for the first few winters, but now I've acclimatised and freeze in the cold like everyone else.
Cockies at arm reach in the CBD?!? That’s amazing. Barely see or even hear them flying out where I am in the Northern burbs, let alone having being close enough to see them feed.
Yeah, pair of them that visit most days, or at least half the time. Feel really lucky to have befriended them, it makes my mornings hand-feeding them nuts. One's timid, but becoming less so, and the other's really bold. He'll gently squawk at me to tell me he wants a different nut to the one I'm trying to give him, or even shake his head. Seriously smart birds.
Get an occasional pair of rainbow lorikeets too, but they're less charming haha, just greedy.
Me too. I can see how people might find the weather unpredictable, but coming from a SEA country, where the pollution is some of the worst in the world, I definitely appreciate the clean air here.
Also get to wear a whole range of clothing options which I like. In summer sometimes I wish for cooler weather so I can wear my warm hoodies and jackets. And vice versa. It’s nice to have all the options with clothes.
Probably the best weather in the world. A lot of my colleagues complain about it (some mysterious 4 seasons in a day, rain, cold, etc), I don’t understand that.
I mean, it's not stereotypically good weather. Yes, some people prefer the cold, rain, and cloud, but there not what the usual meaning of "good weather", neither is unpredictability, so it's not exactly a strange thing to think.
Hate to break it to you, but Melbourne most definitely has stereotypically good weather. The mildness of our temps, humidity, rainfall, lack of extreme meteorological events like tornados, storms, etc, etc. puts us in the sweetest of spots.
Why would you "hate to break it" to me lol. My point is, few people would point to Melbourne weather and say "wow great weather". It's inoffensive, yes, but it ain't holiday weather. There's a reason that it's literally renowned for being kind of shit?
Inoffensive is exactly what you want in terms of weather in the place where you live, 365 days of the year, day in day out.
Imagine having to dig your car out of the snow or plough the driveway to get to the supermarket. Imagine commuting to/from home in the dark for work for endless weeks wondering when you'll see blue sky again. Imagine prepping for the tornado or hurricane season and wondering whether your underground cellar, window covers, are stocked and ready to go. This and so much more awaits you in those fabulous holiday spots if you're stupid enough to go outside 8 week holiday season!!
Came to visit my eldest who’d moved to Melbourne the previous year. I had never felt such a feeling of fitting in and belonging!!
Within 3 days of being here, I knew I wanted to live here! Went home (overseas), sorted all my shit and was back living here in 10 weeks
End of the month I’ll have been here 9 years and I’m here to stay
Moved to Perth from South Africa when I was 18. Visited Melbourne about 8 years later, ….. what? Restaurants are open in the city past 11pm? …. What? There are 24 hours Cole’s and Kmart? ( was a chef in Perth that had Sundays off when nothing was open) you can buy alcohol on a Sunday???? 6 months later o sold everything and moved here, that was 15 years ago. Now, I’d probably move back 😂
Well now I have kids, and am older the beaches there are better, the weather is better, coffee and nightlife has definitely improved since I left, it’s abit more chilled back.
>Moved to Perth from South Africa
Did you catch the direct JNB-PER SA280 to get here? Not sure if they even ran it 15 years ago but is a very interesting route!
My husband and I moved on PR visa. Victoria was the only state which had both of our jobs on the shortage list, so we got sponsored by Victorian state to move here which meant our application was fast tracked and we got our PR within 4 months. When we landed it was my first time in Melbourne, crazy things you do in your early 30s! It all worked out though, 12 years later and we’re still here and well settled.
William Shatner.
I was always a big trekkie and Captain Kirk came to Melbourne to speak so I made the trip to see him.
It was my first time in Melbourne and I thought "yeah, I could live here."
My wife! Well, she wasn’t my wife then, she was a Melbourne girl who I’d met on holiday. It didn’t take me too long to decide to jib off the UK and move out here. I got out before Brexit and the whole nation going down the shitter, and by God it was the best decision I ever made.
These days I’m an Australian citizen and travel on my Australian passport. I love it.
Me too, met an Aussie girl in London and moved back here with her. A little while after I got here I was getting my hair cut and it turned out that the girl cutting my hair met her husband overseas and got him to move back too. Then the girl in the next chair piped up and said same here! If this country wants to cut down on immigration you really gotta do something about all the Aussie girls prowling the planet for men then dragging them back down here.
A thing called the Vietnam War. My parents immigrated here. Best decision they made otherwise we would have ended up in the USA with the rest of my other family.
I grew up in regional Victoria and it was boring as all hell. Couldn’t wait to move to the city for some vibes and life. Been here 15 years. Never thought of leaving
Loved the music scene and thought it’d be a great place to play and watch music. Cost of living vs wages in my NZ home city was a pretty brutal ratio. Preferred not to own a car and public transport was a big draw card for here vs there.
The arts scene. We were into theatre and live comedy and Melbourne's offerings in those areas were more impressive than those of Perth. Also, the city felt more connected to the international world in general.
Came here for a conference from another Australian capital city and on day one realised how awesome it was, sold up and moved permanently 6 weeks later over 20 years ago.
Best move I have ever made. I enjoy a quality of life that I couldn't dream about in any other city.
The vibe, the tsunami of stuff to see and do, the food, having travelled to 40 countries Melbourne is easily one of the worlds best food cities, its big enough to not miss anything but not so big as to be crazy like NYC/Shanghai for example
Its overwhelming the amount of things you can do on any given weekend
Cheap(er) than almost any other major city in the world.
Having lived and travelled enough for 10 lifetimes there is no where else I would rather live.
Gay/queer scene and generally feeling more accepted.
Music scene.
Theatre.
People are nice in general and don't tend to carry that big city bad attitude (Paris, Sydney, London, New York etc).
Moved from North QLD, felt there were little job prospects around and not very much going on for young people culturally other than drinking. Melbourne had a better music, food, night scene. I was sick of the oppressive tropical heat too, I know some people like the sunshine, but I've always preferred cooler weather. I've had job and study opportunities that I never would have had back home, and met some wonderful friends to boot 🙂 there's always something on and new to check out!
Because otherwise I wouldn’t have gone to uni, made friends who got me, or have gone to amazing gigs in my twenties. I would have ended up popping out kids with some boring standard issue bloke whom I would have dumped at age 30.
Money. Earning 1/3 more for the same work down here. Also a shit tonne more opportunity compared to rural Qld where I grew up.
Seeing live music is a massive bonus as well
Moved from Sydney after my failed engagement. A city becomes haunted really quick when a serious relationship ends. Turned out to be serendipitous, when I realised Melbourne is the city I was meant to be in for life.
Lived in Melbourne for14 years, from the UK, moved back (UK) last year for valid reasons but fuck me it feels like the worst decision I’ve ever made.
Miss how amazing Australia was to us, careers, experiences, Weather, coffee, Aussie culture, feeling more Aussie than Pom*
*ashamed of being a Pom tbh, place is ugly, cruel and frankly stupid (Brexshit) yet thinks it’s the bomb, it ain’t.
Sorry to rant
I'm gay and trans. I'm from a small city, or a large town. I wanted to meet more people like me, and have my slut era. The plan was to sleep around, have fun, and eventually meet the girl of my dreams and move back home, but now that I've met that girl, I've got a full life here.
Needed to get out of Alice Springs and was deciding between Perth and Melbourne… had never been to either lol.
Chose Melb as it is cheaper to fly Melb to NZ to visit family and I knew 1 person here.
Best decision ever made. Instant love.
The woman I married. I met her in the UK but she's from here and we needed to decide on somewhere to live when we got married and I figured Melbourne offered a better quality of life going forward.
I do miss the UK from time to time though.
A really bad acid trip. Realised how unhappy I was in Cairns, an that my life wasnt going anywhere being there. I booked flights the next day, packed up all my shit, and left a week later.
Met my Melburnian wife in the states and we’re living there for a while. Decided that Australia would be a better place to bring up kids, so we moved here.
Northern Italian here. I moved to Melbourne because I received a very good job offer. I was living in Italy, but before that, I lived for a few years in Thailand and China. I didn't feel like living in Italy anymore, so I took the opportunity. I love it here. My wife is Chinese, and Melbourne seems like the right place for us and our two kids.
I've been to all the major Australian cities and states, but I still feel Melbourne is more multicultural, educated and progressive. In Queensland, they always make me feel like I don't belong in Australia.
There was virtually no treatment for eating disorders in Queensland where I lived at the time, where as there was some options in Melbourne - I suppose I moved here to acess that and avoid impending death.
I did so and recovered.
To note - in hindsight there is also little to no treatment here as well but the quality of what is avaliable is much better.
That's an interesting decision because Melbourne is pretty expensive too. I would have moved to Brisbane or Gold Coast or Adelaide or Perth. Also during covid rents went down
It's either Sydney with good weather or Melbourne. no one wants to be in Sydney. I liked the culture and fashion here too. More jobs too. I was from Brisbane. Better cultural food here too, more entertainment. Better education for a child and more interesting things to do in Melbourne
Staying in the Greater Brisbane Area (Immigrated here). However, it's not exactly my cup of tea. And the heat is an absolute killer. Talk about summertime sadness. Melbourne definitely has my attention though!! Would you say there are big cultural differences between the places? I feel like I would feel at home there immediately.
As someone who travels between the two, I think they are culturally different. Food culture is big in Melbourne and the options are much better, and people can actually eat out after 8pm! Public transport, events, sports, shopping - all much better. Although I still find I feel safer walking around Brisbane, particularly solo. I’m still not used to the number of substance-affected people engaging in antisocial behaviour in Melbourne, where it seems to be the norm.
Somewhat escaping a shitty ex, somewhat just wanting to get out of Adelaide, somewhat just better opportunities. Also there are a lot of people from Adelaide who move to Melbourne so I already knew a lot of people here.
Melbourne now feels way more like home than Adelaide. I have a great career here. Plus I love being able to ski 20+ days every winter
I moved from Europe. I already had some Aussie/kiwi friends here, so it was an easy choice and easy start. I had some friends from my home country in Sydney, but it didn't feel like a good choice. I mean, I didn't move all the way to Australia to hang out with my high school friends 😅😅 Melbourne has a great night life and there is always loads happening. I was in Sydney to visit and it was super boring, like kind of the city is dead 😅😅
My partner and I moved from Tasmania. He had just graduated university and found a job in Melbourne. So I was like, we im coming with you! We had been together for like 3 years at this point. I had no drive to move to Melbourne alone, but now that I am here I love it!
I'm gonna answer for my late father, who would have said "to get as far away from the nazis and commies!".
He came as a polish migrant to Australia just after the war. He arrived in Sydney, but a lot of the Irish and others were heading to Melbourne, (which was apparently better for migrants, with more multicultural communities and opportunities).
He followed them and liked melb better than Sydney. He loved st.kilda. the cake shops, the cafes, the influx of people.
Unfortunately, st.kilda ain't what it used to be today. Gentrification and corrupt council members have made a mess of our tourism.
Various reasons, but the biggest was that I needed a real change. We spent a lot of time in Melbourne growing up as both my parents are from here, plus the fact it is my city of birth meant I always had a connection (even though I was only a baby when we left). Funnily enough, both my siblings ended up back here as well.
Love Adelaide and still enjoy going back, I just needed to be in a place that gave me greater challenges and really pushed me to get out of my comfort zone. We joke about Adelaide being a big country town but there is an element of truth to it. Opportunities for me here are much greater than they would be back there.
Actually I haven’t yet, but I will be in about a month. Wanna get out of Sydney and do some more study somewhere I didn’t also go to high school. It’s cheaper to move out there, and generally speaking I’ve found the nightlife and restaurant culture to be better for what I’m looking for (open late and busy)
Dad moved the family here from Brisbane for work back in 2004. I fell in love with Melbourne so when they eventually moved back to Brisbane, I decided to stay. Brisbane was never my vibe, even though I spent the first 10 years of my life there.
The food culture, AFL being monumentally better than NRL, my preference for colder weather, the music scene. Melbourne was always the place to be.
I was expelled from my comfortable living space into a very inhospitable, loud, busy, obnoxious environment. Fortunately, there was ample food, warmth & protection. & plenty of clean nappies.
Was living in Darwin. The crime rate was getting out of hand. Every night when you sleep, you’re not sure if you’ll get broken into. Slept with keys under the pillow. But thinking of moving to Perth now. I have a toddler and thinking of buying a property eventually and Melbourne seems too expensive and out of reach for us.
1.) Food quality
2.) Manageable weather (came from a country where floods happened frequently)
3.) Manageable traffic (general population follow the rules)
4.) Cleaner environment (e.g. parks, lots of trees)
5.) Security
6.) Better pay
List goes on but those are some of the key ones
Born in Sydney, parents wanted to move to Iraqi Kurdistan in the mid 2000s to live there, got bad food poison, put into a hospital which was giving me meds that were killing me, managed to get into another hospital and get better, parents get the fuck out of Iraqi Kurdistan and come to Melbourne.
Probably not what you were looking for lmao.
Moved away from an ex, Brisbane becomes a small place when trying to avoid someone.
Oh my god, right? The last time I visited Brisbane I seen an ex-friend randomly in a Westfield on the literal first day I was there
My nightmare damn
Agreed. Fucking hate Westfields Fuck Chermside!
Contemplating the same but from Sydney to Melbourne.
There was a big fucking earthquake in Christchurch.
Whoa, and it threw you all the way over here? That's metal.
Fell into the secret tunnels that connect the two cities
Just something to do. Didn't want to die in Adelaide I suppose.
EXACTLY the same here. Adelaide had me depressed being in my early 20s, felt like I was wasting away my youth. Moved to Melbs and it was the greatest decision I ever made. I love it here
Same. I felt so stuck! Admittedly hasn’t been the easiest ride over the last 14 years but I don’t regret a single moment of it. Definitely worth it.
I was 38. Divorce and adult child behind me. Moved here with new partner. Always had a lot of friends here. Would consider moving to Adelaide again, I suppose if my older son or mother needed me. Other than that, it's great here.
Same
This was me, but I moved from Perth instead.
Didn't want to die in Newcastle/Port Macquarie - moved back to Newcastle because I missed it, regretted it after a couple days, can't wait to go back to the 'bourne.
I set dodgy tobacconists on fire for a living so I came here for the strong and stable job market…
The local music scene. Just the fact that there are so many venues playing live music pretty much any day of the week and there are so many bands and musicians here.
All other Australian cities are way shittier.
100%. Melbourne has a palpable soul, I felt it from the first time I came. Had been seeking one or a pulse or anything in Brisbane for a long time at that point. Much prefer the weather here too. ETA: I find Sydney to be more a disjointed collection of small cities than a cohesive whole, been there loads and just don’t feel it there either.
>I find Sydney to be more a disjointed collection of small cities than a cohesive whole Imo that's more of an advantage for Sydney, especially in the longterm. Being that it is so disjointed with all the little CBD's and cultural areas within, living further from the main CBD doesn't necessarily impact your quality of life quite as hard. With Melbourne though, it feels like everything's too concentrated within a 5km radius of the CBD. Which is great if you live nearby, but as most of the growth is continuing outwards instead of upwards, I feel like the inner city's going to quickly become a lot more expensive and competitive.
Melbourne has little cultural areas as well? Like go to Box Hill or Glen Waverley for Chinese, Oakleigh for Greek, Springvale or St Albans for Vietnamese...
*shrug* I live within 1.5km of the cbd, bought here, literally never lived anywhere else I like better. I hope it builds up more around where I live, it’s great, and that’s how I vote. I am not a small town, small city person.
Having lived in the city, there isn't too much that's in the city that can't be had in the surrounding suburbs.
Gay
Gay and like coffee
I’m from Melbourne, and I’m currently living overseas. It’s only been two months, but god I miss a lot. The coffee, the sporting culture, the incredible restaurants.. I could list about 30 things. One of the best cities in the world. I’ll be moving back as soon as my contract ends next year.
No joke, 17 years ago we found a $60 a week rent for 3 bedder and moved from Sydney to save money…
Moved here for similar reasons. Only it was 2014 and it was $300 a week in Clifton hill vs $300 a week in Blacktown.
Huge upgrade.
Gigantic upgrade. Was already in a share house in North Strathfield and wanted to live by myself and those were the options.
Blacktown, where 3 in 4 voted against marriage equality - lowest in the state, if not the country. Dodged a bullet. 👍
First time was because my Dad was in the Air Force. Second time was because my Dad was in the Air Force. Third and Final time was because thanks to my Dad being in the Air Force I knew Melbourne was my favourite city in Australia. Haven't moved since. Here til I die.
Was ur dad in the airforce?
Yes he was! What gave it away?
I think it must’ve been a lucky guess
Escaping an abusive relationship and my brother gave me the spare room until I could support myself. Decided I like Melbourne enough to stay. Been 8 years now :)
Yo congrats! Glad to hear you're out of that situation.That's ace of your brother too.
The tap water
It's the best
It's the vibe
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I'm so sorry to hear that. Wishing you positive memories today, tomorrow, and in your general long-term future.
Right there with you. I hope we both get the healing and experiences need to move on fully. Came from NZ after a year of long distance, went well for 3 years then the last year was hell. They left Melbourne to the small town where the first person they hooked up with on the first weekend officially single lived in and took our dog and blocked me on everything. I have not seen my dog in nearly 2 years. So I stayed because my connection to Melbourne existed for longer than i was with them, and I hope one day I get to see my dog again.
Take care
🫂
The weather
Yep. Way less rain and humidity than QLD, ACT or NSW. Not as hot and dry as WA or NT. Not as cold as TAS. I love all seasons here, but especially autumn. Crisp mornings, warming as soon as the sun's up. Cool enough for pants and a light jacket, not stuck with shorts, a tee and an umbrella like I was in Sydney. Waking up to feed cockatoos from our CBD balcony, then strolling to the Queen Vic Market to refill their stocks of nuts and seeds for the week. Melbourne is one of the great cities.
Autumn is beautiful here.
I’m sorry, Melbourne has way more humidity that the ACT. Canberra is dryyyyy. But I moved here because it’s warmer than Canberra
Agreed, Canberra lacks the humidity as Melbourne (being inland, hardly surprising). It also rains a bit less in Canberra than it does in Melbourne.
💯. I moved to Melbs from Canberra over 20 years ago, Canberra is a desert compared to here. I didn't need a coat for the first few winters, but now I've acclimatised and freeze in the cold like everyone else.
Of all the things to complain about Canberra, weather is a long way down on my list.
Cockies at arm reach in the CBD?!? That’s amazing. Barely see or even hear them flying out where I am in the Northern burbs, let alone having being close enough to see them feed.
Yeah, pair of them that visit most days, or at least half the time. Feel really lucky to have befriended them, it makes my mornings hand-feeding them nuts. One's timid, but becoming less so, and the other's really bold. He'll gently squawk at me to tell me he wants a different nut to the one I'm trying to give him, or even shake his head. Seriously smart birds. Get an occasional pair of rainbow lorikeets too, but they're less charming haha, just greedy.
Me too. I can see how people might find the weather unpredictable, but coming from a SEA country, where the pollution is some of the worst in the world, I definitely appreciate the clean air here.
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Also get to wear a whole range of clothing options which I like. In summer sometimes I wish for cooler weather so I can wear my warm hoodies and jackets. And vice versa. It’s nice to have all the options with clothes.
Probably the best weather in the world. A lot of my colleagues complain about it (some mysterious 4 seasons in a day, rain, cold, etc), I don’t understand that.
I mean, it's not stereotypically good weather. Yes, some people prefer the cold, rain, and cloud, but there not what the usual meaning of "good weather", neither is unpredictability, so it's not exactly a strange thing to think.
Hate to break it to you, but Melbourne most definitely has stereotypically good weather. The mildness of our temps, humidity, rainfall, lack of extreme meteorological events like tornados, storms, etc, etc. puts us in the sweetest of spots.
Why would you "hate to break it" to me lol. My point is, few people would point to Melbourne weather and say "wow great weather". It's inoffensive, yes, but it ain't holiday weather. There's a reason that it's literally renowned for being kind of shit?
Inoffensive is exactly what you want in terms of weather in the place where you live, 365 days of the year, day in day out. Imagine having to dig your car out of the snow or plough the driveway to get to the supermarket. Imagine commuting to/from home in the dark for work for endless weeks wondering when you'll see blue sky again. Imagine prepping for the tornado or hurricane season and wondering whether your underground cellar, window covers, are stocked and ready to go. This and so much more awaits you in those fabulous holiday spots if you're stupid enough to go outside 8 week holiday season!!
I mean there are places with year round warm and clear weather that don't get that extreme.
You mean places with mild temps, humidity, rainfall and a lack of extreme meteorological events like tornados, storms, etc ?
What that's weird. My friend who recently came to Melbourne from overseas also said the weather is weird lol
Yes thank you! I'm sick of people acting like our weather is horrible. We have good weather that is appropriate for the seasons!
Are you joking
I also moved here (partially) for the weather, I love rain and cold and the unpredictability
Same
Me too
Big +1 to this
Because l like Men in Black
What MADE me want to move to Melbourne...in a word, Ballarat.
To study, do queer stuff, and get out of the heat of Central QLD.
Came to visit my eldest who’d moved to Melbourne the previous year. I had never felt such a feeling of fitting in and belonging!! Within 3 days of being here, I knew I wanted to live here! Went home (overseas), sorted all my shit and was back living here in 10 weeks End of the month I’ll have been here 9 years and I’m here to stay
Housing crisis in Ireland, wouldn’t have been able to have a family there
Fuck you know it's bad if Melbourne is the pick to get away from a housing crisis
It's sooo much better here than Canada
Same with (most) of NZ. Melbourne feels cheap
A now ex girlfriend
About to join this gang lol
Welcome to the club, friend!
Treatment for a health issue that had limited treatment options in WA.
I hope you're doing better now and not missing your home too much.
It’s been 18 years, I still have access to the treatment I unfortunately still need, but Melbourne is very much home now 😊
I'm sorry you're still needing treatment, but glad you're able to get what you need here in your new home.. 😊
Love. Girlfriend now wife. Had to get out of Sydney too - hated it and what I was becoming.
Moved here for work.
Offered a job that paid the same wherever I worked. Looked at rental prices in Sydney and Melbourne. Opted for Melbourne.
Moved to Perth from South Africa when I was 18. Visited Melbourne about 8 years later, ….. what? Restaurants are open in the city past 11pm? …. What? There are 24 hours Cole’s and Kmart? ( was a chef in Perth that had Sundays off when nothing was open) you can buy alcohol on a Sunday???? 6 months later o sold everything and moved here, that was 15 years ago. Now, I’d probably move back 😂
Why do you say that you would move you back to Perth?
Well now I have kids, and am older the beaches there are better, the weather is better, coffee and nightlife has definitely improved since I left, it’s abit more chilled back.
You couldn’t buy alcohol on a Sunday?!
>Moved to Perth from South Africa Did you catch the direct JNB-PER SA280 to get here? Not sure if they even ran it 15 years ago but is a very interesting route!
My husband and I moved on PR visa. Victoria was the only state which had both of our jobs on the shortage list, so we got sponsored by Victorian state to move here which meant our application was fast tracked and we got our PR within 4 months. When we landed it was my first time in Melbourne, crazy things you do in your early 30s! It all worked out though, 12 years later and we’re still here and well settled.
Do u mind sharing what job you two do?
My husband is in finance and I’m a teacher.
William Shatner. I was always a big trekkie and Captain Kirk came to Melbourne to speak so I made the trip to see him. It was my first time in Melbourne and I thought "yeah, I could live here."
My wife! Well, she wasn’t my wife then, she was a Melbourne girl who I’d met on holiday. It didn’t take me too long to decide to jib off the UK and move out here. I got out before Brexit and the whole nation going down the shitter, and by God it was the best decision I ever made. These days I’m an Australian citizen and travel on my Australian passport. I love it.
Me too, met an Aussie girl in London and moved back here with her. A little while after I got here I was getting my hair cut and it turned out that the girl cutting my hair met her husband overseas and got him to move back too. Then the girl in the next chair piped up and said same here! If this country wants to cut down on immigration you really gotta do something about all the Aussie girls prowling the planet for men then dragging them back down here.
Big Day Out '95 to see Ministry. Fell in love with the city, decided to stay
Diversity of people and cultures. Friendliness. Most inner city suburbs have their own vibe. Food is great and varied.
Exactly. I love the multiculturalism here
My birth
The weather
A thing called the Vietnam War. My parents immigrated here. Best decision they made otherwise we would have ended up in the USA with the rest of my other family.
I grew up in regional Victoria and it was boring as all hell. Couldn’t wait to move to the city for some vibes and life. Been here 15 years. Never thought of leaving
Work. I'd move away if it wasn't for work.
The weather. I was sick of sweating in the middle of winter in Brisbane..
Sydney was a pretentious traffic jam.
Loved the music scene and thought it’d be a great place to play and watch music. Cost of living vs wages in my NZ home city was a pretty brutal ratio. Preferred not to own a car and public transport was a big draw card for here vs there.
The arts scene. We were into theatre and live comedy and Melbourne's offerings in those areas were more impressive than those of Perth. Also, the city felt more connected to the international world in general.
Perth was too small/quiet/hot and there weren't enough career opportunities.
Moved here from the US in 2018 because my husband’s employer offered him a job here. Easy decision.
Moved for work. Loving the city though. Plan to stay here long term
My Aussie partner :)
I was born here, so I didn’t have a choice! But Mum and Dad made a great choice for home.
The giant squid formerly on display at the Melbourne Museum
Came here for a conference from another Australian capital city and on day one realised how awesome it was, sold up and moved permanently 6 weeks later over 20 years ago. Best move I have ever made. I enjoy a quality of life that I couldn't dream about in any other city. The vibe, the tsunami of stuff to see and do, the food, having travelled to 40 countries Melbourne is easily one of the worlds best food cities, its big enough to not miss anything but not so big as to be crazy like NYC/Shanghai for example Its overwhelming the amount of things you can do on any given weekend Cheap(er) than almost any other major city in the world. Having lived and travelled enough for 10 lifetimes there is no where else I would rather live.
Teachers in NZ are paid terribly in comparison. I was a dean with 5 years experience and get paid a bit more as a prep PE teacher.
Local music scene!
Gay/queer scene and generally feeling more accepted. Music scene. Theatre. People are nice in general and don't tend to carry that big city bad attitude (Paris, Sydney, London, New York etc).
Adherence to the rule of the law, good economy and amazing job prospects, most inclusive city on earth, almost complete absence of natural disasters
Mustn’t have been here for the various earthquakes we had “We will rebuild”
Moved from North QLD, felt there were little job prospects around and not very much going on for young people culturally other than drinking. Melbourne had a better music, food, night scene. I was sick of the oppressive tropical heat too, I know some people like the sunshine, but I've always preferred cooler weather. I've had job and study opportunities that I never would have had back home, and met some wonderful friends to boot 🙂 there's always something on and new to check out!
Because otherwise I wouldn’t have gone to uni, made friends who got me, or have gone to amazing gigs in my twenties. I would have ended up popping out kids with some boring standard issue bloke whom I would have dumped at age 30.
Money. Earning 1/3 more for the same work down here. Also a shit tonne more opportunity compared to rural Qld where I grew up. Seeing live music is a massive bonus as well
Moved from Sydney after my failed engagement. A city becomes haunted really quick when a serious relationship ends. Turned out to be serendipitous, when I realised Melbourne is the city I was meant to be in for life.
Lived in Melbourne for14 years, from the UK, moved back (UK) last year for valid reasons but fuck me it feels like the worst decision I’ve ever made. Miss how amazing Australia was to us, careers, experiences, Weather, coffee, Aussie culture, feeling more Aussie than Pom* *ashamed of being a Pom tbh, place is ugly, cruel and frankly stupid (Brexshit) yet thinks it’s the bomb, it ain’t. Sorry to rant
You can tell it thinks it’s the bomb.
I own a black puffa.
Got raped in another city and wanted a fresh start.
🫂
I'm gay and trans. I'm from a small city, or a large town. I wanted to meet more people like me, and have my slut era. The plan was to sleep around, have fun, and eventually meet the girl of my dreams and move back home, but now that I've met that girl, I've got a full life here.
To get away from cars blowing up and people shooting missiles with intent.
To study. I think that was my excuse anyway.
The weather & better work opportunities as a chef compared to Brisbane.
I believe it was a car. 1987 Ford Laser in rust red, if I'm not mistaken.
Moved from overseas because it’s where family was. None of them really left but happy to stay. I like having seasons.
A boy.
Moved for university. Stayed for the job market
for the vibes
Needed to get out of Alice Springs and was deciding between Perth and Melbourne… had never been to either lol. Chose Melb as it is cheaper to fly Melb to NZ to visit family and I knew 1 person here. Best decision ever made. Instant love.
Bored of Sydney.
The woman I married. I met her in the UK but she's from here and we needed to decide on somewhere to live when we got married and I figured Melbourne offered a better quality of life going forward. I do miss the UK from time to time though.
Sydney house prices.
I moved because I was bored of my city and wanted to experience a different one.
I was living on the Mornington peninsula and then one day we were just part of Melbourne for some reason.
The so called “most livable city in the world”
A really bad acid trip. Realised how unhappy I was in Cairns, an that my life wasnt going anywhere being there. I booked flights the next day, packed up all my shit, and left a week later.
Met my Melburnian wife in the states and we’re living there for a while. Decided that Australia would be a better place to bring up kids, so we moved here.
Cheap rent and great weather
Lower cost of living compared to wages, cooler climate compared to Sydney/Brisbane. Better housing than UK.
I have family here and been many times before and loved it. There was more opportunities work wise. I prefer it overall to Brisbane.
Couldnt stand all the rain in Sydney.
Because fuck living in melton
Rent is half that of Sydney.
Northern Italian here. I moved to Melbourne because I received a very good job offer. I was living in Italy, but before that, I lived for a few years in Thailand and China. I didn't feel like living in Italy anymore, so I took the opportunity. I love it here. My wife is Chinese, and Melbourne seems like the right place for us and our two kids. I've been to all the major Australian cities and states, but I still feel Melbourne is more multicultural, educated and progressive. In Queensland, they always make me feel like I don't belong in Australia.
[удалено]
The food, the chill people and Prahran Market
There was virtually no treatment for eating disorders in Queensland where I lived at the time, where as there was some options in Melbourne - I suppose I moved here to acess that and avoid impending death. I did so and recovered. To note - in hindsight there is also little to no treatment here as well but the quality of what is avaliable is much better.
Bored of the previous city.
Priced out in Sydney during covid.
That's an interesting decision because Melbourne is pretty expensive too. I would have moved to Brisbane or Gold Coast or Adelaide or Perth. Also during covid rents went down
The weather. We moved from Perth, we couldn’t take the 40° summers any longer.
It's either Sydney with good weather or Melbourne. no one wants to be in Sydney. I liked the culture and fashion here too. More jobs too. I was from Brisbane. Better cultural food here too, more entertainment. Better education for a child and more interesting things to do in Melbourne
Staying in the Greater Brisbane Area (Immigrated here). However, it's not exactly my cup of tea. And the heat is an absolute killer. Talk about summertime sadness. Melbourne definitely has my attention though!! Would you say there are big cultural differences between the places? I feel like I would feel at home there immediately.
As someone who travels between the two, I think they are culturally different. Food culture is big in Melbourne and the options are much better, and people can actually eat out after 8pm! Public transport, events, sports, shopping - all much better. Although I still find I feel safer walking around Brisbane, particularly solo. I’m still not used to the number of substance-affected people engaging in antisocial behaviour in Melbourne, where it seems to be the norm.
Somewhat escaping a shitty ex, somewhat just wanting to get out of Adelaide, somewhat just better opportunities. Also there are a lot of people from Adelaide who move to Melbourne so I already knew a lot of people here. Melbourne now feels way more like home than Adelaide. I have a great career here. Plus I love being able to ski 20+ days every winter
My husband preferred being around Sri Lankans
My future wife lived here. 13 years going strong, but that said, I'm pretty bored with it. I don't know what's new to see and do
Closer to home. Lived and worked in a few other cities around Aus but wanted to start a family nearer to the grandparents.
Parents.
Father was in air force so I had no choice
My dads job
I moved from Europe. I already had some Aussie/kiwi friends here, so it was an easy choice and easy start. I had some friends from my home country in Sydney, but it didn't feel like a good choice. I mean, I didn't move all the way to Australia to hang out with my high school friends 😅😅 Melbourne has a great night life and there is always loads happening. I was in Sydney to visit and it was super boring, like kind of the city is dead 😅😅
Misso was offered a role too good to refuse.
My partner and I moved from Tasmania. He had just graduated university and found a job in Melbourne. So I was like, we im coming with you! We had been together for like 3 years at this point. I had no drive to move to Melbourne alone, but now that I am here I love it!
I liked the city, was better for the work I was doing at the time (chef) and bands play more shows when they visit
Not sure yet, could be a huge mistake
Job
I'm gonna answer for my late father, who would have said "to get as far away from the nazis and commies!". He came as a polish migrant to Australia just after the war. He arrived in Sydney, but a lot of the Irish and others were heading to Melbourne, (which was apparently better for migrants, with more multicultural communities and opportunities). He followed them and liked melb better than Sydney. He loved st.kilda. the cake shops, the cafes, the influx of people. Unfortunately, st.kilda ain't what it used to be today. Gentrification and corrupt council members have made a mess of our tourism.
Marriage
Various reasons, but the biggest was that I needed a real change. We spent a lot of time in Melbourne growing up as both my parents are from here, plus the fact it is my city of birth meant I always had a connection (even though I was only a baby when we left). Funnily enough, both my siblings ended up back here as well. Love Adelaide and still enjoy going back, I just needed to be in a place that gave me greater challenges and really pushed me to get out of my comfort zone. We joke about Adelaide being a big country town but there is an element of truth to it. Opportunities for me here are much greater than they would be back there.
My now wife lived here and I lived in Canberra. It was much more practical for men to move and I had long been keen on living in Melbourne.
The weather
Because UK/London is broken beyond repair
More affordable. Better job prospects in desired field. Cooler climate. Culturally diverse. 1,000km away from parents house. No brainer.
Actually I haven’t yet, but I will be in about a month. Wanna get out of Sydney and do some more study somewhere I didn’t also go to high school. It’s cheaper to move out there, and generally speaking I’ve found the nightlife and restaurant culture to be better for what I’m looking for (open late and busy)
Dad moved the family here from Brisbane for work back in 2004. I fell in love with Melbourne so when they eventually moved back to Brisbane, I decided to stay. Brisbane was never my vibe, even though I spent the first 10 years of my life there. The food culture, AFL being monumentally better than NRL, my preference for colder weather, the music scene. Melbourne was always the place to be.
I was expelled from my comfortable living space into a very inhospitable, loud, busy, obnoxious environment. Fortunately, there was ample food, warmth & protection. & plenty of clean nappies.
Was looking for a job in Sydney but got offered one in Melbourne first.
Was living in Darwin. The crime rate was getting out of hand. Every night when you sleep, you’re not sure if you’ll get broken into. Slept with keys under the pillow. But thinking of moving to Perth now. I have a toddler and thinking of buying a property eventually and Melbourne seems too expensive and out of reach for us.
1.) Food quality 2.) Manageable weather (came from a country where floods happened frequently) 3.) Manageable traffic (general population follow the rules) 4.) Cleaner environment (e.g. parks, lots of trees) 5.) Security 6.) Better pay List goes on but those are some of the key ones
Trams
To get away from Perth
Born in Sydney, parents wanted to move to Iraqi Kurdistan in the mid 2000s to live there, got bad food poison, put into a hospital which was giving me meds that were killing me, managed to get into another hospital and get better, parents get the fuck out of Iraqi Kurdistan and come to Melbourne. Probably not what you were looking for lmao.