Moving Abroad - Australia vs America

movinghelp

Yes ideally I would get a car (nothing too fancy) as I would probably travel fairly regularly to my godmothers if I moved to Melbourne as she lives down the coast and the bus is pretty irregular. In Sydney I would also want to get around with a bit more freedom then public transport generally allows.

Generali

If you live in a city centre and very rarely travel to the suburbs then callum is right. Very few Aussies live like that as they were generally born in the burbs even if they live in the centre now so have mates and family to visit.

I have known other Brits that live like callum says though and for occasional use a hire car (hourly or daily) might suit in that situation.

lady1964

My daughter lives in Sydney & doesn't have a car, she can get everywhere locally she needs to either on foot or by public transport. On the odd occasion she has gone out of the city, Hunter Valley for example, her & her friends have hired a car for the day, it works out fairly inexpensive.
Having spent time in Sydney, public transport is great, it's inexpensive, frequent and generally very nice.

She & her house-mate rent out the parking space attached to their apartment for approx $80 (Aus) per week so parking costs may be a consideration in Sydney (I don't know about Melbourne).

movinghelp

Thanks again for all the replies. Still haven't progressed with the NY job opportunity, waiting to hear back from HR but found out the holiday would be pretty decent 20 + 7 flex days and salary 'wouldn't be a problem' based on my current earnings. Also had a job spec through for Oz (same role exists in Melbourne and Sydney) with salary quoted at 100-120 Aus $. Unfortunately whatever salary I get would probably need to support both of us for quite a while until my OH found a job.

SnooksNJ

Pincher wrote: »

I lived and worked in New Jersey around 1994.
New York was about 30 minutes drive away from Upper Montclair, where there was a bus that goes to Port Authority building. Amazingly, I have a neighbour two doors down in London, who worked for Port Authority, and lived in Hoboken.


I know this woman who is alive today, because she was late getting to work on 9.11: at the World Trade Centre. She comes in by train from New Brunswick: beyond Newark.


If you are childless and trendy, and can afford Manhattan, that's where you should be. If you are just a commuter office slave, like us real people, you will end up living in New Jersey, where it's cheap and boring, and you might as well be in Melbourne.

South Jersey is inexpensive, North Jersey isn't. Plus if you buy add about $20K a year in RE taxes.

movinghelp

Update - the role in NY is no longer available which kind of makes the decision for me as if I can't transfer internally I cant get a visa. Something else might open up I suppose but going to try and progress with Oz in the meantime.

callum9999

movinghelp wrote: »

Update - the role in NY is no longer available which kind of makes the decision for me as if I can't transfer internally I cant get a visa. Something else might open up I suppose but going to try and progress with Oz in the meantime.

Thanks for updating - it's a bit irritating when people ask for advice etc. then don't say how it turned out/whether it was useful etc.!

I'm incredibly biased because of my love of the country, but I suspect that will be a blessing in disguise!

movinghelp

Ah no problem, to be honest my reaction when I found out the job was no longer available was mainly relief so that's pretty telling. Just trying to push on with Aus now, the time difference really isn't helping plus I know they struggle to take you seriously if you're not in the country already. I've also got a 3 month notice period I'm likely to have to try and negotiate..

ibizafan_2

While not particularly relevant to your original question, I have stayed in the US with American friends several times, and also in Oz as my son has emigrated there. If I had to choose a country to live in out of the two, it would be Australia. I much prefer the way of life there, and while admitting that the weather does play some part in this, it just seems a more relaxed culture. Also, Australians seem more interested in what's going on in the rest of the world, and keen to travel to other places or already have. It's hard to put a finger on it, but their way of life seems more compatible with how we live in the UK. However, I'm sure others will think differently.

movinghelp

No that is a useful insight. Unfortunately my 3 month notice period is causing a bit of a barrier. The job opportunity I had in Melbourne is no longer available so I'm looking at a different role but will wait and see.