Wow what a question. There are a few other Perthonalities here as well.
I have been to Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and I like Perth the best excepting for the nightlife/restuarants/Jamaican chocolate cake in Melbourne.
The weather is stinking hot and dry in the summer, hot and dry in spring, warm to hot in Autumn, and wet and coldish in winter. We have the worlds highest rate of pollen induced asthma (cause it doesnt rain enough to make the pollen stick to the ground, plants, etc)
Its very happy families here. Not as much as Adelaide but much more suburban than Sydney or Melbourne. If you have kids its a good place to raise them. Our average population is younger than anywhere bar Darwin so theres lots of schools etc. (but still not enough day care centres)
The cosmopolitian mix is different. We are technically the most multicultural state in Oz but its all different. Perth is very 'Asian' (if I can group half the planet together in that term). The food is mostly 'Asian' and Mediterranean.
We have good food here. Lots of fruit and fish. I think people in Perth are a bit more health conscious then the rest of Oz. Not as much junk food. And people dont eat it as much.
The lifestyle is slower than Sydney and Melbourne. Not as many bands, concerts, art comes to Perth. The same goes if you are artistic, your better off staying over East. You wont meet many people from New York in Perth, way to slow here for them. Mind you we appear to be getting a bit of a London influx at the moment, from my personal survey entitled 'Weirdos I Meet on the Bus'.
A lot of our events are outdoors eg the chilli crab festival, the sardine festival (today, yah!), the mussel festival, the chilli festival (crabs optional, but I believe you already have your own so youll be okay.
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We do have events that dont involve food but who cares about them
The Perth International Arts Festival is very good (I work somewhere connected to this so I may be considered biased as they give me 3 sets of free tickets a year. Which I go to, cause its good)
Dunno what the employment figures are at the moment but ours are usually less worse than other states. If you are prepared to do manual labour out in the desert mines then employment, in my understanding, is not that difficult to find. I work in Admin and have never had a problem finding work.
Real estate is cheaper than Sydney (isnt it everywhere?) but I dunno about the rest of the states anymore. We seem to be having an influx of migrants from the East as well as overseas (England, South Africa, Canada). Like everywhere we have some cheap suburbs that nobody would actually CHOOSE to live in.
I think our zoo is better than Taronga (sp?) and Melbourne. Our underwater world fish tank conveyor thingie is much better than Sydneys but I havent been to Brisvegas in a while so theres could be good to. Melbournes botanic gardens are better than Perths, actually ALL their gardens are better than ours, but then it rains there so they can have gardens. We are on twice weekly gardening watering roster so you either plant Mediterranean plants or watch your garden curl up and die. ie if you like English gardening dont come here.
The political climate is more conservate than Sydney or Melbourne which can be annoying, depending on your opinions.
Edited to add: If you like travel dont come here. The airfares are ridiculously high. The only place outside of Western Australia that is feasible to travel to is Bali (and Lombok, Phuket, those kind of places) If you want to live in Perth and travel - no can do Diedre.
So yeah, its fun but quieter here. If you like eating fish, having barbies, going to the beach, eating fish, raising children, and eating fish then its the place for you.
Thank you for asking this question. I had forgotten the sardy festival is on today. Cant miss that!
