It was over two years ago that I wrote my post And the Best City in Australia to Live in Is.. and anyone who did read that article will know the result at that time was Adelaide.
This particular poll, which was released March this year, was conducted on behalf of the Property Council of Australia who commissioned Auspol to survey almost 6000 Australian residents to ask their views about the cities in which they live.
So, two years on, has anything changed?
Well, yes, two years ago eight cities were involved, this year the poll reached out to 3 additional cities; Geelong, Wollongong and Newcastle. For those who would like to know, Geelong is about an hour’s drive west of Melbourne. Wollongong and Newcastle are both close to Sydney, being about an hour to the south and two hours to the north respectively.
With three new cities in the running, are we looking at a new Best liveable city in Australia?
No, it still Adelaide.
Here are the full results…
As you can see, each of the cities above are clickable links and if you visit those pages you will find out more about each of these places and how they performed in this poll. Except for Adelaide, click on that one and you’ll find out more about the last time that city came top in this poll.
The top two positions may have remained unchanged, but there are some interesting movers and shakers from two years ago. Both Melbourne and Perth (third and fourth last year respectively) have been nudged downwards by the newcomers and also by the standing of Brisbane (sixth last year).
Brisbane, despite being behind newcomers Newcastle and Geelong has leapfrogged both Melbourne and Perth this year to maintain their position. Sydney has moved off of the bottom spot they occupied two years ago at the expense of Darwin.
Probably the city that can be most proud of its performance this year though would be Hobart. Despite the involvement of three new cities, Hobart moved up from fifth two years ago to its current position of third.
Well deserved, in my book, I loved the place.
That’s a round up, but the report does raise other interesting issues.
The survey, just as it did two years ago, looked at 17 main attributes of our cities, and as a general rule Australians loved the wide range of recreational outdoor environments and that the natural environment is attractive. They also feel Australian cities have good schools and a vibrant cultural entertainment scene.
On the downside, Australians felt there was a lack of quality affordable housing in our cities, were not keen on the road networks and public transport services and felt that our cities lacked environmental sustainability.
Let’s take a look at some individual awards from those 17 attributes.
Best in Category…
Best for recreational outdoor environments; the winner is…
- Melbourne
Winner for most attractive natural environment…
- Hobart
Best schools and education facilities…
- Geelong
The best climate award goes to…
- Newcastle
Most vibrant cultural entertainment scene…
- Melbourne
The best balance of housing types goes to…
- Wollongong
The best health care services award goes to…
- Geelong
Best maintained and unpolluted…
- Canberra
The most diverse range of people who get along well…
- Canberra
Most attractive look and design…
- Melbourne
Best for employment and opportunities…
- Darwin
Most affordable for a good standard of living…
- Hobart
Safest for people and property…
- Canberra
The best road network award goes to…
- Darwin
And best public transport services…
- Darwin
Best for environmental sustainability…
- Canberra
Best for quality affordable housing…
- Geelong
Nothing for Brisbane in terms of top slot, but the biggest shock for me though was that the winner for the overall performance for state government went to Queensland!
Who knew?
It’s difficult to gauge how accurate or not this report is, with around 5800 polled over 11 cities, that’s only about 500 voices per city. Is it truly reflective?
Whether it is or isn’t, it’s certainly worth reading the full report if you are considering moving to a city in Australia sometime soon, you can download it here from the Property Council of Australia.
So, that’s the view of Australian cities by Australian residents. Two years ago my post on this subject caused quite a stir among the comments, as I write this there are over 250 posts discussing the pros and cons of these cities.
Wollongong did get a mention in those comments with a big thumbs up, but what do we all think today? Especially about those newcomers including Newcastle and Geelong, what’s your view?
It’s also interesting to note that none of Australia’s top four cities by population made the top five in this list; does smaller equal better?
Let us know what you think in the comments below…
Hey Bob,
Jackie here, I´m from Brazil, planning to immigrate to OZ with my husband and daughter soon. I would like to know if you have any opinions on how is the best city for immigrants, or if this doesn´t matter. Thanks!
No, I don’t think it matters at all, pretty much every one of our major cities is multicultural. You might like to read the following article:
https://www.bobinoz.com/blog/17428/who-lives-where-migrants-settling-in-australian-cities/
Cheers, Bob
Lol Bob hell yes it’s better than UK weather but I feel the cold full stop bit of a nesh however the climate here is very good and I have found that we have had more ‘ consistent hot weather ‘ in the autumn rather than the summer by that I mean we have gone weeks without any rain and the temp has stayed in the mid to high 20’s …. But hey no one can control the weather I am ashamed to say that I am now having to wear my fleece PJs and have purchased hot water bottles and its 16- 19 degrees but I don’t feel so bad when I see my Aussie pals wrapped up like its -5 outside 🙂
Yes, autumn is my favourite season here as well, it tends to be drier than summer and still plenty hot enough. Gets cold at night this time of the year though, I have been known to wear the occasional jumper myself 🙂
Having only lived in this beautiful country for 7 months I can only comment on Newcastle and a few trips to Sydney I live about 30 mins fom Newcastle and I absolutely love this city it’s vibrant clean and lots to do and see the boys loved their vist to Nobbys head and I can see why Newcastle is making an appearance in the list …. A lot of money has been and is been invested into Newcastle great restaurants lovely beaches there is so much to see and do and definitely worth a visit 🙂
Hi Becci
Sounds like a big thumbs up for Newcastle, and it’s good to hear that you have settled in to your Australian life so quickly. The only thing that really surprised me in the survey was the “best climate” vote there in Newcastle, is the weather that good?
Cheers! Bob
Sorry, update. Yes, of course it is, you came from the UK 🙂