28 May 2012

A tale of two cities: Canberra vs Sydney

| A_Cog
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I remember the very first time I saw Sydney. I can remember the exact words out of my mouth: Now this is a city I can like. I loved moving there a few years later, spending my formative youth on Sydney’s beaches and in its clubs. Of all the teenagers on the planet at that time, surely I was the winner of some sort of global geographical lotto. Ah, to be young in Sydney. It was a lovely life, a zenith of carefree intemperance. Then came the Olympics. In 2000, the winner really was Sydney.

But that isn’t true anymore. Like a lost civilisation, its highest forms of evolution and sophistication were also its downfall. Now it resembles a city eating itself, on that journey to inevitable decline. Its residents demand blood-sacrifice, hoping to appease the gods and end these troubled times. Strangled by its own greatness, now the darker aspects of Sydney’s personality dominate. Mr Hyde runs the city: terrible traffic, random alcohol-related violent crime in bars, dense and increasing population, an organised crime gang-war with constant drive-bys and arson, all the noise, disorganised crime, terrible pollution. People aren’t safe walking the streets or catching the trains. Literally. And soon, you will be drinking your own filth. The tension is ratcheted up daily. Sydney has become like the ‘State of Nature’ written of by Thomas Hobbes, a life of “every man against every man”, a life that is “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.”

Anarchy is a good word for it. No-one can stop it, or even control it. That horrendous incident in Kings Cross last month. Nearly every day is a drive-by or an arson in the bikie war. It is only a matter of time until innocents are killed in the crossfire. The wrong house strafed, the wrong building torched. And now, bikies use children to do drive-bys. Sydney is not just gripped in a bikie war, there are scooter wars too. Most NSW crimes are on the increase, especially shootings and abductions. Disregarding for a minute the crimewave from organised crime, Sydney residents are still faced with the disorganised crimewave. Some lunatic firing weapons at a Sydney bus (have services really become that poor under Barry O’Farrell? He has only been there for a year!) Neighbours are violently turning on each other with increasing frequency. More opportunistic crime by child gangs on international students riding public transport. But these are not recent phenomena. I am reminded of all the international students being robbed in Kingsford when I was at UNSW in the mid-2000s, or the 2009 violence against Indian students.

As the anarchy spreads and the tension builds, NSW takes on the feel of a failed state: losing control of its territory and its legitimate authority, increasingly undermined by morons and criminals, unable to provide public services or solve its problems or stop the rot. And if you thought the last state government was dodgy or corrupt, this sex scandal instance, or this undeclared donations instance, and this ministerial advisor instance should demonstrate that you didn’t elect angels last March. And then there’s this Orica one, this Star City one, this falsified statutory declaration one, this sanctioned workplace harassment one, this one on falsified carbon tax data… all since March 2011. The internal collapse of law and order, political corruption, the incapacity to provide poor residents with basic services such as health, education, transport – all are characteristic of a ‘failed state’. All that is missing are pirates (unless you count the politicians).

So what do you do? The only thing you can. Retreat into your homes, your sanctuaries. Fortress Sydney. But owning a home, one of the surest forms of security, is slipping further and further out of reach (and may actually have become unviable for most renters several years ago). In 2012, the 8th Annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey has calculated that house price to income ratios for Sydney are 9.2 (take an average Sydney income and multiply it by 9.2 and according to Demographia, that is the average Sydney house price). On the other side of the ratio debate is the Commonwealth Bank, purveyor of crushing debt, which in December 2010 attempted to seriously argue that the Sydney ratio was really only 4.3 at the time. But whatever the ratio may be (and I have something on this later), with current interest rates you will pay a bank $1.1m over 30 years to buy a home today for $500K. Crazy, right?

As Sydney descends into the anarchy of terrible crime, overcrowding, and horrendous house prices, millions of people cry out to the heavens for someone to help them (some sort of Jesus-Premier, perhaps?). What do I do? I bask in the warm glow of my own genius and luck at having moved from Dulwich Hill to Canberra just as the music stopped and the party stopped being fun. Perhaps it was when an old man broke into a Dulwich Hill house at 3am to assault a 6-year-old boy. This was very near my home where my little boy slept. Or perhaps it was when police-commandos nabbed 3 armed robbers in Dulwich Hill. Also very near my home. Or perhaps it was when a woman was sexually assaulted in Dulwich Hill as she walked on a footpath. Again, close to my home, on a footpath my wife and I often walked on. Or perhaps it was when a dozen afore-mentioned police-commandos grabbed a crim at my local Dulwich Hill petrol station at 5pm on a weekday, right in front of me. When a bland, nondescript, innocuous little suburb like Dulwich Hill turns noxious, the canary in the cage is definitely dead. But perhaps it was not the crime at all. Maybe it was that the road I commuted to work on five days a week on my way to Gladesville, Victoria Road, was consistently rated as Sydney’s slowest road. Or maybe it was the crushing realisation that I would rent forever, moving like a nomad every time the landlord decided to jack the rent up. With neither safety nor stability, I left. My home.

I could not save my friends though. They still love Sydney. The [packed] beaches, the [crowded] clubs, the [most expensive] life! Sydney now resembles 4 million miserable people huddled around a drain. I admit that the drain is picturesque. I used to live in Watson’s Bay, way back when it was quiet (now you understand my earlier comment re: global geographical lotto). But most people only ever glimpse the Harbour as they cross the Bridge on their mega-commutes, so sticking with Sydney just because of a view snuck out of a window does not appear rational. If you have read any behavioural economics, or even any columns by Ross Gittins, Economics Editor for the Sydney Morning Herald, you know that humans are funny creatures, often doing things detrimental to their interests because of emotional factors. What we think will make us happy often doesn’t. Our paths to happiness are often counter-intuitive.

But like a bad partner in a bad relationship, there comes a time when you must gather the courage and say ‘enough, I’m leaving you!’ Don’t be scared. I am here to tell you that hope lives, and it lives just over three hours away to Sydney’s south-west, in Our Nation’s Capital, Canberra.

Canberra is lovely. It is quiet, safe, easy, and spacious. Using this city radius map tool, I calculated that I live 11.3km from the CBD. This morning it took me 15 minutes to drive during peakhour. Can someone living in Sans Souci, Hurstville, Kingsgrove, West Ryde, French’s Forest or Allambie Heights say that? And the job market is great. During the GFC for instance, the national unemployment rate was 5.7% but the Canberra’s was 2.9%. Much more recently, in April 2012, the NSW rate was 4.9% but the ACT rate was 3.3% (also the lowest in Australia).

Then take into account ABS AWOTE data (average wage figures for people who work full time in ordinary jobs) in Canberra compared to other cities. Of all the AWOTE figures, the best sub-category for my situation is column H: Earnings; Persons; Full Time; Adult; Ordinary time earnings. This is because I do not own an investment property to rent it out to someone, I do not derive incomes from other ventures like shares or a small business, and I rarely have to work overtime. I am just a guy, working fulltime and raising my kids with an ideal work/life balance thanks to a great job in a great public service. The national AWOTE figure is around $1330 (giving a salary of just under $70K). The NSW AWOTE is $1332.30 (still just under $70K) but the ACT AWOTE is $1543 (over $80K). All things being equal, an average Canberra fulltime office-worker earns a higher wage here than a Sydney worker. A rare example of when it is good to be average.

Then there is the superannuation difference if you work in the Sydney economy which is dominated by the private sector or the public-sector dominated economy of Canberra. Even when the new super laws come into effect and boost the super rate from 9% to 12% for private sector employees, public servants will still be more than 25% better off (we already earn 15.4% super), just as a proportion of wages being siphoned into super.

When you plug-in the AWOTE numbers to extrapolate super contributions, largely private sector Sydney workers on current AWOTE wages will have nearly $8,400 put into super per year (under the impending 12% rate), but Canberra public servants, with their 15.4% super rate and their higher average wages, have $12,351 (which is 50% greater). Add to that the magical powers of compound interest (and using a quick-and-dirty calculation which does not include wage rises) and across a working life of 40 years (with a conservative annual rate of return of 5%) the Sydney private sector employee is $529K poorer for not choosing a Canberra public service career, just in super funds: $1,124,590 versus $1,653,549. Also remember that this quick and dirty calculation does not take into account CPI wage increases or public service HR processes and promotions, which are vastly better in the public service than the stingy private sector, squeezing its employees with specious arguments about ‘productivity’.

So if you live in Canberra, you earn more money, you have much more super and if you do lose your job, the unemployment rate shows that you will find another one quickly. But wait, there’s so much more.

According to April 2012 house price data from RP Data, the average house price in Canberra is $572,500. Sydney is $572K. OK, so houses are about equal. Or are they? Block size data from 2010 shows that within 10km of the Canberra CBD, blocks average 798m2; in Sydney it is 443m2. For blocks more than 10km from the CBD, the Sydney size ‘balloons’ out to 690m2 and the Canberra size shrinks to 773m2. And getting to your home involves commuting through Sydney traffic for the 4 million Sydney-siders, compared to the 350,000 Canberrans. What about apartments close to the city? Table 1c of the RP Data report shows that Canberra flats are $52K cheaper than Sydney ones.

So when you combine the AWOTE figures with what you’re likely to spend most of it on (rent or mortgage), Canberrans can buy a house for the same price as one in Sydney, or they can buy a Canberra apartment for 11% less than a Sydney apartment, but they earn 15% more as an average wage than if they worked in Sydney. With much higher wages, Canberrans can pay off the mortgage faster than a Sydney-sider, so they pay the bank less interest over the life of the mortgage, which means more money for themselves. Canberrans can grow their equity faster and then enjoy the benefits by getting a second property (look at the Canberra rental yields on table 1d of the RP Data report) or enjoying their lives with frequent travel or whatever they choose to fill their quiet suburban lives with.

To return to the ‘house price to income ratio’ issue for a minute, Demographia said the ratio was 9.2 for Sydney, and the Commonwealth Bank said it was 4.3. Given that RP Data estimated the average Sydney house price at $572K, this would mean that the average wage using Demographia’s ratio is $62K, but the CBA’s figure would be $140K. Compare these to the ABS AWOTE figure, and a question arises: which bank is hopelessly out of touch with the average Australian? If your wage is closer to the Demographia figure than the CBA figure, it is time to move.

There are more costs involved in living than just rent or a mortgage. Which is where Mercer’s 2011 Cost of Living Survey comes in handy. Canberra is cheaper than Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane. So, 15% higher wages, lower unemployment, $529K more super for a public service career, 11% cheaper flats, much smaller mortgage debt, lower overall cost of living, faster equity, less traffic. Surely, the crime rate is bad? Well, no. Canberra is much safer than Sydney (and every other jurisdiction in nearly every comparison). Even Queanbeyan (beside the ACT but inside NSW) has much lower crime than NSW generally. Queanbeyan is literally beside the ACT, and is 12km from the Canberra CBD.

Be not afraid or doubtful. Do not regard me as a mythological Siren, luring you with my enchanting facts to shipwreck yourselves on the rocky coast of our nation’s capital territory. And pay no attention to Guy Pearce bagging Canberra. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about. He was born in England for starters, he spends alot of time in LA, and he barracks for Geelong. Fatal character defects, all, not redeemed by being married to a psychologist wife with one of the coolest tattoos in history.

We all know people who evangelise something that they found helpful: this diet will change your life just as it changed mine; The Wire is the greatest TV series ever so don’t waste your time watching anything else; let God into your life and we can explain away all your failure and mediocrity by dressing it up in ridiculous arguments about ‘grace’ and ‘His plan’. But this is not that. I am not evangelising. Well, maybe a little. But look at my numbers, read my sources, and test my argument. Then ask yourself: what is more important? The life behind, or the life ahead?

Now, I will admit, under certain conditions Canberra (and Queanbeyan) is boring. If you are 22 and work in a part-time job like hospitality or retail, there is nothing to do here. No beaches, few clubs. But that’s about the only differences there are. There are galleries, museums, national parks, malls, pubs, clubs, sport, all of the social and cultural infrastructure of a major city like Sydney, but with far fewer people clogging them up. There is an extremely rich cultural life, and it is not only for the effete elite. Summernats is in Canberra, as are many music festivals like Foreshore, the National Folk Festival, Stonefest, and the Canberra International Music Festival. There is the Royal Canberra Show and Floriade. The ski slopes are an hour away. There are four universities here. Almost everyone in Canberra is a member of an amateur sporting team, and ACT resident participation in sport is the highest of all states and territories. This place is blessed. Some things are strikingly ideal, others quirkily less-so; Canberra is a little bit Stepford and a little bit Steptoe. And if you get homesick, Sydney is only a 3-hour drive.

There are two serious drawbacks though. The drivers are terrible. They cannot merge and they drive 50 in a 60 zone and 80 in a 100 zone. I am seriously ready to snap. And city traffic planners have not heard of this thing called a straight line. So, on occasion, I have called this place ‘Our Nation’s Crapital’. But how is Sydney life better than here? What do Sydney-siders spend their weekends doing now? What did I do once my son was born? What all parents do: chores. I finished my Master’s degree whilst working fulltime. I washed, I cleaned, I shopped, I worked, I drove, I packed, I earned, I paid. And if these are the things that must be done, then why not do them in a place where the wages are higher, the debts are smaller, the crime is negligible, the air is clean, the people are happy, the traffic is a joke (but so is the local standard of driving) and the career is much more fulfilling?

Working as a public servant is great. Instead of working for some profit-driven firm selling some product for some purpose to some guy, or growing someone else’s wealth, I help plan, build and maintain the society which sustains all of us. It is just like working in the rewarding NGO and social services sectors, but with much better pay and with actual prospects of making a difference. The work is thrilling. I am not interested in making a fortune; just making a life and making a difference.

Humans cling to memories, to what was special. And that is important. What we have done defines who we are. But it is more important to recognise that sometimes our old loyalties are stopping us from living up to our new ones. Sometimes we need to stop focussing on what we did and focus on what we need to do next. Stop clinging to the memories of the friends and beaches and nightclubs. Those days are gone. If you’ve had kids, all your childless friends have likely dropped off the radar anyway, you’re too neurotic to let your kid go anywhere near a beach with its hazards of skin-cancer/drowning/hypodermic needle/shark attack/sand, and you can’t go clubbing because you’re asleep by 10pm, even on weekends. So if you’re living in Sydney, raising kids, clinging to a life already lost, it’s time to let go of it and embrace the next stage. And in Canberra, what a wonderful life it is.

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Ive recently moved back to sydney after nearly a decade in canberra. We sold our house in canberra, and bought a nice place in the leafy north of sydney on 1/3 acre block a short walk to train station. Thanks to how expensive canberra now is i only needed a relatively small mortgage and it surprised me. I must say the work situation is much better for me in sydney. The risk averse public sector culture makes achieving things much tougher than it ought be and was a sourc of frustration for me. I’m loving being in sydney. If you can set up well here its great – but it would be pretty challenging otherwise. I also like that as my kids leave home they wont necessarily move away and i’ll still likely to see them, and as prices go up in sydney and down in canberra following the coming squeeze i wont feel trapped. But canberra is a great place – i miss some things already and it will be nice to visit.

Madam Cholet1:12 pm 30 May 12

Must admit I have been avoiding reading this one, but glad I finally clicked. Whilst I must admit to not reading all of it, I get the general gist.

We came to Canberra 10 years ago. Was spending an hour each way on the bus in Sydney to go 12k’s to work. That, coupled with another real life changing event culminated in waking up one day and deciding that we needed to move on. We got married at Lanyon Homestead, bought a house within three years and now have an investment property that we rent as a holiday place down the coast. We now earn more than double what we did in Sydney.

Of course, it depends on who you are as to what you will achieve and location is not necessarily going to improve anything, however Canberra is a place where our life has flourished.

We visit family in Sydney occassionally and when we get to Campbelltown on the freeway we always start wondering if we should turn back it’s just so awful. It is a bit first worldy to bang on about and if others want to have their anti-Canberra views that’s fine. I do however feel sorry for anyone who has not tried life outside of a big city as they just don’t know what they are missing. And Canberra has the best of both worlds – city for work where we get paid well, and green leafy suburbs where we can spread out and raise families whilst not having to live on top of our neighbours.

Good on you for taking the plunge and looking at life through a different set of eyes to everyone else. All power to those kind of people.

binglebonk_the_elf12:06 pm 30 May 12

We moved here a few years ago to escape the rat race of Sydney, and to be in a more natural environment. A tree change one might say. And, yes, we certainly got it. The fresh air, seasons, birds, etc etc have all satiated our needs for getting out from under the flight path and into our 876 sq metres of wooded bliss.

There are some things obviously wrong with Canberra – it can be sport and kids non stop. This can be a little tiresome for a bookish homo such as myself. So it can be a love-hate relationship I have with this City I call home. If only the Canberra government would give tax breaks to big business so the workforce isn’t as homogenised.. Imagine if Telstra or Dell had their head office here…

I think something also has to be done with the architecture too. Please – Molonglo I’m looking at you – Please! No more cardboard cut out, soul-less, collumned, houses. We have one Gungahlin. We don’t need another.Exciting and interesting archetecture could turn this city around… IMHO.

Overall though, I think we just have to accept it for what it is. It is not Sydney. Or Melbourne. It is our small country town with lots going for it. Lots of European countries have small cities that people love… In this changing world, isn’t the optimum to have a small, green, community, rather than the Sydney model?

Kerryhemsley said :

It is evidendent that some people in Canberra still have an unhealthy obsession with Sydney. Why do we need to justify living here by writing 3036 words criticising another city. You make a choice on where you live. Enjoy it and don’t stress.

Yup.

Ryoma said :

This city does have its problems, and while I am keen on contributing to solving them, I don’t want half the world to know how good we have it…so let’s not boast about it when we go interstate, OK? It can be the secret of those smart enough to live here 😀

I think you’re safe, certainly as far as this thread is concerned. I doubt most people will have the attention span to draw a conclusion from the polemics here 😉

And besides, there’s a large gamut of Australia society that will always recoil in horror at the thought of exchanging a beach for a green petrie dish.

Kerryhemsley9:31 am 30 May 12

It is evidendent that some people in Canberra still have an unhealthy obsession with Sydney. Why do we need to justify living here by writing 3036 words criticising another city. You make a choice on where you live. Enjoy it and don’t stress.

A_Cog, I’m glad to here you are happy here, and I agree with much of what you say. I grew up in Melbourne, and have much the same feeling these days towards it as you do towards Sydney.

It’s OK to go back for a visit, and I wish we had trams/trains/light rail up here, but there’s no way I would want to live in most of it anymore. It is not the relaxed, green city I grew up in anymore, but a crowded, congested mess.

I don’t know Sydney very well, but aside from the beauty of the harbour, and the diversity of shopping and architecture any big city would have, I don’t think any better of it as a place to live than Melbourne. If I have to put with the hassles anny big cities bring, I’d rather live overseas.

When I first moved up here, some of my friends were horrified. A chorus of “there’s nothing to do up there, it’s just roundabouts and politicians” went up. So I asked them what they thought Canberra didn’t have. Culture – well, aside from all of the national cultural institutions, there are local galleries and festivals, and a lot more going on that visitors don’t see. Sport – there is the AIS, and Canberrans are involved in anny number of sports, as well as having a number of national level teams. Diversity – the population here is much more multicultural than they (or I!) expected, and the Multicultural Festival backs up that view. I love the farmer’s markets here too 🙂

More than that, I asked these people how often they accessed Melbourne’s cultural, sporting, and diversity-based attractions. The answer was; a couple of times a year, because they all lived at least an hour away from where things happened in the inner suburbs. When I mentioned I was a 10 minute drive from the galleries, and 5 minutes walk from Civic, they were astounded. (I now live further out than that). Case closed 🙂

I’m not finding being a public servant as fulfilling as you, but I have plans to change that, because I have been attending the ACT Chamber of Commerce’s Young Business Networking sessions, among others. Canberra has an incredibly diverse private business community doing some incredible stuff that I find really inspiring!

And at the end of the day, maybe the main point is this; past a certain point in time, you stop worrying about what you “should” be doing according to external sources, be they friends and family, or various media trying to tell you that “the good life” happens somewhere else. Instead, you start to realise that what matters is what counts to you personally, and how you choose to spend your time. Being involved in art,sport, music or whatever else can be incredibly rewarding no matter where you are in the world, and I find that I need external stimulus less often now.

When I do, there is always Sydney right down the road, but much better is the chance to go overseas on holiday. Japan is my eternal favourite for any number of reasons.

Finally, though, as much as I love Canberra, I think we should both be quiet now. This city does have its problems, and while I am keen on contributing to solving them, I don’t want half the world to know how good we have it…so let’s not boast about it when we go interstate, OK? It can be the secret of those smart enough to live here 😀

Holden Caulfield10:35 am 29 May 12

Primal said :

tl;dr. Short version anyone? I’m getting a ‘Sydney is arse’ vibe from the tone of the comments.

Yep, that and he’s avoiding the fact that he’s simply matured, like we all do, and his interests have changed.

I’ve always thought that 90% of the world’s problems can be traced back to issues of over-population.

We’re constantly assured that the purpose of letting 150k or so ([please feel free to correct me on this figure) immigrants into the country each year is essential in propping up the economy by way of providing a willing working class to perform the menial jobs that the rest of us snub our noses at. But the problem is the overwhelming majority of such immigrants seem to only want to live in the already-overcrowded cities rather than being spread across emerging centres like Tamworth or Armidale for example. I guess coming from somewhere like Delhi, Sydney looks like a ghost town.

Beserk Keyboard Warrior9:16 am 29 May 12

Well written poetic rant.

However any cursory inquiry into crime stats and you’d discover violent crime has decreased steadily every year, in every capital city in Australia. The media just jumps all over any violent crime these days. Rants like this just foster moral panic.

As for being a complete cesspit, it’s been that way since the 1950’s. What a horrible, unfriendly city it is. It’s stunning harbour is it’s only saving grace.

I-filed said :

There is only one Canberra; there are more than two Sydneys. Depends which Sydney you’re comparing with. Northern beaches? No contest.

Agreed. I used to work in an office in Sydney where one of the guys would spend two hours a day in his car commuting into work across the Spit Bridge. 30 minutes of bike riding to get to and from work Canberra really is bliss.

mattapalooza8:45 am 29 May 12

That’s all very cute, and yes I’m sure Sydney is the devil and is quickly falling into a hole of which it shall never escape.

That shouldn’t divert the attention away from the fact that Canberra is but a pale shadow of its former self.
This city will be going much the same way unless there are attempts to rediscover its soul.

A very bleak outlook to follow……I was suprised to meet a random traveller in Spain who agreed with my sentiments!!

There is only one Canberra; there are more than two Sydneys. Depends which Sydney you’re comparing with. Northern beaches? No contest.

This post needs a poll at the end asking “did you read this whole post?”

I’m betting not many did…

I certainly didn’t. It feels like a very long article from a weekend newspaper, and only deserved a skim. I didn’t like the self-congratulatory tone either.

downindowner7:14 am 29 May 12

Agree Sydney is increasingly difficult to live in; it’s experiencing the problems common to big cities.
That’s why Canberra needs to be smart now about investing in the sort of infrastructure that will avert some of these problems: and I’m not talking about roads. For more, refer to previous threads on cycle paths and light rail.
High crime and expensive real estate are symptoms of social disparity, but you start trying to tinker with that stuff and people will call you all sorts of names, especially with reference to the great philosopher economist Karl Marx – oops what a give away.

😀 /me claps.

That, sir, was one kickarse rant. I grew up in Sydney, left in the mid-70s, and I’ve never looked back. Perhaps if I had a waterfront mansion with its own helipad and helicopter I’d still enjoy living there for the beauty of that magnificent harbour, but only under those conditions. Every time I visit the place I mourn for what it used to be and can’t wait to get out.

What should frighten the living daylights out of us all, though, is the insane – and increasingly successful – push by the development lobby and its tame governments of both persuasions to turn our Canberra idyll into the worst of Sydney.

Absolutely! Many of my friends are from Melbourne or Adelaide and they complain about Canberra being very expensive. I’m an ex-Sydneysider and I love how cheap things are here (except veges: what’s with the price of veg here?)
Like you, we had abandoned all hope of ever owning our own property, but we moved into our own house a couple of years ago here in Canberra. It’s a bit too small for our family, and we pay a s***load on our mortgage, but at least we can do it.
We love the huge variety of things to do. Particularly when so many of them are free or cheap. There’s loads of paths and open space for cycling and running, so our lifestyle is far more active than in Sydney. I cycled in Bondi. Once. I think I developed PTSD and never did it again.

Love love love Canberra.

I only go to Sydney for sex, but now that Ken’s at Kensington has closed even that is in jeopardy.

Myles Peterson12:21 am 29 May 12

Pleasure to read. Don’t agree with all of it, but the journey was rewarding.

Sydney is out of control, but this is the vision our leaders have for all our cities. Melbourne is facing down the barrel too.
http://www.populationparty.org.au is the alternative to Labor, the Liberals and the Greens who spruik “big Australia”. Big Australia = big cities. Sydney is the first to fall. We’re all going to follow.

Great article. One only needs to catch a Murrays bus in to Sydney Central, then walk down Pitt Street to the Quay to get a true feel of the degeneration that has taken place there… if it doesn’t give you a headache before you reach your destination from all the noise that pollutes the place.

If someone wants to step off a plane and into Australia, then it’s easiest to do so in Sydney or Melbourne for the most part. If I was entering Australia illegally, I would arrive in Sydney then disappear down some alley way in a neighbourhood whose residents spoke my native language. Harder to do that in Canberra. Just saying.

I give rioters a lot of credit. This is the only forum I know of on the interne,t that would read a post as long as the one from Op & give feedback on the matter.

As for me, tl;dr.

tl;dr. Short version anyone? I’m getting a ‘Sydney is arse’ vibe from the tone of the comments.

is this the longest post ever on Rioact? 3036 words!!

bikhet said :

Shut up! Shut up! The buggers might hear you and come here!

Too late if you ask me, filth have already infiltrated this city. Burnt out cars, burgarly and so on.

Everything he said is true. Hopefully, not too many Sydney residents will ever come to understand this thought, otherwise they’ll all come flooding down here and we really will have to block the border.

I like to visit friends in Sydney occasionally, but I would never, ever, ever want to live there on a fulltime basis.

ainira said :

Not sure if it’s the pregnancy hormones or not, but when I was in Sydney CBD two weeks ago, I found the smog incredibly unbearable…

Sydney smog contains pregnancy hormoes!?!? I’m not going there, I don’t want to catch pregnancy.

bikhet said :

Shut up! Shut up! The buggers might hear you and come here!

+100 bikhet

I grew up in Sydney too and moved here about 6 years ago. Whenever I think longingly of Sydney and its nightlife and historic buildings, all I have to do is drive on Pennant Hills Road when I’m visiting in-laws and any urge to return to Sydney quickly evaporates 😛

Also, the air is so much cleaner here. Not sure if it’s the pregnancy hormones or not, but when I was in Sydney CBD two weeks ago, I found the smog incredibly unbearable…

Rubbish, A_Cog. Sydney hasn’t changed; your rose-coloured glasses just faded! Don’t worry; at 22 that’s supposed to happen. My glasses started fading a little earlier; I was 18 when I was woken by the sound of the gunshots that killed John Newman. I wasted another 3 years before I discovered that the best thing about Sydney is that it has roads out in almost every direction.

As much as I agree that NSW is a failed state, and that corruption and crime is so culturally ingrained as to be completely irreversible, this hasn’t come about recently. It began with Bligh’s government in the early 1800s and has continued in the same direction ever since (except for a few glimmers of hope when Henry Parkes was the colony’s Prime Minister that were quickly extinguished).

The best account of Sydney’s spiral into an anarchy with a veneer of order is John Birmingham’s Leviathan. It’s slightly longer than your account, but somewhat more accurate historically. I highly recommend it.

+1 to bikhet. I was a refugee from Sydney, and now return there only for family events. When I come back, it is wonderful to shake the stink and humidity out and to realise that civic solipsism is not universal. We have enough irresponsible morons here to make it unnecessary to encourage more from the Sewer on the Harbour.
If someone dropped a H-bomb on the dump, there would be very little loss of intelligent life.

I’m just glad to find an out-of-towner who sees Canberra as more than an amorphous blob of bureaucrats and politicians.

Shut up! Shut up! The buggers might hear you and come here!

boneymaloney4:31 pm 28 May 12

You make Sydney sound like Johannesburg, calm down.

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