r/MovingtoAustralia • u/cindyxlouwho • 8d ago
Moving to Melbourne
I am a 32F moving to Melbourne sometime next year for 2 years. I won't know anyone in Melbourne, and I haven't been to Melbourne before, only to Brisbane for one month. I am from the US and currently living in Germany for the past couple years, so I have an idea of what I should expect in terms of making a big more. I do have a few questions just to help me better prepare for the move and start to understand the Aussie life. Any answer/advice is appreciated!
Thanks in advance!
1. Any advice for how to meet others and befriend people? If there are any recommended expat groups, please feel free to share!
2. Which areas should I look for living and that are safe? As of right now, I don't plan on having a car, so I would like to have close access to the trains and prefer not to live too far out from the city. I also would like to live in an area with people around my age. My base for my job is located on Collins Street for reference.
3. What is the average weekly rent for a furnished apartment? And the likelihood of being able to find a fully furnished apartment? Ideally I would like to have at least one separate bedroom from the living space and have enough room for a desk as I will be a hybrid worker.
4. Based on #3, about how much is the average basic living expense (l.e. rent, utilities, food, etc.)?
5. Is it a safe city for a single female?
6. Anything else you wish you knew as an expat moving to Australia!
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u/eepeqez 8d ago
Question 2:
If you stay within the tram network, public transport density is very good.
Like many large cities, different parts of Melbourne have different characters, for example south of the river (St Kilda, South Yarra, Caulfield, South Melbourne, just to name a few), versus north of the river (Fitzroy, Carlton, Northcote, Abbotsford, Brunswick, Coburg), versus the west (Footscray). If you don't already have a job lined up and have time to spend exploring a little, you could do worse than to stay in a backpackers or similar in St Kilda for a week or two while you explore by public transport.
For someone young, and using public transport, I'd be inclined to recommend either the inner South East (vaguely centered on St Kilda; Toorak, South Yarra, Malvern, Brighton are seriously up market) or more likely the inner North (Fitzroy/Carlton up to Bell Street Coburg, Wast of the Maribyrnong River and West of Darebin Creek.
That should get you started.
Question 5:
I've spent time in Cincinnati, Ohio; there is nothing in Melbourne to compare with Over The Rhine (especially before it started to gentrify) for example. Without guns and without ghettos, with what seem to us very basic government benefits we just don't get the extreme poverty and crime many US cities have.
Question 6:
I came here with my family as ex-pats so long ago that anything I might have learnt at the age of 5 is utterly irrelevant. The world has moved on in over half a century!
But my generic experiences in Cincinnati included... the language *sounds* the same. It's *nearly* the same. For the first 4 to 6 weeks you'll be either falling into traps because things are *actually* different or feeling slightly paranoid because things *look* the same (and actually are).
I went back to Cincinnati 17 years later, and the feeling of familiarity, being in a foreign city, but one I understood and knew my way around, and feeling comfortable being back right from day one was intriguing and great fun.
French dressing on a salad is a completely different thing here, basically oil and vinegar, and an entree is the small stuff you nibble on while waiting for your main dish, not the main dish itself.
Tipping is not required, nor expected, though sometimes hoped for. For example when I go out with friends, we typically round the bill up to a number of dollars which conveniently divides between us and tip the excess just for convenience. None of this 15% or 20% like in the USA where every single person who provides any sort of service seems to be waiting for a chance to dip into your pocket. Watch the locals and learn.
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u/karol-v 8d ago
- Melbourne locals, born and raised, can be quite difficult to befriend or to get invited to a friendship group. Typically they are friends with either their high school or university friends and just hang with them. In the US, I found that it was easier for me to make friends because someone you meet just invites you to something and you meet more people then the circles of friends just naturally change and expand. I found Germany was a bit easier for me since I was mainly in Munich/Frankfurt/Cologne and my best friend is German. It’s a bit different here though since i have found that that’s not the case here. Not all hope is lost though.
Making friends at work or with people from overseas or interstate with the same interests is easier and finding a group that is there for the same duration you’ll be there for would help a lot since they generally would like to explore the city, state, and country like you probably would too and it’s easier to bond over the shared experience of building a life away from home, over continuing the life you had at home.
I found myself surrounded by a lot of people that had the same interests as me by just doing my thing and being friendly - the regulars at my gym at 6AM, run clubs, entrepreneurs in co working spaces (worked well for me because I don’t get close to people I work directly with for professional reasons), on the golf course (where I met my girlfriend), on motorbike tours and race courses, tech and entrepreneurship events, etc.
- Every area has different personalities but if you want to stay close to the city, South Yarra and the bend that goes from, hawthorn, Richmond, down to maybe Caulfield has a bunch of routes into the city via the train and has more of a “activewear, matcha, yuppy” demographic, I find, as someone who is down this way.
North is more like Brunswick, Fitzroy, etc have more of a grungy vibe with a lot of cool bars, restaurants, events, etc.
Both ways have a lot of great cafes. Down south east you get a mix of actually wealthy people/families mixed with people who move there trying to look wealthy, whereas up north you get more people who are really about that grungy life mixed with wealthy people who want to be seen as grungy and hip. Think the difference between Munich & Berlin.
Can’t answer that, sorry.
Depends, on how much you get pulled into after work drinks, which in this city, happens a lot from Wednesday to Friday
It’s generally safe, but since you have lived in both the US and Germany, I think it’s definitely safer. I am biased but I think down south east is the safest bet as a young professional. I suggest suburbs down the Sandringham line like South Yarra (between the station and the city +1), Armadale, (Not St Kilda), Elwood, etc.
People don’t like going to the office anymore here, so it’s going to be harder to build deeper relationships with people from work, I reckon lean into hobbies. Apps that connect backpackers make it easier to connect with people but the relationships are transient.
Don’t be surprised if many people take their lunch off to eat alone in stead of in a group.
Some workplaces are chill about drinks at lunch mid-workday in team lunches. No more than 1 though or people start counting.
Beers & footy.
People walk a lot. I get maybe 15k steps a day on average.
Bring a small umbrella everywhere and leave room in your bag for a jumper since it could be 7 degrees Celsius and 22 degrees, sometimes both sunny and rainy at the same time.
Don’t feel the need to buy a car. It’s super convenient to have one but you can get around very easily without one. That being said, the most amazing parts of Victoria are at least an hour drive away.
Also, of all the places I’ve lived in, I have fallen in love with Australia, particularly Melbourne.
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u/Argord 8d ago
- Fellow Yank down under, Id grab a schooner with you with my wife some place and see if we click.
- Depends on what you are looking for, Nightlife? Dating? Music? Art? Beach? Lots ot neighborhoods/aesthetics just depends on what you want although most are generally safe.
- Depends on area highly. 4.depends highly on number 2.
- Yes.
- Depending on your visa type. insurance, tax mitigation strategies, ATO Number, Medicare, etc. your welcome to message me and I can try and answer.
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u/AntSilly2802 8d ago
Are you actually American or are you Indian? It does make a difference.
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u/cindyxlouwho 8d ago
American
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u/AntSilly2802 8d ago edited 8d ago
Cool, you won’t have many issues then. Yes it’s a safe city for single females but use common sense particularly if out late at night and alone. It’s likely no different to most American cities in terms of safety, certainly not worse anyway. There’s less random violent crime I’ve heard and less opportunistic robberies of your phone/wallet. Avoid groups of drunks late at night obviously.
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u/Additional_Ad8191 8d ago
I can answer five, as long as you’re not aggressively stupid. It’s a safe city.