Many people who move to Melbourne find that Melbourne’s lower house prices, lower crime rates, better transport and lower humidity make it more livable than its rival Sydney.

Melbourne is Australia’s second largest city with four million residents. Its the sports, arts and cultural capital of Australia. Its numerous lane-ways of house bars, cafes and restaurants are covered in street art. Its renowned for its coffee culture!

It has four seasons in one day, very similar to New Zealand, but also benefits from a warm climate. It sits on the banks for the Yarra River, which is setup with picnic spots that get used regularly. Its multicultural and has large pockets of Greek, Italian, Chinese and Indian residents. Its home to the University of Melbourne and the Monash University. Its ranked as one of the world’s top cities for students.

It’s an expensive city to live in but not as expensive as Sydney (Australia’s largest city). It has a great tram system that makes it really easy to get around. There are first rate surf beaches just a small drive out of town.

Population: 4,000,000 people
Climate: four seasons in one day, warm in summer, cold in winter
First Home Buyer Award: $10,000
Top draw cards: world class shopping, sporting, cultural activities and festivals ensure you will never be bored.
Public Transport: tram, train, buses and cars

The Economy

Melbourne is Australia’s fastest growing city, with predictions it will soon be the largest. It needs the skills of 35,000 new people from overseas each year to work in its growing economy. A number of global businesses are setting up headquarters within the city’s bustling economy and there are jobs aplenty. It’s also Australia’s tech capital.

Melbourne’s Pros:

• Sporting capital of the world
• Always plenty to do
• Amazing places a day trip away
• Delicious food, plenty of restaurants and bars to choose from
• Hip, cool and full of culture
• Diverse population
• Generally friendly people, safe suburbs, clean
• Top beaches

Melbourne’s Cons:

• Weather is unpredictable and cold in winter
• Its expensive to live, rent and buy groceries
• Traffic sucks
• Real estate prices are booming
• Water shortages happen

Introduction to Melbourne

Melbourne, the second largest city of Australia, is the capital city of the state of Victoria. Melbourne is located at Port Philip Bay and is known as the cultural capital of Australia. This name is credited to Melbourne due to its Victorian architecture, museums, theatres, galleries, large gardens, parks and shopping centers. The residents count up to four million in number and most of them are sports lovers and multicultural in origin. Melbourne is surrounded by various tourist attractions such as the Grampians National Park, Great Ocean Road and Philip Island that hosts a penguin parade. These, along with other sporting events, are main reasons for visitors visiting Melbourne. If you are thinking of moving to Melbourne, then you will be glad to know that it is a happening and lively place.

Districts of Melbourne

Melbourne is classified into two regions, namely Central Melbourne and Metropolitan Melbourne.

Central Melbourne consists of the following sub-regions:

City Center

Popularly known as Melbourne’s Central Business District, is surrounded by the Yarra River in the north and by the new Docklands precinct in the west. Central Melbourne has great restaurants, pubs and clubs. The lively atmosphere and good public transport facilities are factors that make Melbourne stand apart as an amazing city to reside in. It is regularly voted as the most livable city and attracts more people towards moving to Melbourne.

South Bank

Is known for theatre, arts, the Crown casino, operas and fine restaurants.

St Kilda

Has sunny beaches, bars and some good nightlife to offer.

South Melbourne

Includes Clarendon Street and historic ports.

Inner North

Is the University district and is known for its authentic Italian cuisine and culture.

Inner East

Is the Bohemian quarter and includes the working class along with many boutiques, ethnic Vietnamese cuisines and good pubs.

Stonnington

Is Melbourne’s upper class neighborhood and has exquisite dining and shopping to offer.

Metropolitan Melbourne includes the following sub-regions:

Eastern Suburbs

That stretch from inner suburbs of Hawthorn, Camberwell and Kew to the outer cities such as the Dandenong Ranges and Maroondah.

Northern Suburbs

Cover Broadmeadows, Epping, Nillumbik Shire, Bundoora, Tullamarine and South Morang.

Western Suburbs

Include areas such as the Point Cook, Werribee, Caroline Springs, Melton, Sunshine, Keilor, Footscray, Altona and Sydenham.

South Eastern Suburbs

Extend along the coast of Port Philip Bay covering areas such as Elwood, Frankston, Brighton, Dandenong and Frankston.

Climate of Melbourne

The weather in Melbourne varies considerably during the late autumn and early spring. Melbourne receives about 600mm of annual rainfall, which is almost half of the rain received by Sydney annually. The maximum rains occur in October in Melbourne. An average summer day in Melbourne has a temperature of about 26 C to 30 C. The warmest temperatures are recorded in the inner suburbs and the coastal areas that enjoy a refreshing sea breeze. Despite the warm summer days, humidity is not a problem, hence the night temperatures are always comfortable. Thunderstorms are more in summer than in winter. Winter is generally a mix of cool damp conditions and clear sunny weather. The winter temperatures can be chilly at night as low as 2 C and at times can reach as high as 19 C during the day. The lowest temperature recorded in Melbourne was -2.8C (27F) in 1869. The highest temperature ever recorded in Melbourne was 46.4C. The hills located in the east of the city usually experience a snow shower every winter. Melbourne has the most pleasant weather during the autumn and spring, with the daytime highs around 20 C.

Geography of Melbourne

Melbourne is located in the southeastern part of Australia. It is built on the convergence of the Quaternary to the west, Holocene sand accumulation along Port Philip and Silurian mudstones to the east. The southeastern suburbs of Melbourne are located on the Selwyn Fault that splits the Mount Martha and Cranbourne. The city extends towards the Dandenong Ranges in the east to Pakenham towards West Gippsland and Yarra valley along the Yarra River, northwards through the Bushland valleys. Towards the south, it extends through the Dandenong Creek Valley, the Mornington Peninsula and the city of Frankston covering the Olivers Hills, Arthurs Seat and Mount Martha. In the west, it extends along the Maribyrnong River and its tributaries.

The major beaches of Melbourne are located in the southeastern suburbs in areas such as Albert Park, St Kilda, Brighton, Port Melbourne, Elwood, Sandringham and Frankston. The nearest surf beaches are located in the back beaches of Sorrento, Port Sea and Rye that are 85 kilometers from the Melbourne CBD.

Culture of Melbourne

Melbourne is known as an international cultural center. It is the birthplace of Australian contemporary dance forms such as New Vogue and Melbourne Shuffle styles, as well as of Australian football, television and movies. The other cultural credits are the Heidelberg school of Impressionism and the National Gallery of Victoria that is the largest and oldest public art museum of Australia. Melbourne is the second city to be declared as the UNESCO city of literature. As per the survey done by the Economist based on the broad cultural attributes, it has been credited thrice with the title of the world’s most livable cities.

More Information on Melbourne

The city of Melbourne has two airports. The Melbourne airport has both international and domestic flights. The Avalon airport is exclusive for domestic flights. There is good intercity and out of city connectivity via public transport systems such as taxi, bus, tram and rail system. All intercity trains from interstate and intrastate operate from the Southern Cross Station that was formerly known as the Spencer Street Station. It is located on the west of the Melbourne’s central business district. Bus services from out of state to Melbourne are provided by Greyhound ad Firefly Express and V/line provides this facility to those within the state. Melbourne can be reached by ship from Devenport, Tasmania. There is a ship that runs every night in both direction and the journey takes about ten hours.

Melbourne is undoubtedly one of the best cities to live and settle in Australia. Adorned with a multicultural populace, it could be your ideal city to settle in Australia.

If you are looking for more on information on Melbourne you can visit http://wikitravel.org/en/Melbourne, which includes information on getting into Melbourne, getting around, what to see, do, learn, buy, eat, drink, sleep, contact, getting out and staying safe in Melbourne.

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