Josephine34 Posted August 3 Share Posted August 3 I’ve just been offered jobs in both Gold Coast and Perth and have 7 days to choose which one to accept! Can anyone please help my husband and I with this huge decision. We will be moving across with our 3 boys - 7, 6 and 1. We live by the coast in the UK and my husbands business is water sports so he’ll be getting into similar over there. We’re very outdoorsy people, love being at the beach, hence the reason for the move. Please help us with some insight on which one you’d choose. Or if anyone has lived in both I’d to hear your opinions over which is best for a young family Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ausvisitor Posted August 4 Share Posted August 4 My choice would be the gold coast, Perth is (in my opinion) a pasteurised hollow city with little to no good points going for it. Yes it's closer to the UK (by about 5 hours) and the weather is ok but it's mine numbingly boring unless you work in mining or minerals. The Gold Coast is up and coming and you can reach places with some actual culture, nightlife and society within an hour or so. Honestly though both places are fine, GC is more the Aussie dream than Perth so if you want the Home & Away of Neighbours vibe then head to the GC (ironically those two are filmed in Sydney and Melbourne which couldn't be further away in reality from the "happy small town" they present on TV they are sprawling metropolises with something for everyone) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted August 4 Share Posted August 4 Both would be good for the beach lifestyle. Apart from that, it's going to depend what other factors are important to you. Personally, I would choose the Gold Coast. Not because it's better than Perth, but because of its location. If you move to the Gold Coast and don't like it, it's not going to cost you an arm and a leg to move up to the Sunshine Coast, or down to Coffs Harbour or Newcastle -- or any of the cities along the East Coast. The distances are long but there are plenty of removalists transporting goods up and down the coast, so prices are reasonable. Plus you'll be able to drive to check out alternative places to live. Whereas if you settle in Perth and don't like it, there aren't any other cities in Western Australia to move to. You'll have to move East. That means expensive 4-hour flights to research where you want to live. Then, shipping your belongings from Perth to the East Coast will cost as much as shipping them from the UK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheery Thistle Posted August 4 Share Posted August 4 Gold Coast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Manna Posted August 4 Share Posted August 4 I've only visited the gold coast, but I've lived in Perth. I liked the Brisbane area, surfers and the gold coast. I tend to think of them as the same thing, but people get upperty about that. Certainly nothing wrong with it. Alot of Perth is pretty good too. Whilst Perth is the only real city in WA, the rest of the state isn't a Barron wasteland, (ok, a lot of it is), but you have the southwest which is gorgeous, plus there's a lot to see going north. There's not an awful lot to see once you leave the coastal plains though. Perth is isolated. That has pros and cons. Both places are fairly expensive, plus you get what you pay for. There's good areas and schools in both, and bad areas and schools in both. But it's a choice, not a compromise. Both are good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nemesis Posted August 4 Share Posted August 4 Gold Coast but pick your area carefully - avoid the Surfers Paradise glitzy strip and head for somewhere like Burleigh Heads, more peaceful and family friendly. I've got UK friends also in Coomera and Ormeau who have brought up kids there and like their areas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulya Posted August 4 Share Posted August 4 Perth is a backwater. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Elliott Posted August 4 Share Posted August 4 I think it's worth noting the interstate migration is pretty much all one way. Year after year, Queensland has ten of thousands of families from interstate moving there each and every year. Also, don't underestimate the opportunities the 2032 Olympics will create in sports and leisure in coming years. Especially water sports !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Posted August 5 Share Posted August 5 The Gold Coast attracts tourists from the whole of the East Coast. As such it can support a much larger water sports industry than Perth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josephine34 Posted August 5 Author Share Posted August 5 Thank you all for your replies they’re really helpful and appreciated. One of my main concerns over choosing Perth is the sense of isolation and not having much else to do around there. I like the idea of being able to travel to other places in Australia easier on the east coast (I appreciate the distances are still far!) I think what is tempting us to Perth is property looks a bit cheaper and we’d likely to be able to afford to live closer to the Beach But I’ve also read that cost of living is more expensive over there so its swings and roundabouts I guess Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MARYROSE02 Posted August 5 Share Posted August 5 Think of it as two right decisions, rather than one right and one wrong. I've lived in Surfers Paradise since the beginning of 2022, after 30 years in 2 stints in Sydney. I like Surfers because I like being in the centre of things. Almost everything I want is easy walking distance from my rented unit. The beach is 100 metres, supermarket 200, doctor and dentist, under 10 minute walk. If I can't walk, I get the tram, which I did today to Nerang St for a specialist, 7 stops, so about 20 mins. Gold Coast public and private hospitals are 3 or 4 stops further. During the day the trams run every 7 mins, or so my friend told me and from today, for 6 months, all public transport in SE Qld is 50 cents a trip. If I can't get the tram I get an Uber. The sea temperature even in winter is about 21 degrees(?) so you can swim all year round which you may not be able to do in winter in Perth. But I like Perth too. I might have gone there but Qld opened its borders before WA. It's a city of 2 million, so hardly a backwater, with beaches, north and south, plus the Swan River, which is more like a lake between the CBD and South Perth. I like South Perth and there might be possibilities for a water sports business there unless it's an ocean based business. South Perth has everything I want, walking distance, ferry to the CBD, Expressway nearby. Good luck with your decision. I'm a stick-in-the-mud who rarely goes more than a kilometre from where I live. I joined the library in Southport today, six stops on the tram, but you can borrow books on line! I never knew that. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted August 5 Share Posted August 5 1 hour ago, Josephine34 said: Thank you all for your replies they’re really helpful and appreciated. One of my main concerns over choosing Perth is the sense of isolation ... I think the sense of isolation very much depends who you are. Australians who move from the rest of Australia often feel "cut off" because it's so expensive to visit family and friends anywhere else in Australia. However, if you don't know anyone elsewhere in Oz, you might love the fact that Perth is so close to Asia and Indonesia, plus it's 5 hours closer to the UK for visits home. Also, whether there's "not much else to do" also depends on what you like doing. Personally, I find WA a bit lacking in the kinds of things I like to do -- but many, many other are more than happy with the variety on offer. It's hard to find meaningful comparisons of property prices in Perth vs Gold Coast. Prices vary widely within Perth and within the Gold Coast. Also, you can't trust what you see on the real estate websites -- they shamelessly doctor the photos and underquote the prices. I don't envy you trying to make the decision! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calNgary Posted August 5 Share Posted August 5 2 hours ago, Josephine34 said: Thank you all for your replies they’re really helpful and appreciated. One of my main concerns over choosing Perth is the sense of isolation and not having much else to do around there. I like the idea of being able to travel to other places in Australia easier on the east coast (I appreciate the distances are still far!) I think what is tempting us to Perth is property looks a bit cheaper and we’d likely to be able to afford to live closer to the Beach But I’ve also read that cost of living is more expensive over there so its swings and roundabouts I guess Another thing to think about with the GC is where you would be working suburb wise. The highway is an absolute nightmare, and almost daily at a standstill. Travelling from say Pimpama / Coomera to Burleigh Heads/ Robina via car wont be much fun. Cal x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josephine34 Posted August 5 Author Share Posted August 5 Thank you all that’s interesting what PP said about it being 2 right decisions and I think you’re right there my husband has said similar in that he thinks we will settle well and hopefully enjoy it wherever we end up so I think that’s definitely the best way to look at it. Husband lived and worked in Perth before we met and I lived and worked in Queensland (Sunshine Coast) so we both know that we’d like each side but neither of us has been to both! Just interesting to get other peoples perspectives. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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