Pros: Most livable city in the world. Great startup scene. Phenomenal transportation options. Great universities. Fantastic street art everywhere. Amazing food. USD vs. AUD is quite good for USD right now so it is pretty affordable.
Cons: Internet not blazing fast. Beaches elsewhere in Australia are much better (it is on a bay = no waves).
Melbourne does have great surf beaches within about 1-2 hours’ drive: Bells Beach (which hosts an annual World Surf League tournament [1] and was depicted - falsely - in the 1991 Patrick Swayze & Keanu Reeves movie Point Break [2]), Jan Juc and Fairhaven on the west coast; Gunnamatta, Point Leo, Cape Woolamai to the east.
These beaches can offer world-class surfing for serious surfers.
However, the weather is quite cold in winter and it's not a tropical climate, so they're not very pretty beaches and not much fun for ordinary leisure beachgoers, except for the warmer months of December to March.
The beaches in Sydney and further up the East Coast to Far North Queensland are much more pretty, and for much more of the year, as are those in Perth and up the Western Australian coast.
Every few years I consider moving somewhere else, and then I remember I won't be able to go to the cricket and footy at the G anymore, or the tennis, or the formula one :(
Melbourne has got to be one of the best cities in the world if you enjoy sports.
Ah, I forgot about tennis. I applied to UMelb and Monash back in 2011 when I was applying to grad school, but was scared off by some attacks on Indian students at the time. My sports watching life would've been so different if that had gone well.
I'd put London slightly above Melbourne, it's got Tennis, Football and Cricket among others.
One thing to note is the accessibility and convenience of the events in Melbourne. The MCG and other stadiums/arenas are all in a big complex right in the heart of the city, with easy train, tram, bike, and walking access, and this includes the Australian Open tennis. The Grand Prix is in Albert Park, which is kind of like saying there's Formula 1 in Central Park NYC, kind of nuts.
Not sure about London, but in NYC, the sporting events are far away and a real drag to get to. US Open tennis is in Queens - take a subway for an hour from Grand Central, then walk a mile on a boardwalk to the stadium, and when I attended a couple of years ago the fan experience outside of the actual matches was pretty poor (and this being the US, all about promoting corporate sponsorships). NFL football is actually in New Jersey, you have to take a commuter train from Penn Station out there and back. Madison Square Garden for basketball is the exception, but the ticket prices are prohibitive. Baseball is in the Bronx, which is not so bad, but I haven't done it.
You don't even have go to Albert Park for the Grand Prix, you can hear it from the CBD! ;)
But I concur, I have never seen a city where all the major amenities are all so closely located to the city center, it's fantastic. Etihad Stadium, Melbourne Cricket Ground, AAMI Park, the Australian Open, Hamer Hall, Sydney Myer Music Bowl, State Library of Victoria, Melbourne Museum, National Gallery, Queen Vic Market, Federation Square, Birrarung Marr, Royal Botanic Gardens, concert venues, theatre district, Chinatown, Greek precinct, Little Italy, Little Saigon, University of Melbourne, RMIT, Docklands, South Melbourne Market, the list goes on and on...
Due to memories, I'd pick India playing at Chennai over anything else. If I were to be unbiased, I'd pick the G, closely followed by Lord's in London, which is generally considered the home of cricket.
The G is awesome even on TV. Every boxing day Australia plays a game there, and I do my best to watch the first hour or so on TV.
Portsea Back Beach (and surrounds) on a hot, clear day is one of the nicest beaches I've ever seen, with the benefit of bay beaches 5 minutes away if you prefer that, this is only an hour or so from southeast suburbs of Melbourne, and minimal crowds and no traffic in peak summer.
In the city, I love cycling up and down the bayside trail. Sure you can't surf there, but to be able to the water and smell the salt on a bike path that can take you to the CBD, that's good enough to relax me. Lots of activities like kitesurfing, free beachside powered BBQs, etc make it a fun place when the weather is good enough. St Kilda beach is a happening place in summer with a lively boardwalk. Go further south on the path and check out Elwood for a quieter scenic environment. Continue on to Brighton Beach and check out the beach boxes. Keep going further and once you get to the Sandringham area the beaches become more rugged and ocean-like. On a clear sunny day it's really beautiful, water very blue and nice sand. Bonus: you face the sunset on Melbourne's bay beaches, which can be really nice, whereas the rest of the east coast of Australia only gets sunrises on the beaches.
Regarding internet - if you're in an area with cable, you can get cable internet which is 60mbit and fine. NBN is rolling out slowly which is 100mbit+ but mostly in newer developments for now. I could never do DSL. Mobile is good in the cities with Telstra usually ahead of US carriers in speed.
Unfortunately the climate outside of summer is kind of crap, relative to the rest of Australia, but the city is vibrant enough to offer other things to do in winter (which is not that cold, but the homes aren't built for winter and heating, and the sky gets gloomy a lot). On the plus side, you can take your vacations in the winter when it's summer in the northern hemisphere, or explore SE Asia where its warm year-round, or stay in Australia and check out Queensland or WA which are nice in winter.
> there's awesome beaches within an hour, mountains and snow within 4 hours.
True. They aren't in Melbourne though.
By 'no landscape' I mean 'flat as a pancake'. I like a city with hills, views, and especially views over water with an interesting coastline. Wellington and San Francisco are good examples of cities that I like the shape of. Valparaiso and (less so) Santiago as well.
Don't get me wrong, I have enjoyed being in Melbourne. It's an easy place to live with great people and a lot going on.
that's the biggest con, lack of Amazon Prime, but probably because Amazon couldn't get away with the way they treat workers if they built distribution centers there, there are high wages and strong labor laws and Amazon likes to abuse temps. However, there's eBay for third-party marketplace sellers. Amazon is coming, but likely testing the market with a limited Prime Now service. Costco came recently as well as many other global / US retailers.
Pros: Most livable city in the world. Great startup scene. Phenomenal transportation options. Great universities. Fantastic street art everywhere. Amazing food. USD vs. AUD is quite good for USD right now so it is pretty affordable.
Cons: Internet not blazing fast. Beaches elsewhere in Australia are much better (it is on a bay = no waves).