Why Adelaide?

[Guest DaveF]

Hi everyone.

 

My family and I are moving to Adelaide in August (ish). I'm actually an Aussie, born and bred in Adelaide though I have not lived there for over 15 years. My wife Nicola is English and our kids were born in England, so for them it is a big move away from home, and for me a return to "home".

For us, the move to Adelaide is obvious, as I still have a lot of family and friends there, and Nicola and the kids have had enough visits to get to know the place.

 

But from reading the posts on the forum, it seems that a lot of people choose to move to Adelaide without having any real connection to the place, and I was just wondering why?

Adelaide is not your typical Aussie city, it's quite far from the economic powerhouses of the east and west coast, employment opportunities can be more limited, etc...

 

Don't get me wrong, I love Adelaide and we're all looking forward to moving back. I'm just curious what the attraction is for others.

See ya in August!

[mattyegg]

For us it was due to my occupation being on SA skills list, rules had changed during process meaning limited to certain states. Liked the sound of Adelaide, after looking into it a bit further noted that it's cheaper than other states for housing and the weather doesn't seem as extreme as other states, being a bald Scotsmen this is obviously a plus point.

[Guest DaveF]

Ahh... We've not had to go down the skills route (obviously). Didn't realise that had a bearing on your destination.

Hope you like Adelaide!

[Guest Dennic]

We was going to QLD but our skill was taken off the list so now we had to choose between Perth, Darwin or Adelaide.

Adelaide came out best for us as a family with 3 boys under 11. Would like to know what the tempture is like in the winter? Why did you move away in the first place, if you don't mind me asking?

[HEAPS GOOD !!!]

Accept Adelaide for all its faults do your research on what YOU want from where you wanna live....listen to advice take it on board but at the end of the day do whats best for YOU and YOUR family.....hey of we listened to everything we read/hear/told we would all still be living in mud huts on the moors....

 

HG

[Guest DaveF]

I've been a bit of a wanderer. Moved to Canberra for work when I was 20, then to Brisbane, then back to Adelaide for a while, then back to Brisbane again, then the UK (1999). Have been here since, but the winters really get me down. There's lots I will miss about the UK, but I think Australia is a better place to raise a family. Hope I'm right, Adelaide has changed a lot since I last lived there.

I think you made the right call between your 3 choices.

 

Temperature in winter: much better than the UK, never below 0. Though it can get cold and the houses are poorly insulated by UK standards. So outside: warmer; inside: colder. Of course it depends a lot on the house you get.

I grew up in a house with no air-con and just a gas fire in the living room, so it was quite cold in winter and too hot in summer.

Edited April 2, 2012 by DaveF
Forgot the weather comment

[Misplaced]

Hi everyone.

 

My family and I are moving to Adelaide in August (ish). I'm actually an Aussie, born and bred in Adelaide though I have not lived there for over 15 years. My wife Nicola is English and our kids were born in England, so for them it is a big move away from home, and for me a return to "home".

For us, the move to Adelaide is obvious, as I still have a lot of family and friends there, and Nicola and the kids have had enough visits to get to know the place.

 

But from reading the posts on the forum, it seems that a lot of people choose to move to Adelaide without having any real connection to the place, and I was just wondering why?

Adelaide is not your typical Aussie city, it's quite far from the economic powerhouses of the east and west coast, employment opportunities can be more limited, etc...

 

Don't get me wrong, I love Adelaide and we're all looking forward to moving back. I'm just curious what the attraction is for others.

See ya in August!

 

Very similar to my situation DaveF except I have been away for 34 years

 

I haven't been back since we left in '77 and I know things have changed, building wise!! I still have friends there and my wife has a friend who has recently emigrated to Adelaide so hopefully that will help with the settling in time.

 

Our main concern is gaining full time permanent employment but we are willing to do anything!

 

Enjoy your move back.

 

Mis

[Guest rachinadelaide]

We were planning to migrate to Argentina when hubby got offered a job at the Submarine Corporation (all migration expenses paid for) so we had our arms twisted. It took all of 3 seconds! We had been to Perth and liked it, Adelaide looked a bit similar according to our bit of research, and so we made Adelaide our home.

We're pretty adaptable and were prepared to move elsewhere if it didn't suit us, after all life is an adventure, but 7 years later we are still here! We still have yearnings for South America though so we may move on one day....

[Guest Andy-Laa]

It's where my partner lives and we will likely always live here.

 

I mean I can see a lot of positives of Adelaide:

 

Decent climate, minimal chance of natural disasters like floods and cyclones (comparatively speaking anyway), it's very clean city, you'd be hard pushed not to bump into someone you know...pretty much anywhere you go, you're never more than 20 minutes away from a beach/the city.

 

And other stuff.

[Guest BackToAdelaide]

Same as you really. Born and bred in Adelaide but spent the last few years living in the UK. Brought my English fiance back with me. It's great to be home

[Guest DaveF]

Does your fiancée like it?

[Guest Dr Scotland]

We want to be somewhere quieter and less busy than Sydney or Melbourne, less humid than - and with access to the beach, unlike - Brisbane, and less remote than Perth. We like the idea of a mediterranean climate, and the minimal rainfall. I want to be able to cycle to work, which is a distinct possibility no matter where we live in the city. I like the proximity of the city to nature and wilderness; I think you would have to drive a few hours to get the same possibility of hills and wine regions or the outback from Melbourne or Sydney. I like that it is so green. I like that there is a good cafe and food scene. I like that it has a world music and literature festival and a Fringe. I like that is reputedly the most laid-back of the Australian state capitals - and that is super important to me for my job. Most importantly is that my wife and I feel like it offers the best possibility out of those cities for us to raise our family in a friendly, warm, non-hectic environment. And I'm sure we'll survive the three months of 'winter' that still pushes 20 degrees at time :-)

[Leeds1877]

Ditto Dr Scotland....other than hubby's job you have hit the nail on the head. We can't wait to get out there!

[Guest guest9403]

We came to SA because it was the easiest place to get state sponsership...Adelaide in particular because hubbys brother lives here and we got the usual bump up of how good it was and how much he loved it,my hubbys job before we came was in demand,so for us it was a no brainer!! We arrived hubbys job had a 2 yr capping on it so working in an area he hasnt in a very long time!! And I have discovered just because my bro-in-law loves it didnt mean we would and i dont,its not for me at all...and as you are returning to your homeland so am I...nothing wrong with adelaide just not for me sadly :-(

[Guest Django]

We listed all the cities and large towns and crossed of places that we didn't want. ie humidity, size, etc Adelaide was the only place that didn't get crossed off. ) I'm from London and really had enough of big cities. Took the gamble as we had never been south of the equater before we moved here and have to say from the moment I stepped off the plane I was home. Three and a half years later and I really can't imagine I would be any happier in any other part of the country.

 

Pete

[soo_the_panda]

I didn't 'choose' Adelaide - I was here on a working holiday visa and was offered a job with sponsorship. My reasons for loving the place are similar to Dr Scotland! My partner has been here 15 years (originally from VIC) so it's likely we'll be in Adelaide long term.

[Guest Dr Scotland]

Ha! And it's not 20 degrees one week there, and then 1 degree and snowing the next - like it is here today! (Although the snow does look nicer than the rain...) Simon

[Guest BackToAdelaide]

Does your fiancée like it?

 

To be honest, he'll like it more once he's found a job. That having been said, he likes the laid back atmosphere, the space, most of the food and the general way of life. He was concerned about the heat and at times it's been challenging for him but air conditioning is a wonderful thing Took him to the footy (the real stuff, not soccer!) at AAMI Stadium on Sunday and he seemed to get into the game and enjoyed the atmosphere. In fact it's often the situation that I get home from work and he tells me what the latest AFL news of the day is so he's picking it up well!

[mattyegg]

Ha! And it's not 20 degrees one week there, and then 1 degree and snowing the next - like it is here today! (Although the snow does look nicer than the rain...) Simon

 

Tell me about it. Glad I didn't bin ice scraper.

[Guest DaveF]

Thanks everyone for the comments, it's fascinating reading.

Seems to be a mixture of research, opportunity and fate that draws people to Adelaide.

 

Interesting comment from Dr Scotland about it being so green... Green is not the first colour I think of in relation to Adelaide. I suppose it depends on where in Adelaide you are, and what time of year it is. Dr Scotland, you seem to have most of the rest of the attractions of Adelaide about right though.

 

Good luck everyone with your moves, and celticboy39 I totally understand that Adelaide may not be everyone's cup of tea. Hope the return home goes well. I suppose the exchange rate has done you some favours at least :-).

 

Hope to see some more responses on "Why Adelaide".

[Guest Purple]

My husband was offered a job in a choice of locations- Melbourne, Geelong, Canberra, Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide. We looked at cost of living, humidity, weather in general etc and decided on Adelaide. We love the laid back feel of the place and the beaches are just gorgeous. It was the right decision.

[Guest DaveF]

Tell me about it. Glad I didn't bin ice scraper.

On the other hand, parts of the UK are supposedly having a drought at the moment! To paraphrase Crocodile Dundee "Call that a drought?... THAT's a drought". It can be very dry in SA.

Edited April 3, 2012 by DaveF

[Guest Guest8609]

Well, we wanted to go to Queensland. but there were a couple of things we didn't like there.

Then it turned out we could get SA State Sponsorship. We did very careful research and found many more advantages of living in Adelaide than in Brissie (eg the beaches, houses and their prices, Adelaide being more quiet). We don't regret the change and are going to settle down in SA. Can't promise though we won't change our minds in the future, but so far SA seems to suit us best. We're landing in Adelaide beginning of May, so soon we'll see

[Guest beckeithking]

Well there are certainly a variety of reasons for choosing Adelaide.

I was born and bred on the west coast of SA ( Kyancutta), trained as a nursing Adelaide and then started travelling.

After 13 yrs away I am dragging hubby to Adelaide - purely because it is where my family and friends are, it is closer to Mum and Dad. I have found that I just want to be near them - and yes 6hrs drive is close in Aus!!!

We thought about moving elsewhere in Aus but decided if we were going to come back why go where the family isn't. So Adelaide it is!!

 

Is anyone moving "home" worried about fitting in? I have visited and still love adelaide but worry I wont like it!!!

 

Good luck all.

Bec x

[Misplaced]

There is a thought in the back of mind that I may not fit in after 34 years of being away but I reckon I'll be ok.