Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Sydney Style
Despite recent economic events, Sydneysiders remain optimistic. Most Sydney living hap-
pens under the sun and the stars: street cafes, alfresco restaurants, moonlight cinemas,
beer gardens, parades… It follows that locals have an almost pathological disdain for
overdressing. As the innumerable supermodel-spangled billboards around town attest, less
is more in the Sydney fashion stakes, and showing some skin is de rigueur. And if you've
got a hot bod, why not decorate it? Full-sleeve tattoos have become mainstream, while
hospitality workers sans piercings are rare. Smoking is as popular as ever - will future
Sydney echo with an emphysematic death rattle?
Ultimately, Sydney's relentlessly chipper attitude tends to bowl over (or at least distract
from) any obstacle. A swim in the surf, a bucket of prawns by the harbour, a kickin' DJ
set or a multicultural meal goes a long way toward convincing the majority of residents
that life here is pretty darn good.
Housing Woes
If Sydneysiders seem utterly obsessed by real estate, it's for good reason. A 2012 Demo-
graphia survey rated Sydney as the third least affordable city (behind Vancouver and
Hong Kong) in which to buy a house within the English-speaking world. Median house
prices ($637,600) are 9.2 times higher than median household incomes ($69,400) - a ratio
of 3:1 is considered affordable, above 5:1 severely unaffordable.
For those Sydneysiders for whom home ownership seems like an unattainable dream,
there's a double whammy to face: renting is increasingly unaffordable too. The median
asking price is now $485 per week (in Melbourne it's $360) and stories abound of hordes
of people turning up to showings of even the crummiest flats. For those on the fringes, it's
hardest: Anglicare estimated that out of 9400 properties advertised for rent in April 2011,
only 72 were affordable for those on the government pension or single-parent payment.
Part of the challenge is geographical. The city is hemmed in between ocean, mountains
and national parks, restraining the ability for new housing to expand on its fringes. Then
there's Australia's perennial problem - how to provide enough water for an expanding
city?
The silver lining? In most surveys of the world's most liveable cities, Sydney rates in
the top 10.
