Posted by Matt Hayden on Tuesday, December 17, 2013,
Several years ago there was a front page story in the
West Australian that caused a great deal of consternation here. The headline read "Dullsville" and as far as I can recall it described how this was the term used to describe Perth in a foreign travel publication. It then asked readers if the tag (which had long been
used locally anyway) was still justified.
This story became a hot topic of conversation and spawned many an outraged call to local talk-back stations. How could anyone say that ...
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Posted by Matt Hayden on Monday, November 4, 2013,
I noticed this article about how a recent study has found that a third of people in this city
feel lonely. It seems that lack of time
is a big factor.
I don't have the hard data, of course. But I suspect that the number of people here feeling this way is substantially higher than several years ago.
I don't feel lonely as such. But I certainly feel I have less time to devote to traditional social activities. That's partly to do with where my own life is heading, and would be the case wherever I ...
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Posted by Matt Hayden on Wednesday, October 9, 2013,
I do a lot of travelling on public transport. And I've seen quite a bit of antisocial behaviour on buses and trains. The main thing that really annoys me is people playing their iPods really loudly. But there are other things that can be infuriating like people slouching all over the place and taking up lots of space, or plonking their bags on seats and not moving them for people who want to sit down (but who are too meek to ask). It's amazing what you see sometimes.
Clearly a lot of other peo...
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Posted by Matt Hayden on Saturday, October 5, 2013,
As everyone here knows, Perth is not a great place if you love your coffee. That's not to say that it's bad. it's just hugely expensive, that's all. And there have been several media reports about this unfortunate situation.
Clearly many people are frustrated about this. And some of the more alert cafe owners have seen an opportunity. By offering java for a reasonable price they can attract a lot of new customers.
An increasing number of them are doing this, as evidenced by signs promoting ch...
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Posted by Matt Hayden on Monday, September 9, 2013,
I'm not surprised that a recent test has found that Perth trains are actually
cleaner than the average kitchen. The general spotlessness inside the carriages is something I really noticed after spending several years in Sydney.
The trains are grotty
as in that city. And it's not just because they are more crowded and scrubbed less thoroughly (and presumably less often) than the ones here. I think it also has much to do with the general attitude of the people there.
Basically, Sydneysiders come...
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Posted by Matt Hayden on Wednesday, March 13, 2013,
I recently found this page about how Scarborough Beach has been seen as our own version of Bondi Beach since
as far back as 1939. Of course in those days the comparison mainly related to how popular these two surf beaches were with families during summer.
Nowadays, they have more in common, such as the population density of both suburbs. Needless to say Bondi is the more crowded suburb of the two by far. There are countless units right near the water. Most have been there for decades, and man...
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Posted by Matt Hayden on Thursday, September 27, 2012,
I'm constantly writing my own observations about Perth. But I'm keen to get different perspectives on living and working in this city from interesting, knowledgeable locals. In the first of what I intend to be many interviews Donna Holmes, who owns the
Donnah fashion label, has kindly responded to my questions about the local industry:
Matt: I'm interested in what the Perth fashion scene is like. Is it comparatively friendly and supportive or highly competitive? How would you describe it?Donn... Continue reading ...
Posted by Matt Hayden on Saturday, September 22, 2012,
Perth has long been known as a relaxed and friendly place that is "like a big country town". While things have certainly sped up a lot in recent years and that characterization is much less valid than it used to be, I think it still has a lot of truth to it.
There's so much space here and the weather is pleasant, so people tend to be generally less stressed than in bigger cities. Then there's the fact that while business is booming, there's not the same level of concentration and competition ...
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Posted by Matt Hayden on Sunday, July 22, 2012,
It's well known that Perth has a lot of Poms! As
Wikipedia states:
Perth's population is notable for the high proportion of British-born
residents. At the 2006 Census, 142,424 British-born Perth residents
were counted,[51] narrowly behind Sydney (145,261),[52] despite having
just 35% of the overall population of Sydney.
And like other ethnic and cultural groups, those hailing from the
British Isles tend to gravitate to the same suburbs. I'd long known that
the southern centre of Rockin...
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Posted by Matt Hayden on Monday, July 16, 2012,
I read a recent article about a British couple's experience of Perth with interest. The Green family came here with dreams of a relaxed and idyllic life in a place far sunnier and more spacious than the United Kingdom. But ultimately they found it unsatisfying, and returned home after several years.
Many Brits have a similar experience. They are so numerous, in fact, that they even have their own collective label:
"ping-pong Poms".
There are also many of their countrymen who feel little or no s...
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Posted by Matt Hayden on Monday, July 9, 2012,
Cost of living is a big issue here in Perth. There seem to be many causes for the city's general expensiveness -- with the mining boom being often cited. The most obvious (and alarming) price rises have been in the housing and rental market along with utilities. But there is also much anxiety about the cost of other goods and services.
Dining out, for example, is getting
increasingly pricey. I eat at restaurants rarely so haven't noticed this much. But I did catch up with some old school frien...
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Posted by Matt Hayden on Friday, February 10, 2012,
There has been quite a bit of talk in the media about how Perth's rental market has changed recently. The main issue is how rents have soared.
But there's also the very high competition for rental properties. I got a taste of this directly just recently ...
For various reasons I have been toying with the idea of moving from my current unit to another one. So I did some Googling and found a place in Maylands that looked like it had potential. There was a public viewing at a set time a couple of ...
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Posted by Matt Hayden on Monday, October 17, 2011,
Something a lot of Perth people must have noticed with alarm is the rise in the number of
shark attacks in recent years. The latest one resulted in the death of Bryn Martin. Another poor bloke called Ken Crew was taken off Cottesloe about ten years ago. And there have been others.
These fatalities are both tragic and terrifying. But there are all those shark
sightings as well. These days, you often hear about them on the news. There was one recently off
Mullaloo beach. And here are details of...
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Posted by Matt Hayden on Friday, July 8, 2011,
The fact that Perth has been ranked as a
more expensive place to live than London, Paris and New York doesn't surprise me. It certainly depresses me, though!
For many years one of the main benefits of living in this city was how amazingly cheap it was. You could get by on next to nothing in so many ways. Rent, food, power were all cheap as chips. But now they've all risen substantially. And it's that cumulative effect that changes your whole experience of the place.
Take rent: When I came bac...
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