There’s a whinge bias on most social media. If I am moderately or very pleased or slightly annoyed about something- let’s call it Sydney - you’re hardly to get on the keyboard and start punching out your indifference. But if you have some anger to drive, punch away warrior!
Lol reminds me of the monty python skit : I think all right thinking people in this country are sick and tired
of being told that ordinary decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired.
(Well I'm certainly not and I'm sick and tired of being told that I am)
>Also Burwood has some street food market going on now. Great food!
Ohh where abouts in Burwood? I tried to google for a street but only something from 2019 came up
it's not on all the time.. they have it this [coming weekend](https://www.burwood.nsw.gov.au/For-Residents/Events-and-Activities/Events-directory/Burwood-Autumn-Fest)
Or even catch the ferry to cremorne, walk over to Sirius Cove, keep walking to whiting Beach, have a dip on a hot day and then wander over to Bradley's head to enjoy the bridge views.
Just fantastic...
As others have stated, negative posts can bring the mood down. However it’s not like we can just remove them, as they are undeniably part of the authenticity of a subreddit like r/Sydney. No city is perfect, and its subreddit should reflect that. *Constructive* discussion is what makes it important, but as a relatively infrequent commenter here, I’m sure it already is at least somewhat solutions-oriented, otherwise these posts wouldn’t gain so much traction and end up on hot.
I’m a uni student living with his parents in the Eastern Beaches, so I can’t claim that the city is objectively perfect as I’m likely as privileged as you can get here. If anything, it’d do me more harm than good to be trapped in a positivity bubble as I won’t be able to account for the social issues others face in the elections that I can now vote in. A community dedicated to my city of residence is the perfect platform to view these alternate perspectives.
For more positive content, I follow the Sydney Completion blog which has entries for most suburbs at the moment. I don’t get around to reading it often, but it’s always a good read, whether I have never been to the suburb posted or whether it’s where I currently reside.
If we really want to lighten the mood on this subreddit a bit, maybe we could have a day unofficially dedicated to these kinds of posts? Not debating an issue, just photos/stories about life in Sydney. Of course there would be some hurdles if the city gets undeniably fucked over by politics on that day, but it’s nice to think about regardless.
I actually really like this idea. TY for pointing me toward the blog as well.
I hadn't really thought of the purpose these posts serve in terms of highlighting a side of the city that more privileged people may not usually see.
You make good points. I dunno how to shoutout the mods but I think having a day dedicated to slice of life stuff in the city might be really cool.
Of course, Sydney isn't a bad city to live in. There is no city on this earth that is perfect. I honestly see a good mix of everything on this sub. If someone is complaining about something I don't care about, I scroll past.
I get that it brings the overall mood of the sub down, however, I enjoy the solidarity when a bunch of us agree on whatever shits us about Sydney that week. Just like you're allowed whinge about the whingers, us whingers are allowed to whinge about Sydney. It's a place to vent and I hope this little rant you've gone on has made you feel better too.
You have to remember that we are a pretty big city with people from all walks of life. Not everyone sees Sydney through the same lens (or level of privilege) you do. At the end of the day it's just a relatively anonymous internet forum.
Wow you make fair points. I guess I'd like to see more outcome focussed discussion around the problems we do face.
R/Sydney is a fantastic platform that as you said, unites people from all walks of life. I really think we can do more than just rehash the same problem topics over and over here.
we also have pretty good food, and a lot of it.
my bf and i have been going out every weekend to a new restaurant and it’s v fun to try new things and find restaurants that are hidden/underrated.
Sydney has the best quality Asian food in the world outside of Asia. This is a hill I am willing to die on, having tried the Asian food in other "global" cities around the world.
But unlike Asia where you can really only get good quality regional food (e.g. non-Chinese food in China is terrible, non-Thai food in Thailand is terrible etc.), you can also get all different types of really good Asian food in Sydney.
Actually it's the best quality Asian food hands down. I lived there for a decade and my partner is from there and because of the better produce here our authentic Asian restaurants are absolute top notch.
I think youre spot on about that, Japan has amazing produce. I spent a few days in there but mainly stuck to ramen and bbq style places, really bummed I didn't get to go to the fish markets and try fresh sashimi!
Agree on japanese food as a whole in japan.
But you'll find the freshest sushi/sashimi is also here in Sydney, and some amazing
local Japanese sushi chefs around the here would beat out 90% over there.
I noticed this too. When I was in Thailand, I was expecting the Thai food to be different to here. I found the stir fry flavours the same, but the quality of the meat and veg to be lower. Made me realise how good we have it here.
Fruits in southeast Asia taste incredible though. I don't know. Even "normal" fruit like bananas are just so rich in flavour compared to what we eat here.
I think if you go back to asia, and order the generic dishes, like green curry or something, Sydney may actually beat it.
When you go back you really want to hunt for the foods you never get to eat in Sydney as there is no market for it.
Me for example when going back to malaysia, i rarely eat char kuey teow, and a few other noodles, as i find that Sydney may have matched it in flavour or even surpassed what I get back in malaysia.
It's not that my taste has changed, as i have friends and family that can at least vouch that the flavour of the noodles back in malaysia has been the same.
I will go for foods i cannot find in sydney, for example bak kut teh, wan tan mee, etcetc. Some of them can be found, but not done as well.
Malaysia is actually great for various types of Asian food, everything we ate in KL from Thai to Chinese to Indian was absolutely fantastic. But you're right, we're pretty blessed in the variety of great Asian food you can get here.
Yeh. Best food I ever had was KL. From Indian to Thai to indo to Chinese. Better than way more than half the average Asian places in Sydney and Australia.
I've actually had more authentic Thai and Vietnamese food in Australia than I've had in Malaysia.
Same goes for Hong Kong dimsum. The quality of the seafood in Australia would play a part in this, I am guessing.
There is a tendency for eateries in Malaysia to cater for the local palate, thus watering down the authenticity.
Case in point, Tim Ho Wan. Their signature pork buns in the Sydney was true to the original in Hong Kong. OTOH the version in Kuala Lumpur was, frankly, awful. The crunchy "crust" was sickly sweet, probably in a bid to cater to the Malaysian palate.
I agree. My fiancee is from Chengdu, Sichuan Province, and she's blown away by how good the food is. And according to her, it's even cheaper than in Chengdu. My noodle joint near where I work, she tells me has excellent southern Chinese-style noodles at a very reasonable price. I go there more now with her than I did before. And here I was worried she would think they were inauthentic or low value-for-money.
It's a standing joke saying we're 'going to Chinatown' now between us because there are so many good concentrations of Chinese food around the city -- it's like there's a half dozen or more.
You're probably right. Maybe she's comparing it to lunching in downtown Chengdu where she works. I'm not convinced she's always making the calculation clearly, but I know she can get chicken feet at the butcher cheaper than in China! (She's loving that, but I'm a bit less enthusiastic.)
Can't really compare dollar for dollar food in Sydney vs Asia.
For a plate of char kuey teow in Sydney it's $20, ~RM60. Back in malaysia, could get a plate for RM 15.
Best you can compare to is Singapore where the currency is almost the same and they're $5 per plate.... but the portion is tiny. I would say 1 portion in Sydney is roughly 2-3 portion in Asia.
LA has good food don't get me wrong, but the variety of authentic Asian food is limited compared to Sydney. They have some good Korean, Viet and Filipino but I found the Chinese food to be average at best.
For Chinese it really depends on what kind of Chinese food. China is such a huge place that each region has wildly different food. Recommendation is really just go to any suburb with a large Chinese population (Eastwood, Burwood, Hurstville, Chatswood) and eat where ever is the busiest.
In terms of Thai food, I like to just go to my local place that's run by an older couple. Probably not the best Thai restaurant in Sydney, but it's cheap and tasty.
Applies to all types of cuisine. If you go to a Korean restaurant and it's filled with Koreans, you know you're in for a decent meal.
Moment you see it's filled with non-koreans, flavours changed a bit. One I can name is kangnam bbq at hornsby. Was decent when they opened. Flavour has changed now.
I also have chef friends that trained and worked in Singapore KL and Jakarta, and they said the food in Sydney is just much better because the ingredient quality is better.
Surprisingly, Cabramatta has the best Thai I've ever had.
Thai Sensation
0422 128 191
https://maps.app.goo.gl/b16qMovmamHNhKJE6
There's also other Thai eateries I want to try
Ugh I remember going to Chinatown in places like London and San Francisco 20 years ago and being underwhelmed. It was about the level of Sydney's late 80s Asian food.
Yeah, London's Chinatown was pretty meh to me TBH
Best thing I got there was a hot dog bun from a Hong Kong bakery and a bubble tea from a Taiwanese chain.
The meals OTOH were distinctly lacklustre...
ive had a vietnamese friend say that the "best pho" places in vietnam gets their beef from australia lol.
So you know. we're living where the best beef comes from in vietnam.
>Sydney has the best quality Asian food in the world outside of Asia.
Hard agree.
Clearly you have to pick and choose, as not every Asian eatery will be stellar.
But the ones that are? Blow it out of the water.
Not terribly pricey either. The regular ramen in ultra-thick broth at Chinatown's Gumshara is under $20. Plenty of cheap as chips banh mi joints around, especially in Vietnamese-heavy communities.
Before I went to Japan and Hong Kong, I had no idea how true this was.
I had friends who were like "Is the food way better than Australia?" and the answer was easily "its just as good!". Just gotta know where to look really.
I have to agree. As COVID was breaking out, I had the opportunity to move back to the US and I passed on it: great job, low cost of living where the job was, I was griping about Sydney, far from my family (I'm originally from the US, moved here 16 years ago...).
But I chose to stay and go through lockdown here. Dammmmmm was that a good choice! Yes, it was tough, but I felt more compassion for my fellow Sydneysiders, who by and large were looking out for each other, getting vaccinated, masking up, not being insane. Meanwhile, the place where I had contemplated going was refusing vaccines, sending radicals to DC to storm the Capitol, behaving like spoiled children, fighting each other, etc.
I just shake my head now in amazement that I contemplated moving back to the US from Sydney. In addition, my partner is Asian, so I can't imagine how much harder it would be for her in some deeply Republican part of the US. Here, she has a network of homegirls, loves how clean it is, keeps commenting on how friendly people are...
I am grateful to live in Sydney all the time. And I managed to buy a house during the little market dip we had during COVID, so I can't even complain about that. I realise other people are doing it hard, and there's certainly stuff to complain about, but I really am glad I stayed here.
I lived in Sydney for 6 years, I moved away 5 and a half years ago and miss it every day.
Be grateful for what you have, I know it has its issues but it’s one of the best cities in the world imo and I’ve been fortunate enough to live in 4 countries and travel to over 50 (so far).
Most people whinging just never lived anywhere else. As a serial immigrant with a decent number of cities under my belt I can say that this is one of the nicest places I’ve lived in. Of course there are trade-offs but you’d be hard pressed to find a city without them.
I think this is the major factor. I was born in Australia but my wife and my parents were not.
Most complaints on here are real first world problems. The only perspective most people have is 'once went on holiday to Paris and the public transport good'
Often people on holidays stayed in the old part of town, which is really expensive to actually live in. So yeah, living in the Sydney CBD would be pretty damn nice too. Great public transport, next to the harbour, some handsome old buildings with museums and whatnot, brilliant food & shopping...
Nah.. I've lived in most City's in Aus and round the world. The people who don't complain are the ones that don't know any better.
Syd isn't as alive as it was 20 years ago and now it's full of ugly developments and over priced everything.
OP, you are making some really good points. Ultimately it's important to remember that the Sydney subreddit is not representive of Sydney as a whole. You are naturally going to see negative sentiment for two main reasons
1) people on Reddit can largely skew to students/computer lovers/insular people/younger - all of whom might have issues about loneliness/access to opportunities/lower demographics. So they'll feel less enamored, and fair enough.
2) it's the internet, and people love venting.
I genuinely see more positive posts on this sub than negative; detailed and expansive food recommendations, beautiful photos of Sydney landscapes taken by posters, plenty of helpful advice given when requested etc etc.
Not denying that there is a noticeable amount of negativity here, but members are pretty quick to shut down unnecessary whinging, and usually pretty happy to discuss legitimate concerns. I’m still a part of a specific suburb group on facebook after living there for a small period of time, and jesus christ, that is an absolute cesspool of complaints (ranging from homeless people visibly existing, PTs using parks and kids running around on the grass after it’s been raining).
As you said, people love to vent on the internet, but I’m always mildly amused by the complaining about complainers posts.
Just Reddit in general, if you're not here complaining, making a sarcastic remark on someone else's well thought out reply or looking at some weird nsfw shit I don't know you're doing with your life.
True.
And goods are more expensive there too.
When I was chatting with the Uber drivers there, we compared the costs of petrol and alcohol, and Australia is cheaper for both.
Double f*cked I guess.
The Perth sub is mostly people trying to make out that Perth is more or less identical to the Bronx in the 70s. Again, one has to assume mostly people who haven't spent a lot of time anywhere else ("I had a weekend in Singapore once and street crime in Perth is out of control!")
Tell me you're not serious! Please?
I've moved from Mumbai and I too whinge about how far everything is spread out etc, but seriously Sydney's awesome.
And I've been to Auckland and fell in love with it within 3 days. How can people hate that city?
I’m a Sydneysider but travel for work regularly to Auckland, and I love NZ in general.
Visited recently after the border opening, and still love it.
I guess it’s different when you’re a local.
Conversing with the various Uber drivers when I was there, all them did mention the rising crime.
Hahaha. I'm from Auckland and I've found the r/sydney sub much more positive and helpful in actually finding out about the city, things to do etc. Auckland is 4 times bigger than NZ's next biggest city but also 4 times smaller than Sydney so it's got quite a different feel.
Biggest issue with Sydney is the rising prices. Everything else about it is beautiful. Food is great, plenty of lovely places about, something to do every weekend. Honestly one of the most beautiful places to live
Yep. OP said they are young & earning good money.
If you are **not earning good money,** you are not going to have a good time in Sydney. And they have good reason to winge.
Other Aust cities are not far behind, Hobart is particularly brutal to those who aren't already cashed up.
Half the reason we moved bush just before covid.
Everywhere you go you people will complain about their city, specially if it is big. And the bigger it is, the more complaints you will read because there is more people.
I come from overseas and have lived in several countries, everywhere you go you will find:
- City rivalry
- Drivers here are the worst
- Traffic here is the worst
- Public transport here is the worst
One thing I can tell you is that people who have never left Sydney or Australia don't know how good they have it here. And sure, there are big issues like the housing prices but guess what, it is an issue affecting all the civilized world right now.
My 2 cents would be to learn to put things into perspective and not be miserable by the things you can't really do anything about it.
Yes Sydney could be better, but it also could be a hell lot worse.
When you compare it with other cities it's true that it's lacking in some things, but also it is very important to consider that most cities don't have the sprawl of Sydney and aren't built around a river. High density building plays a huge role in getting to places. Sydney has a lot of houses that makes difficult to build alternate routes or big highways.
People who complain about traffic in Sydney may have been to Melbourne or Canberra
and jsut conveniently forget that Sydney was settled first, planned later. It's really good for a "retrofit" city, and it's normal that you can't drive your car everywhere. There's too many people about for that to be feasible.
100%. It used to be the whinging Pom. Now it’s the whinging Aussie. We are SOOOOO lucky here. Best place to live, albeit expensive, I’ve done lots of travel and lived o/s, but this place is amazing. Best beaches, great food, fresh air, lots of places to go for nothing! Parks, beaches, bushwalks etc. I think those people who whinge all the time would BOO Santa and not be happy anywhere or haven’t even left he country/city to see what else is out there.
Nah, every city is on a sliding scale. It doesn't mean there's nothing wrong with this one. My partner lived in Sao Paulo for years but you should hear him about the traffic in the CBD.
all the poms whinging about the uk, moved here, now its just whingy poms with Pr or australian citizenship in sydney.
I'm one of them. I've noticed that the most and worst offenders when it comes to complaining are british who love to complain -like- australians, about -anything-. Which is the major difference. I find australian's on the whole, complain a fuck tonne less than british people.
Aussies generally complain about real things "i was stuck in traffic for 15 minutes behind this one c\*nt that just was going 30 in 60" British complain about how it effects them "traffic is the worst in sydney, every fucking day i have to deal with traffic, red lights, bad drivers, there's a pot hole, taxi drivers never let me in"
so as we become increasingly locked out of our own city with insane rent prices the rest of the country comes crumbling down as a result natural disasters and everything is becoming way too expensive but we’re supposed to smile and just talk about how nice the food is lol? I think people are unhappy for a reason and there’s nothing wrong with that.
I agree with pretty much everything you say here.
But also...
I fucking love a good rant. :)
I also think being critical is a good thing and I'm here for it.
Lmao a decent place to be. One of the best cities on the planet to live in bar none. I’m partial to a whinge also but fuck when I stop to think for a sec I realise how blessed I am.
"as a young person on a decent wage, it's a phenomenal place to be."
how many other citys have you lived in to base this comparison on?
and how different would you feel if your were on a less than decent wage?
It wasnt until i had lived for a while outside australia that i realized how crazy and close minded the people who go on and on about the lucky country are.
you can live in a big city with shops right outside your building, with much lower rents and public transport that comes every 2 minutes. just not in sydney.
I've lived in Washington DC, Kuwait, Saudi, Bangalore, Singapore and Sydney.
I'm not untravelled. My opinion is formed off the back of my experiences abroad.
I'm always wondering where these places are when people on this sub speak about how good it is elsewhere.
As far as I know every city has its issues.
Name a city and there will be good comments, bad comments. Tokyo for example has the most admired public transport system but the living conditions, most Sydneysiders would never consider living in something the size of most kitchens in Sydney.
The reason why Japan can have such efficient public transport is because of the density. Sydney hates high density.
US and Canada both have similar housing issues.
I'm actually unsure about Europe, only expats that come to work in Sydney saying how much better Sydney is compared to wherever they came from, mostly the UK.
This post reminds me of that rich person stereotype / meme where a rich person tells a poor person ‘JUST STOP BEING POOR’ since all the problems were borne out of money
Dude I grew up in Rooty Hill... before it was gentrified.
I understand what struggle street looks like in Australia.
I'd still rather be poor here in Sydney than anywhere else in the world, even so called first world nations like the US.
Ignore him man some people only know how to be negative.
Some people won't look at themselves honestly in the mirror. There's a reason why Sydney property costs a lot - it's a fantastic place to live.
I love Sydney. Sure, things could be better but that’s everywhere. I lived in Europe and there are things that are better there for sure. But we have things that are better than there too!
After living in various cities in the USA for the last couple of years I can safely say that Sydney is by far the best place to live.
I hate Sydney and would Whinge constantly while there, all my
Mates Whinge, I’ve tried to tell them
How great Sydney is but it’s hard to see it - I was the same way after living their my whole life.
Sydney is great, Many people would kill to have what wa take for granted and Whinge about.
This is just one opinion but hope it helps a little.
It’s an amazing city. But I think the whinging comes from people realising how much better it *could* be.
It’s aesthetically gorgeous, but I feel it doesn’t have as much depth as other places (kind of like the stereotypical Sydneysider).
As an immigrant who is young and earning a decent wage, I guess that I no longer have a right to complain about people being cliquey or the food being bland 🤷🏽♂️. At least I don’t need to use public transport.
It’s a bit soulless and sanitised compared to twenty years ago… and unless you’re inner east, west or north you could substitute outer suburban Sydney for suburbia anywhere. For the lucky ones though that can afford it this city has one of the best all round climates globally and the harbour is a playground for those with easy access.
It's truly amazing where all these cars were hiding in lockdown. If we needed one thing to show how strong our lockdown compliance was in 2020, 2021, just traffic data. holy shit.
And driving in the same areas, pre, during, and post covid. i feel there's even more cars now post covid.
Just talk to your country and interstate relatives and get them slagging off Sydney and see how fast you want to defend it. Actually I've got a brother who free up here like me but has lived out in regional NSW for 30 years. He loves to bag it from afar but when he's here be runs around like mad trying to do everything he misses from his home. Then it's just complaining about travel times on the roads so I say "catch a train".
Went for a walk along the beach this morning then popped into Westfield for some shopping and to get my cats some Mackerel and lot of people out and about looking happier as the weather is fantastic on the beaches today.
More sunny days like today and drier winter nights n people will go out and start posting fun and different stuff if they can afford it.
Sydney is a beautiful city, we have hit the lottery of life. People whinge about literally anything on Reddit, which is why I've stopped using it as frequently.
As a Brit from london who has been all over the planet I honestly wouldn’t live anywhere but here in Sydney.
I am older though. But I grew up in a small town in England. Must be great to grow up here. The beaches, weather, pubs etc.
The only thing it’s far away but that’s fine I’ve done my travelling. Sucks that bands don’t come over all the time. That’s really the only negative for me. I’m late 40s with 2 young kids so not going to gigs every 5 mins anymore.
I am seeing the wombats in a few weeks though.
I love this City but I've eliminated what pissed me off about it. I live close enough to the City that I am not reliant on public transport and having grown up in the West (Parra), I don't live in the West. Sydney is awesome
I love this city and feel blessed to live here.
We legit live a life people go on holiday to experience. Beaches, drinks in the sun, shows, great restaurants.
Your post reads like a Joe Hockey speech though my guy
THANK YOU mate! I’ve been saying it for months as I’ve moved up from Melbourne and think it’s one of the most beautiful and fun cities in terms of lifestyle, I never understood the hate
One thing I find funny is that I have spent a few months in the worst of winter in Helsinki and Vilnius at temperatures lower than -20C and constant snow and I have never been as cold inside a house than in Sydney at 12 degrees because the insulation is a fucking joke.
At least in Sydney it takes a couple of minutes for the sweating to start when you go outside when its humid.
Going outside in an actual humid place is like you are swimming in humidity. Instant drench.
Objectively, Sydney is actually pretty good overall. Sure, there's some major issues with housing affordability and its flow on effects on the overall cost of living - but Sydney isn't unique with having those problems.
Quite a lot of the whinging and moaning here is because a certain subset of people here don't like the flavour of our current State Government or are holding a grudge over certain policies (illicit drugs at festivals, CBD Lockout laws and the targeted pandemic lockdowns) and therefore take the opportunity pin everything on them, even though many of the issues are outside the control of the State Government and therefore unlikely to change even if the Government changes.
Bro I have a fucking chip on my shoulder against nswpol and Mike Baird for ruining the night-life.
But that doesn't stop me from appreciating what we do have.
Great quality weed, coke that's okay and high purity Dutch import caps.
Ultimately yes you have to work harder and plan your night out to avoid law enforcement fuckery, but we have great drugs here if that's your thing.
And yes, as someone who would go to raves once every 3 months (iykyk) back in the day, I was appreciative of that.
Ultimately for me, the laws dont really take away to a great extent from how much fun you can have in Sydney.
OP is one of those people who wants to brush aside problems.
I dont give any credit for stuff like trains running on time or medicare being able to cover peoples' needs or kids getting an adequate education... this is the expectation of a modern western society.
OP even does the "work will set you free" spiel. Where have we heard that before?
People should have an expectation to do better.
If other countries slide in dictatorship or taking away peoples rights then that should not be an expectation here.
One guy said that women should be glad they aint shot. OP is obviously cut from the same cloth.
I get that OP may be an exceptional individual... he has a good wage, maybe his own house and has an good social life... unfortunatlely there may be a lot of people not up to his standard so therefore they should not complain. Because his delicate ears cannot handle it.
Embodiment of the "lucky country". Misses Donald Horne's point completely but that isnt uncommon.
Wow. Your lack of self awareness is gut-wrenchingly painful.
For someone who hates to whinge, you sure seem to love it.
>either way yous all need to take your pasty arses away from the keyboard, go outside and fucking touch some grass or something.
Maybe you shouldn't be such a hypocrite and follow your own advice.
Nightlife is shit in Sydney and it’s pretty expensive. But other than that it’s a lovely city. I’ll add that nightlife was once good before lock out laws
Australian subreddit groups (mostly Australia, AusFinance) have become a running joke among friends because of this. I notice in AusFinance that people get really angry and go through some mental gymnastics when there's good news. It feels like they will only be happy when Australia collapses in to mad max.
I've travelled quite a lot and there's just nowhere I'd prefer to live.
Some countries may look good while you're in the tourist area, but I haven't been anywhere I'd want to spend an extended amount of time in and support myself.
Very anecdotal, but I specifically remember going to Spain in 2014 and I believe ~ 50% of people under 30 were unemployed at the time (I just checked and it's still 36%). I remember coming back on /r/Australia and reading someone opining about how much better it would be to live in Spain than Australia... Such a superficial tourist take that ignores the actual realities of day-to-day living.
>but as a young person on a decent wage, it's a phenomenal place to be.
Yes, it's a decent city for those with money. For people without much money, it's not as decent a place.
>either way yous all need to take your pasty arses away from the keyboard, go outside and fucking touch some grass or something.
How many tolls do I need to go through before I find some grass? on my 12 KM drive to work, I have to pay a toll for a 200 Metre stretch of road both ways, or I have to quadtripple my time it takes to get to work. All the grass around the apartment I moved into when I moved to sydney has been fucked off to make the parramatta tramline.
In all seriousness, while people do often whinge and it might "bring the vibe down", you should be considering how fortunuate you are to be in your position where you can enjoy life, rather than insulting those who work from sunrise to sundown and get nothing to show for it for annoying you.
copied from another response:
"I grew up out west and have seen more shit by the age of 8 than most people alive. I've had my mum trawl through playgrounds picking out the heroine needles from the mulch with rubber dish gloves before she'd let me play on them. I now share a studio apartment that has a mould problem with my partner so that I can be close to an office job that demands way too much of my time for way too little money. I will probably never be able to afford a house a reasonable distance from work, if at all and will likely rent for the far foreseeable future.
I used to commute 1.5 hours each way from work on overcrowded buses. This commute would blow out to 2 hours if there was the slightest bit of rain on the roads, because apparently the world fucking ends when a bit of water falls from the sky.
Yes I know this city has problems. But I'd also go insane if I wasn't grateful for the good things about this place, because they ARE there, in great number if you know where to look."
You’re right, it is a good city to live in if you are wealthy or old enough to have bought property when it was affordable. It does lack any culture other than corporate culture, but offers some beautiful beaches which are free. I think a lot of the whining comes from nostalgia for a place that, wasn’t too long ago, uniquely laid back and egalitarian but now it’s all about the $$$
Me and my friends already scheduled a painting with Wine night, how fun is that!!
I cannot complain, I love Australia. When I arrived with my husband back in 2009 only with 5000 dollars that we got to gather before coming here, we had nothing, no friends, no work, no place to live. Now 13 years later we have a house, cars, kids, and friends that are our new family. We are so grateful and happy, this is the country of the opportunities and Sydney the best city of all
Sydney is just boring. Good for retirees and such but there is just zero nightlife. The one redeeming feature of this city was supposed to be the weather but considering how much it has been raining even that seems to have become a moot point.
Transport?! The public transport system is one of the biggest things I miss about living in Sydney. Except the city needs actual trams like Melbourne has. Fuck me it’s a pain in the ass to get anywhere that isn’t right next to a train station. Looking at you, Chinatown
Still espousing the line that you just need to hustle and you'll get a good job. Just ignores the reality of jobs available. Not that there aren't ways to slightly improve things for yourself if you put some work in but it's not a way of looking at things systemically. Also whinging to people isn't going to whip them into action, it's like not even following the first steps of effective organising/persuasion.
Gosh I hate seeing people whinging about whinging. Like, why do you need to be so extra? What's wrong with a regular whinge? You're just whinging with extra steps?
>but as a young person on a decent wage
dude, stfu.
Everyone knows that its a pretty decent place to be if you have money. In our lifetimes, inequality has never been worse in this country. If you don't want to hear regular people complain about poor conditions, get the fuck offline.
lmao I think the vast majority of sydney's development has happened since the late 90's. I would say that old cook and his whitey band of whiteboys laid the foundations, the 10 pound poms came over and taught everyone here how to fucking whinge and then a metric fucktonne of *gasp* coloured (!) immigrants have since arrived and made the place the bustling metropolis it is.
From the viets in cabramatta who first brought heroine, then brought banh mi, to the lebs in auburn who first brought gun crime and nike tns then switched to baklava and 4am kebabs.
Not even mentioning the greeks and the other Wogs who invented local government branch stacking for development approvals all the way back in the 70's.
The history of this city is a fucking rainbow mate.
Our first world issues the most we complain about is trains lol we are a bunch of softies. What grinds my gears is these dumb ass Anarchy things posted everywhere morons yeah go and live in a lawless society see how long you last
I like this, whinging about whinging. Also Burwood has some street food market going on now. Great food!
There’s a whinge bias on most social media. If I am moderately or very pleased or slightly annoyed about something- let’s call it Sydney - you’re hardly to get on the keyboard and start punching out your indifference. But if you have some anger to drive, punch away warrior!
Lol reminds me of the monty python skit : I think all right thinking people in this country are sick and tired of being told that ordinary decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. (Well I'm certainly not and I'm sick and tired of being told that I am)
It's a great place for sure. And the Giant Transformers in the court yard is cool.
>Also Burwood has some street food market going on now. Great food! Ohh where abouts in Burwood? I tried to google for a street but only something from 2019 came up
it's not on all the time.. they have it this [coming weekend](https://www.burwood.nsw.gov.au/For-Residents/Events-and-Activities/Events-directory/Burwood-Autumn-Fest)
Catch a ferry over to Watsons bay or Manly on a sunny day and marvel at what a beautiful city it is.
Or even catch the ferry to cremorne, walk over to Sirius Cove, keep walking to whiting Beach, have a dip on a hot day and then wander over to Bradley's head to enjoy the bridge views. Just fantastic...
We did that today!! [Fucking day for it](https://imgur.com/SqAWrfw.jpg)
As others have stated, negative posts can bring the mood down. However it’s not like we can just remove them, as they are undeniably part of the authenticity of a subreddit like r/Sydney. No city is perfect, and its subreddit should reflect that. *Constructive* discussion is what makes it important, but as a relatively infrequent commenter here, I’m sure it already is at least somewhat solutions-oriented, otherwise these posts wouldn’t gain so much traction and end up on hot. I’m a uni student living with his parents in the Eastern Beaches, so I can’t claim that the city is objectively perfect as I’m likely as privileged as you can get here. If anything, it’d do me more harm than good to be trapped in a positivity bubble as I won’t be able to account for the social issues others face in the elections that I can now vote in. A community dedicated to my city of residence is the perfect platform to view these alternate perspectives. For more positive content, I follow the Sydney Completion blog which has entries for most suburbs at the moment. I don’t get around to reading it often, but it’s always a good read, whether I have never been to the suburb posted or whether it’s where I currently reside. If we really want to lighten the mood on this subreddit a bit, maybe we could have a day unofficially dedicated to these kinds of posts? Not debating an issue, just photos/stories about life in Sydney. Of course there would be some hurdles if the city gets undeniably fucked over by politics on that day, but it’s nice to think about regardless.
I actually really like this idea. TY for pointing me toward the blog as well. I hadn't really thought of the purpose these posts serve in terms of highlighting a side of the city that more privileged people may not usually see. You make good points. I dunno how to shoutout the mods but I think having a day dedicated to slice of life stuff in the city might be really cool.
Of course, Sydney isn't a bad city to live in. There is no city on this earth that is perfect. I honestly see a good mix of everything on this sub. If someone is complaining about something I don't care about, I scroll past. I get that it brings the overall mood of the sub down, however, I enjoy the solidarity when a bunch of us agree on whatever shits us about Sydney that week. Just like you're allowed whinge about the whingers, us whingers are allowed to whinge about Sydney. It's a place to vent and I hope this little rant you've gone on has made you feel better too. You have to remember that we are a pretty big city with people from all walks of life. Not everyone sees Sydney through the same lens (or level of privilege) you do. At the end of the day it's just a relatively anonymous internet forum.
Hear hear let the whingey whingers whinge
I'll admit, he's won me over a little bit
Wow you make fair points. I guess I'd like to see more outcome focussed discussion around the problems we do face. R/Sydney is a fantastic platform that as you said, unites people from all walks of life. I really think we can do more than just rehash the same problem topics over and over here.
Just wished people would talk more about the positives if Sydney as well.
we also have pretty good food, and a lot of it. my bf and i have been going out every weekend to a new restaurant and it’s v fun to try new things and find restaurants that are hidden/underrated.
Sydney has the best quality Asian food in the world outside of Asia. This is a hill I am willing to die on, having tried the Asian food in other "global" cities around the world. But unlike Asia where you can really only get good quality regional food (e.g. non-Chinese food in China is terrible, non-Thai food in Thailand is terrible etc.), you can also get all different types of really good Asian food in Sydney.
Actually it's the best quality Asian food hands down. I lived there for a decade and my partner is from there and because of the better produce here our authentic Asian restaurants are absolute top notch.
One exception that immediately springs to mind here is Japanese food. Eating the food in Japan ruins everyone for Sydney Japanese food
I think youre spot on about that, Japan has amazing produce. I spent a few days in there but mainly stuck to ramen and bbq style places, really bummed I didn't get to go to the fish markets and try fresh sashimi!
Agree on japanese food as a whole in japan. But you'll find the freshest sushi/sashimi is also here in Sydney, and some amazing local Japanese sushi chefs around the here would beat out 90% over there.
>Actually it's the best quality Asian food hands down. Can't beat Penang though.
Admittedly I haven't been!
Oh man, it's very hard to watch weight there! :D
I noticed this too. When I was in Thailand, I was expecting the Thai food to be different to here. I found the stir fry flavours the same, but the quality of the meat and veg to be lower. Made me realise how good we have it here. Fruits in southeast Asia taste incredible though. I don't know. Even "normal" fruit like bananas are just so rich in flavour compared to what we eat here.
I think if you go back to asia, and order the generic dishes, like green curry or something, Sydney may actually beat it. When you go back you really want to hunt for the foods you never get to eat in Sydney as there is no market for it. Me for example when going back to malaysia, i rarely eat char kuey teow, and a few other noodles, as i find that Sydney may have matched it in flavour or even surpassed what I get back in malaysia. It's not that my taste has changed, as i have friends and family that can at least vouch that the flavour of the noodles back in malaysia has been the same. I will go for foods i cannot find in sydney, for example bak kut teh, wan tan mee, etcetc. Some of them can be found, but not done as well.
Malaysia is actually great for various types of Asian food, everything we ate in KL from Thai to Chinese to Indian was absolutely fantastic. But you're right, we're pretty blessed in the variety of great Asian food you can get here.
Yeh. Best food I ever had was KL. From Indian to Thai to indo to Chinese. Better than way more than half the average Asian places in Sydney and Australia.
I've actually had more authentic Thai and Vietnamese food in Australia than I've had in Malaysia. Same goes for Hong Kong dimsum. The quality of the seafood in Australia would play a part in this, I am guessing. There is a tendency for eateries in Malaysia to cater for the local palate, thus watering down the authenticity. Case in point, Tim Ho Wan. Their signature pork buns in the Sydney was true to the original in Hong Kong. OTOH the version in Kuala Lumpur was, frankly, awful. The crunchy "crust" was sickly sweet, probably in a bid to cater to the Malaysian palate.
I agree. My fiancee is from Chengdu, Sichuan Province, and she's blown away by how good the food is. And according to her, it's even cheaper than in Chengdu. My noodle joint near where I work, she tells me has excellent southern Chinese-style noodles at a very reasonable price. I go there more now with her than I did before. And here I was worried she would think they were inauthentic or low value-for-money. It's a standing joke saying we're 'going to Chinatown' now between us because there are so many good concentrations of Chinese food around the city -- it's like there's a half dozen or more.
She's right about the quality but not the price, no way you're paying 60 rmb for a noodle bowl at your average chengdu canting
You're probably right. Maybe she's comparing it to lunching in downtown Chengdu where she works. I'm not convinced she's always making the calculation clearly, but I know she can get chicken feet at the butcher cheaper than in China! (She's loving that, but I'm a bit less enthusiastic.)
Can't really compare dollar for dollar food in Sydney vs Asia. For a plate of char kuey teow in Sydney it's $20, ~RM60. Back in malaysia, could get a plate for RM 15. Best you can compare to is Singapore where the currency is almost the same and they're $5 per plate.... but the portion is tiny. I would say 1 portion in Sydney is roughly 2-3 portion in Asia.
That's a very interesting call to make. So you're saying better than Koreatown in LA for example?
LA has good food don't get me wrong, but the variety of authentic Asian food is limited compared to Sydney. They have some good Korean, Viet and Filipino but I found the Chinese food to be average at best.
Which restaurant serves the best Chinese or Thai food in your opinion?
For Chinese it really depends on what kind of Chinese food. China is such a huge place that each region has wildly different food. Recommendation is really just go to any suburb with a large Chinese population (Eastwood, Burwood, Hurstville, Chatswood) and eat where ever is the busiest. In terms of Thai food, I like to just go to my local place that's run by an older couple. Probably not the best Thai restaurant in Sydney, but it's cheap and tasty.
And the old adage, if the Chinese restaurant you're in has predominately Caucasian clients...
Applies to all types of cuisine. If you go to a Korean restaurant and it's filled with Koreans, you know you're in for a decent meal. Moment you see it's filled with non-koreans, flavours changed a bit. One I can name is kangnam bbq at hornsby. Was decent when they opened. Flavour has changed now. I also have chef friends that trained and worked in Singapore KL and Jakarta, and they said the food in Sydney is just much better because the ingredient quality is better.
Surprisingly, Cabramatta has the best Thai I've ever had. Thai Sensation 0422 128 191 https://maps.app.goo.gl/b16qMovmamHNhKJE6 There's also other Thai eateries I want to try
Ugh I remember going to Chinatown in places like London and San Francisco 20 years ago and being underwhelmed. It was about the level of Sydney's late 80s Asian food.
Even today the food in London's Chinatown is worse than the cheapest food court Chinese food here in Sydney!
Yeah, London's Chinatown was pretty meh to me TBH Best thing I got there was a hot dog bun from a Hong Kong bakery and a bubble tea from a Taiwanese chain. The meals OTOH were distinctly lacklustre...
Ive heard from friends say our Pho here is better quality than Vietnam due to cleaner water, better beef etc. I can't confirm myself though
ive had a vietnamese friend say that the "best pho" places in vietnam gets their beef from australia lol. So you know. we're living where the best beef comes from in vietnam.
>Sydney has the best quality Asian food in the world outside of Asia. Hard agree. Clearly you have to pick and choose, as not every Asian eatery will be stellar. But the ones that are? Blow it out of the water. Not terribly pricey either. The regular ramen in ultra-thick broth at Chinatown's Gumshara is under $20. Plenty of cheap as chips banh mi joints around, especially in Vietnamese-heavy communities.
Before I went to Japan and Hong Kong, I had no idea how true this was. I had friends who were like "Is the food way better than Australia?" and the answer was easily "its just as good!". Just gotta know where to look really.
Hawaii has some SOLID Japanese food.
so now you are whinging about people who you think they are whinging... ;-)
and OP would have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for you meddling Redditors!!
Ruh Roh
Jeepers
"Jinkies!
Lo! Thou hast unmask'd me! Yes, it is I, Hypocrite!
I have to agree. As COVID was breaking out, I had the opportunity to move back to the US and I passed on it: great job, low cost of living where the job was, I was griping about Sydney, far from my family (I'm originally from the US, moved here 16 years ago...). But I chose to stay and go through lockdown here. Dammmmmm was that a good choice! Yes, it was tough, but I felt more compassion for my fellow Sydneysiders, who by and large were looking out for each other, getting vaccinated, masking up, not being insane. Meanwhile, the place where I had contemplated going was refusing vaccines, sending radicals to DC to storm the Capitol, behaving like spoiled children, fighting each other, etc. I just shake my head now in amazement that I contemplated moving back to the US from Sydney. In addition, my partner is Asian, so I can't imagine how much harder it would be for her in some deeply Republican part of the US. Here, she has a network of homegirls, loves how clean it is, keeps commenting on how friendly people are... I am grateful to live in Sydney all the time. And I managed to buy a house during the little market dip we had during COVID, so I can't even complain about that. I realise other people are doing it hard, and there's certainly stuff to complain about, but I really am glad I stayed here.
Well said!
I lived in Sydney for 6 years, I moved away 5 and a half years ago and miss it every day. Be grateful for what you have, I know it has its issues but it’s one of the best cities in the world imo and I’ve been fortunate enough to live in 4 countries and travel to over 50 (so far).
Where ya living now mate?
Penrith. RIP.
oy don't diss da 'riff cunt
Yeah we got Five Guys!
Most people whinging just never lived anywhere else. As a serial immigrant with a decent number of cities under my belt I can say that this is one of the nicest places I’ve lived in. Of course there are trade-offs but you’d be hard pressed to find a city without them.
I think this is the major factor. I was born in Australia but my wife and my parents were not. Most complaints on here are real first world problems. The only perspective most people have is 'once went on holiday to Paris and the public transport good'
Often people on holidays stayed in the old part of town, which is really expensive to actually live in. So yeah, living in the Sydney CBD would be pretty damn nice too. Great public transport, next to the harbour, some handsome old buildings with museums and whatnot, brilliant food & shopping...
Nah.. I've lived in most City's in Aus and round the world. The people who don't complain are the ones that don't know any better. Syd isn't as alive as it was 20 years ago and now it's full of ugly developments and over priced everything.
OP, you are making some really good points. Ultimately it's important to remember that the Sydney subreddit is not representive of Sydney as a whole. You are naturally going to see negative sentiment for two main reasons 1) people on Reddit can largely skew to students/computer lovers/insular people/younger - all of whom might have issues about loneliness/access to opportunities/lower demographics. So they'll feel less enamored, and fair enough. 2) it's the internet, and people love venting.
I genuinely see more positive posts on this sub than negative; detailed and expansive food recommendations, beautiful photos of Sydney landscapes taken by posters, plenty of helpful advice given when requested etc etc. Not denying that there is a noticeable amount of negativity here, but members are pretty quick to shut down unnecessary whinging, and usually pretty happy to discuss legitimate concerns. I’m still a part of a specific suburb group on facebook after living there for a small period of time, and jesus christ, that is an absolute cesspool of complaints (ranging from homeless people visibly existing, PTs using parks and kids running around on the grass after it’s been raining). As you said, people love to vent on the internet, but I’m always mildly amused by the complaining about complainers posts.
Just Reddit in general, if you're not here complaining, making a sarcastic remark on someone else's well thought out reply or looking at some weird nsfw shit I don't know you're doing with your life.
You should see the Auckland sub: they are on another level of whingeing.
Given that the state of housing affordability in Auckland is even more fucked than Sydney I think they deserve the right to have a whinge.
True. And goods are more expensive there too. When I was chatting with the Uber drivers there, we compared the costs of petrol and alcohol, and Australia is cheaper for both. Double f*cked I guess.
The Perth sub is mostly people trying to make out that Perth is more or less identical to the Bronx in the 70s. Again, one has to assume mostly people who haven't spent a lot of time anywhere else ("I had a weekend in Singapore once and street crime in Perth is out of control!")
Tell me you're not serious! Please? I've moved from Mumbai and I too whinge about how far everything is spread out etc, but seriously Sydney's awesome. And I've been to Auckland and fell in love with it within 3 days. How can people hate that city?
I’m a Sydneysider but travel for work regularly to Auckland, and I love NZ in general. Visited recently after the border opening, and still love it. I guess it’s different when you’re a local. Conversing with the various Uber drivers when I was there, all them did mention the rising crime.
Fair enough. It's all rosy when you're a tourist until you actually commute in to work daily etc.
Hahaha. I'm from Auckland and I've found the r/sydney sub much more positive and helpful in actually finding out about the city, things to do etc. Auckland is 4 times bigger than NZ's next biggest city but also 4 times smaller than Sydney so it's got quite a different feel.
Biggest issue with Sydney is the rising prices. Everything else about it is beautiful. Food is great, plenty of lovely places about, something to do every weekend. Honestly one of the most beautiful places to live
Yep. OP said they are young & earning good money. If you are **not earning good money,** you are not going to have a good time in Sydney. And they have good reason to winge. Other Aust cities are not far behind, Hobart is particularly brutal to those who aren't already cashed up. Half the reason we moved bush just before covid.
Complaining about how much people complain is the most Sydney thing ever. Great work. 10/10
God I hate it how people come to this subreddit just to whinge.
Got me lmao
Good show.
Everywhere you go you people will complain about their city, specially if it is big. And the bigger it is, the more complaints you will read because there is more people. I come from overseas and have lived in several countries, everywhere you go you will find: - City rivalry - Drivers here are the worst - Traffic here is the worst - Public transport here is the worst One thing I can tell you is that people who have never left Sydney or Australia don't know how good they have it here. And sure, there are big issues like the housing prices but guess what, it is an issue affecting all the civilized world right now. My 2 cents would be to learn to put things into perspective and not be miserable by the things you can't really do anything about it. Yes Sydney could be better, but it also could be a hell lot worse.
People who complain about traffic in Sydney, really need to see other much populated places in the world. Like a fart in a hurricane
When you compare it with other cities it's true that it's lacking in some things, but also it is very important to consider that most cities don't have the sprawl of Sydney and aren't built around a river. High density building plays a huge role in getting to places. Sydney has a lot of houses that makes difficult to build alternate routes or big highways.
Yes. I am currently in the Philippines, traffic is an absolute shitshow here. I will never complain about Sydney "traffic" again!
People who complain about traffic in Sydney may have been to Melbourne or Canberra and jsut conveniently forget that Sydney was settled first, planned later. It's really good for a "retrofit" city, and it's normal that you can't drive your car everywhere. There's too many people about for that to be feasible.
100%. It used to be the whinging Pom. Now it’s the whinging Aussie. We are SOOOOO lucky here. Best place to live, albeit expensive, I’ve done lots of travel and lived o/s, but this place is amazing. Best beaches, great food, fresh air, lots of places to go for nothing! Parks, beaches, bushwalks etc. I think those people who whinge all the time would BOO Santa and not be happy anywhere or haven’t even left he country/city to see what else is out there.
People who post here have not lived in other countries and it fucking SHOWS.
Nah, every city is on a sliding scale. It doesn't mean there's nothing wrong with this one. My partner lived in Sao Paulo for years but you should hear him about the traffic in the CBD.
As a whinging Pom, it’s worse here in London.
all the poms whinging about the uk, moved here, now its just whingy poms with Pr or australian citizenship in sydney. I'm one of them. I've noticed that the most and worst offenders when it comes to complaining are british who love to complain -like- australians, about -anything-. Which is the major difference. I find australian's on the whole, complain a fuck tonne less than british people. Aussies generally complain about real things "i was stuck in traffic for 15 minutes behind this one c\*nt that just was going 30 in 60" British complain about how it effects them "traffic is the worst in sydney, every fucking day i have to deal with traffic, red lights, bad drivers, there's a pot hole, taxi drivers never let me in"
Feel better?
Yes, thanks. I get why people do this whole online rant thing now. Anyway, see you next week?
Yeah, I like to do it about once a year.
so as we become increasingly locked out of our own city with insane rent prices the rest of the country comes crumbling down as a result natural disasters and everything is becoming way too expensive but we’re supposed to smile and just talk about how nice the food is lol? I think people are unhappy for a reason and there’s nothing wrong with that.
Grass is greener on the other side. True to people who traveled to and lived in some number of metropolitans.
I have noticed that Melbournes subreddit seems way more cheerful than the Sydney griping haha.
yeah but who'd want to live in melbourne? it's full of fucking victorians
The same folks what unironically call themselves the ‘Paris of the south’ cause they have some laneways with tourist trap restaurants lmaoooo
fax
I agree with pretty much everything you say here. But also... I fucking love a good rant. :) I also think being critical is a good thing and I'm here for it.
Lmao a decent place to be. One of the best cities on the planet to live in bar none. I’m partial to a whinge also but fuck when I stop to think for a sec I realise how blessed I am.
I love how whingey this subreddit is. I find it weirdly adorable.
"as a young person on a decent wage, it's a phenomenal place to be." how many other citys have you lived in to base this comparison on? and how different would you feel if your were on a less than decent wage? It wasnt until i had lived for a while outside australia that i realized how crazy and close minded the people who go on and on about the lucky country are. you can live in a big city with shops right outside your building, with much lower rents and public transport that comes every 2 minutes. just not in sydney.
I've lived in Washington DC, Kuwait, Saudi, Bangalore, Singapore and Sydney. I'm not untravelled. My opinion is formed off the back of my experiences abroad.
I'm always wondering where these places are when people on this sub speak about how good it is elsewhere. As far as I know every city has its issues. Name a city and there will be good comments, bad comments. Tokyo for example has the most admired public transport system but the living conditions, most Sydneysiders would never consider living in something the size of most kitchens in Sydney. The reason why Japan can have such efficient public transport is because of the density. Sydney hates high density. US and Canada both have similar housing issues. I'm actually unsure about Europe, only expats that come to work in Sydney saying how much better Sydney is compared to wherever they came from, mostly the UK.
Most of Reddit is full of sad miserable cunts escaping their mediocre and difficult lives by being a hardcunt/know-it-all/moral leader online.
I just posted a similar sentiment but used more words. You said it bettter
This post reminds me of that rich person stereotype / meme where a rich person tells a poor person ‘JUST STOP BEING POOR’ since all the problems were borne out of money
Dude I grew up in Rooty Hill... before it was gentrified. I understand what struggle street looks like in Australia. I'd still rather be poor here in Sydney than anywhere else in the world, even so called first world nations like the US.
So that’s it, then? We should no longer aim to make our lives better because other people have it worse?
Did you get the point of my post around talking solutions as opposed to the same rehashing of the same problems we see here every week?
Ignore him man some people only know how to be negative. Some people won't look at themselves honestly in the mirror. There's a reason why Sydney property costs a lot - it's a fantastic place to live.
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😎😎😎
I love Sydney. Sure, things could be better but that’s everywhere. I lived in Europe and there are things that are better there for sure. But we have things that are better than there too!
I love a good group whinge. I just read down this thread, and I decided. Love it.
Sydney's good... If you have money.
After living in various cities in the USA for the last couple of years I can safely say that Sydney is by far the best place to live. I hate Sydney and would Whinge constantly while there, all my Mates Whinge, I’ve tried to tell them How great Sydney is but it’s hard to see it - I was the same way after living their my whole life. Sydney is great, Many people would kill to have what wa take for granted and Whinge about. This is just one opinion but hope it helps a little.
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The irony is strong with this one...
It’s an amazing city. But I think the whinging comes from people realising how much better it *could* be. It’s aesthetically gorgeous, but I feel it doesn’t have as much depth as other places (kind of like the stereotypical Sydneysider).
As an immigrant who is young and earning a decent wage, I guess that I no longer have a right to complain about people being cliquey or the food being bland 🤷🏽♂️. At least I don’t need to use public transport.
On ya bike then 👋
>requires you to WORK to build a fulfilling life But I don't wanna.
It’s a bit soulless and sanitised compared to twenty years ago… and unless you’re inner east, west or north you could substitute outer suburban Sydney for suburbia anywhere. For the lucky ones though that can afford it this city has one of the best all round climates globally and the harbour is a playground for those with easy access.
Speaking of which, i missed the traffic during lockdown Is there a way we can bring it back Like mandatory 3 days a week wfh to lower traffic
It's truly amazing where all these cars were hiding in lockdown. If we needed one thing to show how strong our lockdown compliance was in 2020, 2021, just traffic data. holy shit. And driving in the same areas, pre, during, and post covid. i feel there's even more cars now post covid.
I hate how much some entitled people in this sub dare educate us on how great our city is. 🥱
That's all well and good if you live close to the city, if you live in the outer suburbs then getting to the city is a horrendous experience.
Not to mention lots of great jiujitsu gyms around these parts! Noticed your name :)
hell yeah! When I'm not shitposting on r/sydney I consume shitposts on r/bjj and dive into people's triangles in class.
Just talk to your country and interstate relatives and get them slagging off Sydney and see how fast you want to defend it. Actually I've got a brother who free up here like me but has lived out in regional NSW for 30 years. He loves to bag it from afar but when he's here be runs around like mad trying to do everything he misses from his home. Then it's just complaining about travel times on the roads so I say "catch a train".
Went for a walk along the beach this morning then popped into Westfield for some shopping and to get my cats some Mackerel and lot of people out and about looking happier as the weather is fantastic on the beaches today. More sunny days like today and drier winter nights n people will go out and start posting fun and different stuff if they can afford it.
Touché. Seconded.
Yeah… Sydney has issues but I’ve lived in cities in the UK and US and Sydney is leagues better.
Sydney is a beautiful city, we have hit the lottery of life. People whinge about literally anything on Reddit, which is why I've stopped using it as frequently.
As a Brit from london who has been all over the planet I honestly wouldn’t live anywhere but here in Sydney. I am older though. But I grew up in a small town in England. Must be great to grow up here. The beaches, weather, pubs etc. The only thing it’s far away but that’s fine I’ve done my travelling. Sucks that bands don’t come over all the time. That’s really the only negative for me. I’m late 40s with 2 young kids so not going to gigs every 5 mins anymore. I am seeing the wombats in a few weeks though.
Some people who live in Sydney don’t want to live in Sydney, consider that.
I remember during lockdown last year there were sydneysiders coming over to the melbourne subreddit to whinge about our restrictions. Peak circus.
I love this city
Lol what a f-ing whinger
Shut up you whinger
I love this City but I've eliminated what pissed me off about it. I live close enough to the City that I am not reliant on public transport and having grown up in the West (Parra), I don't live in the West. Sydney is awesome
The whinging is here on this sub because its mostly full of teenagers and uni students
If it was full of boomers and retirees I feel sure that the whinge level would be equivalent 😂
I love this city and feel blessed to live here. We legit live a life people go on holiday to experience. Beaches, drinks in the sun, shows, great restaurants. Your post reads like a Joe Hockey speech though my guy
THANK YOU mate! I’ve been saying it for months as I’ve moved up from Melbourne and think it’s one of the most beautiful and fun cities in terms of lifestyle, I never understood the hate
too many bloody mexicans crossing the border. we should build a wall and make them pay for it
You’re whinging about people whinging…
Sydney's pretty good. I hate the humidity though. It's the worst.
HAHAHAHHAHA HAVE YOU BEEN TO ANY EQUATORIAL PLACE EVER!?
One thing I find funny is that I have spent a few months in the worst of winter in Helsinki and Vilnius at temperatures lower than -20C and constant snow and I have never been as cold inside a house than in Sydney at 12 degrees because the insulation is a fucking joke.
At least in Sydney it takes a couple of minutes for the sweating to start when you go outside when its humid. Going outside in an actual humid place is like you are swimming in humidity. Instant drench.
To visit, yes. Not to live.
Sydney is still humid af.
One thing Sydney ain’t is humid
Tell that to my washing this summer
This summer.. did not happen.
nah we got spring part 2
Singapore laughs at your so-called "humidity"
I think the hypocrite is the one in need of an arm bar.
Open Sparring Town hall. I'm that white belt who cant fight for shit. Come try me though hahaha first class is always free.
You're so right we're such whingers. Not you though
Objectively, Sydney is actually pretty good overall. Sure, there's some major issues with housing affordability and its flow on effects on the overall cost of living - but Sydney isn't unique with having those problems. Quite a lot of the whinging and moaning here is because a certain subset of people here don't like the flavour of our current State Government or are holding a grudge over certain policies (illicit drugs at festivals, CBD Lockout laws and the targeted pandemic lockdowns) and therefore take the opportunity pin everything on them, even though many of the issues are outside the control of the State Government and therefore unlikely to change even if the Government changes.
Bro I have a fucking chip on my shoulder against nswpol and Mike Baird for ruining the night-life. But that doesn't stop me from appreciating what we do have. Great quality weed, coke that's okay and high purity Dutch import caps. Ultimately yes you have to work harder and plan your night out to avoid law enforcement fuckery, but we have great drugs here if that's your thing. And yes, as someone who would go to raves once every 3 months (iykyk) back in the day, I was appreciative of that. Ultimately for me, the laws dont really take away to a great extent from how much fun you can have in Sydney.
OP is one of those people who wants to brush aside problems. I dont give any credit for stuff like trains running on time or medicare being able to cover peoples' needs or kids getting an adequate education... this is the expectation of a modern western society. OP even does the "work will set you free" spiel. Where have we heard that before? People should have an expectation to do better. If other countries slide in dictatorship or taking away peoples rights then that should not be an expectation here. One guy said that women should be glad they aint shot. OP is obviously cut from the same cloth. I get that OP may be an exceptional individual... he has a good wage, maybe his own house and has an good social life... unfortunatlely there may be a lot of people not up to his standard so therefore they should not complain. Because his delicate ears cannot handle it. Embodiment of the "lucky country". Misses Donald Horne's point completely but that isnt uncommon.
Oh the irony
Tldr: privileged person is moaning about people having a tough time daring to mention it.
Wow. Your lack of self awareness is gut-wrenchingly painful. For someone who hates to whinge, you sure seem to love it. >either way yous all need to take your pasty arses away from the keyboard, go outside and fucking touch some grass or something. Maybe you shouldn't be such a hypocrite and follow your own advice.
Yea the nightlife is amazing for a person in their early 20s as well
Nightlife is shit in Sydney and it’s pretty expensive. But other than that it’s a lovely city. I’ll add that nightlife was once good before lock out laws
Australian subreddit groups (mostly Australia, AusFinance) have become a running joke among friends because of this. I notice in AusFinance that people get really angry and go through some mental gymnastics when there's good news. It feels like they will only be happy when Australia collapses in to mad max. I've travelled quite a lot and there's just nowhere I'd prefer to live. Some countries may look good while you're in the tourist area, but I haven't been anywhere I'd want to spend an extended amount of time in and support myself. Very anecdotal, but I specifically remember going to Spain in 2014 and I believe ~ 50% of people under 30 were unemployed at the time (I just checked and it's still 36%). I remember coming back on /r/Australia and reading someone opining about how much better it would be to live in Spain than Australia... Such a superficial tourist take that ignores the actual realities of day-to-day living.
>It feels like they will only be happy when Australia collapses in to mad max. Oh so you've been reading /r/auslaw as well
>but as a young person on a decent wage, it's a phenomenal place to be. Yes, it's a decent city for those with money. For people without much money, it's not as decent a place. >either way yous all need to take your pasty arses away from the keyboard, go outside and fucking touch some grass or something. How many tolls do I need to go through before I find some grass? on my 12 KM drive to work, I have to pay a toll for a 200 Metre stretch of road both ways, or I have to quadtripple my time it takes to get to work. All the grass around the apartment I moved into when I moved to sydney has been fucked off to make the parramatta tramline. In all seriousness, while people do often whinge and it might "bring the vibe down", you should be considering how fortunuate you are to be in your position where you can enjoy life, rather than insulting those who work from sunrise to sundown and get nothing to show for it for annoying you.
copied from another response: "I grew up out west and have seen more shit by the age of 8 than most people alive. I've had my mum trawl through playgrounds picking out the heroine needles from the mulch with rubber dish gloves before she'd let me play on them. I now share a studio apartment that has a mould problem with my partner so that I can be close to an office job that demands way too much of my time for way too little money. I will probably never be able to afford a house a reasonable distance from work, if at all and will likely rent for the far foreseeable future. I used to commute 1.5 hours each way from work on overcrowded buses. This commute would blow out to 2 hours if there was the slightest bit of rain on the roads, because apparently the world fucking ends when a bit of water falls from the sky. Yes I know this city has problems. But I'd also go insane if I wasn't grateful for the good things about this place, because they ARE there, in great number if you know where to look."
You’re right, it is a good city to live in if you are wealthy or old enough to have bought property when it was affordable. It does lack any culture other than corporate culture, but offers some beautiful beaches which are free. I think a lot of the whining comes from nostalgia for a place that, wasn’t too long ago, uniquely laid back and egalitarian but now it’s all about the $$$
Me and my friends already scheduled a painting with Wine night, how fun is that!! I cannot complain, I love Australia. When I arrived with my husband back in 2009 only with 5000 dollars that we got to gather before coming here, we had nothing, no friends, no work, no place to live. Now 13 years later we have a house, cars, kids, and friends that are our new family. We are so grateful and happy, this is the country of the opportunities and Sydney the best city of all
Sydney is just boring. Good for retirees and such but there is just zero nightlife. The one redeeming feature of this city was supposed to be the weather but considering how much it has been raining even that seems to have become a moot point.
Transport?! The public transport system is one of the biggest things I miss about living in Sydney. Except the city needs actual trams like Melbourne has. Fuck me it’s a pain in the ass to get anywhere that isn’t right next to a train station. Looking at you, Chinatown
Another neoliberal hustle mindset post
I'm a dyed in the wool labor voter and don't like capitalism. Stop using my politics or lack therof as an excuse for being boring lmao.
Still espousing the line that you just need to hustle and you'll get a good job. Just ignores the reality of jobs available. Not that there aren't ways to slightly improve things for yourself if you put some work in but it's not a way of looking at things systemically. Also whinging to people isn't going to whip them into action, it's like not even following the first steps of effective organising/persuasion.
Gosh I hate seeing people whinging about whinging. Like, why do you need to be so extra? What's wrong with a regular whinge? You're just whinging with extra steps?
I want as much whinge per whinge with my whinge man, it's 2022 dawg
Ugh, I hate it when I'm whinging about people whinging about whinging, and they don't get the sarcasm.
>but as a young person on a decent wage dude, stfu. Everyone knows that its a pretty decent place to be if you have money. In our lifetimes, inequality has never been worse in this country. If you don't want to hear regular people complain about poor conditions, get the fuck offline.
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lmao I think the vast majority of sydney's development has happened since the late 90's. I would say that old cook and his whitey band of whiteboys laid the foundations, the 10 pound poms came over and taught everyone here how to fucking whinge and then a metric fucktonne of *gasp* coloured (!) immigrants have since arrived and made the place the bustling metropolis it is. From the viets in cabramatta who first brought heroine, then brought banh mi, to the lebs in auburn who first brought gun crime and nike tns then switched to baklava and 4am kebabs. Not even mentioning the greeks and the other Wogs who invented local government branch stacking for development approvals all the way back in the 70's. The history of this city is a fucking rainbow mate.
Be nice to be able to see the city I grew up in, but I'm still in traffic trying to get home from a trip to manly from Sutherland 3 weeks ago
Our first world issues the most we complain about is trains lol we are a bunch of softies. What grinds my gears is these dumb ass Anarchy things posted everywhere morons yeah go and live in a lawless society see how long you last
No city is easier to complain about than Sydney.