Sydney vs Melbourne

During the semester break, some of my friends from Melbourne came to Sydney for a visit. While they were here, they pointed out several differences between the city of Melbourne and Sydney. I had the chance to stay in both cities during my studies in Australia and most of my friends would ask if I prefer Sydney over Melbourne. It is easy to compare the two cities as it is very different.

First of all, Melbourne was planned based on the grid layout whereas Sydney is more of an organic city mostly due to its topography. This has significant effect on the two cities as Melbourne is inevitably more structured and organized in its layout. As a result, the public transport system in the CBD is far superior to that in Sydney.

The grid planning also makes name of the streets in Melbourne easier to remember for me. I was only there for a year but I still remember the names of every street in Melbourne but still having trouble with the names of streets in Sydney. The streets in Melbourne also have very distinct identity to it. For example, Spencer Street is the transportation hub with Southern Cross station spanning the most part of the street. Colins Street is home to boutiques of high fashion, Little Bourke Street is Chinatown, Lygon Street is the food street and Swanston Street is the main street where most international students spend their time on perhaps because it links Melbourne University and RMIT University to most of the student residential and major shopping complexes such as QV and Melbourne Central. On the other hand, George Street in Sydney acts as the main spine of the city but I fail to elaborate more on the role it plays in the CBD to my visiting friends. In addition, the other streets around Sydney also lacks a distinctive identity to it other than Oxford Street.

While the structured layout and clear identity in the streets of Melbourne makes it easy to navigate and identify, it also makes it less interesting as you know what to expect if you are to meet someone in an allocated street. In Sydney however, it is more interesting as you can wander around every street while still having different options in terms of activity. Sydney feels like an interesting maze where every corner could offer something unpredictable whereas in Melbourne, the clear mental maps makes every turn of a corner predictable. Generally, I feel that the speed of lifestyle is much faster in Sydney as compared to Melbourne.

The urban fabric of Melbourne ranges from all types of colours and styles of architecture whereas in Sydney, as my friends put it, is old and bland. Despite the less picturesque environment, I find Sydney strangely comforting. This is perhaps the messiness and the hustle and bustle reminds me of Kuala Lumpur. When asked to compare the two cities of Melbourne and Sydney in a nutshell, I always compare Melbourne to me more alike to a European city and Sydney to an Asian city. It is a fact that Melbourne is a more scenic city but I am more accustomed to the hustle and bustle of Sydney.

The one aspect of Sydney that my friends seems to be amazed with is the weather. They are all drawn to the clear blue skies and moderate temperature of Sydney. I must admit that the climate is a huge factor I decided to move from Melbourne to Sydney. While having the discussion of climate and weather of a city with my friends, it reminded me on William Cronon’s reading on Chicago where the natural topography and landscape plays an important role in the development of a city. Speaking from personal experience, I believe that the natural environment is also affects the city in terms of drawing in tourists and attracting potential migrants to the city.