Spain is perhaps the most welcoming country I’ve been to, and Japan having the most polite people.

Melbourne isn’t bad, but I think it lacks a soul if you know what I mean.

We are not stuck up, rude or anything like that. we do not push in lines wtf….

And you are diising that we have a multicultural city? that out government is nice enough to allow people living in horrible countries to come to Melbourne for freedom?

I have to agree though, SOME not all, indians, asians, muslims etc can be rude and annoying, but thats not melbournians fault? the aussies are mostly very nice people.

I am gratefull that i am so lucky to live a safe, happy, furfilled life in melbourne, And not like the not so lucky people in developing countries all over the word.

This is all coming from a 13 year old, I have no intention on drinking, smoking, or doing stupid things. and neither do my 15, 16, 17 etc year old friends. Were not stupid people, and melbourne has a good future with teenagers like me, most are like me, motivated, gratefull and friendly.

Melbournne is a great place, and i consider myself to be so privileged to live here!!!!!!

I have some relatives and a few new friends in Adelaide, and even though lots of people in Australia seemed to be down on Adelaide (most of which had never visited) I actually had a better time there than Melbourne. More relaxed, cleaner, great beaches close to the city (at least compared to Melb beaches) and some really friendly people and great parties.

While in Phuket I have met many from Queensland I finally met another Melbournian! She has had enough of melbourne for her own reasons and is settling here on the island. I found it very interesting that before I even knew where she was from i could guess she was Melbournian…was it because she was wearing grey?!!!

We talked…..and between us we discovered several things we agreed upon about melbourne:

The original site for Melbourne was actually going to be Geelong {for its harbour and beauty}. This obviously did not happen!

Melbourne long before white people were in oz was actually a marsh land. Kind of a sinking, stagnant marsh…flat and not really a place for settling.

We both felt that living in the inner city of Melbourne led us to feel trapped and suffocated energetically. The more the city expanded, the more we felt like we were sinking into the middle of this place.

Melbourne {perhaps like all Western cities?}, feels very creative, competitive and encourages that kind of manic do, do, do, rush, rush. We felt like we not only felt like we had to do a lot, but we also had to be really good at it in all ways. This is obviously an internal and personal reaction, but I feel you have to be very grounded in melbourne if you want to have any time for yourself and any real quality time with friends and family.

Life there..in a city, just feels like I am ticking boxes all the time.

I am seriously reconsidering moving back there. Anyone know of anywhere outside of Victoria that is more relaxed, community, slower pace but not in the sticks?!!!

Thanks for the posts…great to hear from all.

I’ve traveled the world since then and while I’ve been to places a lot worse than Melbourne I’ve also been to place that leave Melbourne in the dust.

In the end, what makes Melbourne suck is the people. They are the most superficial, airheads that I have met on the globe. During the day they are like rats running on a wheel completely oblivious to the fact that they are on it. They have a complete inability to connect at any level resembling “deep” and this includes most so called relationships.

Perhaps the only thing going for Melbourne is that it has so many ethnic people. This is the only saving grace.

Just one more thing. We do have role models in Victoria, I say this because I know successful men and women who are now raising beautiful families and successful businesses. My girlfriend studied Disability at RMIT Bundoora and spent 5 years caring for troubled children with autism. But you never hear of them in the media. You hardly will hear of the good samaritan who helped his neighbour with the heater next door. But you will continually hear about bashings and what not.

My tip on not letting negativity get to you: NEVER READ THE HERALD SUN FOR OPINIONS OR FOR THE GENERAL STATE OF THINGS IN VICTORIA (they don’t even have a proper business section).
There is more to life than reported by the tabloids. God I hate the Herald Sun. Profit grabbing sensationalist drivel.

Stand still.. breathe in…

As a migrant (of 10 years), I have hated and loved my time here. It’s life I guess, so I try to love most of the time. My inner circle of best mates are asian and white. And when I say white, I mean both from the city and from the country (the Western district and hill country up north). I was lucky that my year group in high school was pretty diverse and now that I’m working in the city, I have colleagues from all over, e.g. England (there are A LOT of Brits in the corporate world here), South Africa, Mauritius to name a few. As such, my Melbourne experience has certainly enriched me for the better, and only because of my exposure to the different world views of my mates. I’ll admit it: I love them.

I sense a lotta hate here. I think what makes a city is its citizens. And Melbourne has people from every continent (bar Antarctica). So to say that Melburnians all suck doesn’t make sense because of the sheer diversity of migrants that have made Melbourne home. Maybe… you hate migrants then?

And about the rudeness in Melbourne, I’m sorry guys, but I disagree. I picked up the “Hello, how are you?” and “Thanks mate” HERE in Victoria (not just Melbourne, true though, country folk are friendlier). And I’ve been to far ruder cities in Europe (London, Monaco believe it or not!) and Asia (Beijing, Kuala Lumpur), no joke! But then again, just as I was rubbed the wrong way in those places, my hosts were always fantastic Anyway, I have always made it a point to mind my P’s and Q’s ever since I came here and it has usually been reciprocated. Usually. There are Many times when I’m face to face with a dick head or a really toxic bitch. But we’re all guilty of regretful behaviour, aren’t we all? Thing is, I really do try not to spread the hate. I try to make the buck stop with me.

Whatever city you end up in, I do wish you all the best.

P.S. Btw, IMHO tourist attractions do not make the soul of the city. Its people is its soul. It does not matter if there aren’t any tourist attractions here. Sign up for a short course at uni, go skiing this winter, have a surf OUTSIDE of the bay, pick up that piece of litter and put in the bin, have a night out with some mates at the go kart. In short: Live.