My favourite city has to be Melbourne in VIC (Victoria), Australia. Although I grew up in Sydney, I chose to move here in my 20s.
I find the social aspect of life here much more interesting, and more relaxed. There's a great café culture here, and a lot of small restaurants / pubs / secret lanes to discover.
Melbourne is actually the second biggest city in Australia, and the biggest in Victoria. Not many non-aussies (Australians) know this, but neither Sydney nor Melbourne are the capital of Australia. Actually there was a great debate regarding which city should be the capital, and since no one could agree it was decided to "create" a capital. That's how Canberra was founded, and why it's located approximately between Melbourne and Sydney.
Here's what wikipedia has to say about Melbourne:
"It was founded in 1835 (47 years after the European settlement of Australia) by settlers from Van Diemen's Land. The early settlement was originally known as "Bearbrass". It was renamed "Melbourne" in 1837, in honour of William Lamb-the 2nd Viscount Melbourne. Melbourne was officially declared a city by Queen Victoria in 1847. In 1851, it became the capital city of the newly created colony of Victoria. During the Victorian gold rush of the 1850s, it was transformed into one of the world's largest and wealthiest cities. After the federation of Australia in 1901, it then served as the interim seat of government of the newly created nation of Australia until 1927.
Today, it is a centre for the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, sport and tourism. It is the birthplace of cultural institutions such as Australian film (as well as the feature film), Australian television, Australian rules football, the Australian impressionist art movement (known as the Heidelberg School) and Australian dance styles (such as New Vogue and the Melbourne Shuffle). It is also a major centre for contemporary and traditional Australian music. It is often referred to as the "cultural capital of Australia".
Melbourne is classified as a Beta World City+ by Loughborough University's GaWC Research Network, and as a City of Literature by UNESCO's Creative Cities Network. It has been ranked as one of the top three World's Most Livable Cities by the Economist Group's Intelligence Unit (since 2002), top 10 Global University Cities by RMIT's Global University Cities Index (since 2006) and top 20 Global Innovation Cities by the 2thinknow® Global Innovation Agency (since 2007). The metropolis is also home to the world's largest tram network. The main airport serving Melbourne is Melbourne Airport."
And a bit about contemporary Melbourne:
"Since 1997, Vic Melbourne has maintained significant population and employment growth. There has been substantial international investment in the city's industries and property market. Major inner-city urban renewal has occurred in areas such as Southbank, Port Melbourne, Melbourne Docklands and more recently, South Wharf. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Melbourne sustained the highest population increase and economic growth rate of any Australian capital city in the three years ended June 2004. These factors have led to population growth and further suburban expansion through the 2000s.
In 2003, Melbourne was named as a UNESCO City of Literature.
From 2006, the growth of the city extended into "green wedges" and beyond the city's Urban growth boundary. Predictions of the city's population reaching 5 million people pushed the state government to review the growth boundary in 2008 as part of its Melbourne @ Five Million strategy. Melbourne survived the financial crisis of 2007-2010 better than any other Australian city. In 2009, more new jobs were created in Melbourne than any other Australian capital - almost as many as the next two fastest growing cities, Brisbane and Perth, combined. and Melbourne's property market remained strong, resulting in historically high property prices and widespread rent increases."
I find the social aspect of life here much more interesting, and more relaxed. There's a great café culture here, and a lot of small restaurants / pubs / secret lanes to discover.
Melbourne is actually the second biggest city in Australia, and the biggest in Victoria. Not many non-aussies (Australians) know this, but neither Sydney nor Melbourne are the capital of Australia. Actually there was a great debate regarding which city should be the capital, and since no one could agree it was decided to "create" a capital. That's how Canberra was founded, and why it's located approximately between Melbourne and Sydney.
Here's what wikipedia has to say about Melbourne:
"It was founded in 1835 (47 years after the European settlement of Australia) by settlers from Van Diemen's Land. The early settlement was originally known as "Bearbrass". It was renamed "Melbourne" in 1837, in honour of William Lamb-the 2nd Viscount Melbourne. Melbourne was officially declared a city by Queen Victoria in 1847. In 1851, it became the capital city of the newly created colony of Victoria. During the Victorian gold rush of the 1850s, it was transformed into one of the world's largest and wealthiest cities. After the federation of Australia in 1901, it then served as the interim seat of government of the newly created nation of Australia until 1927.
Today, it is a centre for the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, sport and tourism. It is the birthplace of cultural institutions such as Australian film (as well as the feature film), Australian television, Australian rules football, the Australian impressionist art movement (known as the Heidelberg School) and Australian dance styles (such as New Vogue and the Melbourne Shuffle). It is also a major centre for contemporary and traditional Australian music. It is often referred to as the "cultural capital of Australia".
Melbourne is classified as a Beta World City+ by Loughborough University's GaWC Research Network, and as a City of Literature by UNESCO's Creative Cities Network. It has been ranked as one of the top three World's Most Livable Cities by the Economist Group's Intelligence Unit (since 2002), top 10 Global University Cities by RMIT's Global University Cities Index (since 2006) and top 20 Global Innovation Cities by the 2thinknow® Global Innovation Agency (since 2007). The metropolis is also home to the world's largest tram network. The main airport serving Melbourne is Melbourne Airport."
And a bit about contemporary Melbourne:
"Since 1997, Vic Melbourne has maintained significant population and employment growth. There has been substantial international investment in the city's industries and property market. Major inner-city urban renewal has occurred in areas such as Southbank, Port Melbourne, Melbourne Docklands and more recently, South Wharf. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Melbourne sustained the highest population increase and economic growth rate of any Australian capital city in the three years ended June 2004. These factors have led to population growth and further suburban expansion through the 2000s.
In 2003, Melbourne was named as a UNESCO City of Literature.
From 2006, the growth of the city extended into "green wedges" and beyond the city's Urban growth boundary. Predictions of the city's population reaching 5 million people pushed the state government to review the growth boundary in 2008 as part of its Melbourne @ Five Million strategy. Melbourne survived the financial crisis of 2007-2010 better than any other Australian city. In 2009, more new jobs were created in Melbourne than any other Australian capital - almost as many as the next two fastest growing cities, Brisbane and Perth, combined. and Melbourne's property market remained strong, resulting in historically high property prices and widespread rent increases."
