Is the American Dream Alive in Australia? Part II
Welcome back to the second part of my ongoing series comparing life in the US and Australia. This is going to be a longer section as I’ve found it to be one of the greatest differentiators, as well as one of the most touted aspects of Australian life that I wanted investigate. First up, safety.
Forget the “Get Home Safe” Text: Why Aussies Don’t Live in Constant Anxiety
It’s easy to say that some cities are safer or more livable than others; however, this is usually communicated through one statistic or another. Through their intentional impersonality, I found these statistics lack a certain… punch to them. Even if a city is 30% safer than another, what did that mean to the experience of day-to-day life there? How does living in a city that is safer actually feel? The sense of safety and well-being is one of the most striking and touted aspects of Australian life, and the differences were apparent for me from day one. I’m going to attempt to bridge this gap by painting a picture of life in a safe city using the only methods I know how, vivid personal examples.
I never once felt I was in any danger on transit or walking down the street, at any time of night.
Of course, being a taller man, I have some privilege here. Women’s experiences are likely different (more discussion of this in the upcoming Social section). However, I will note that through my observations, as well as conversations with women in my circle, they are much more confident in walking alone. This holds true both at night and on transit, while also having fewer negative experiences to share than women back in the US.
The best example is the buzz surrounding Aussie alleyways, particularly at night. That’s a hard pass for anyone I know in America, regardless of gender or background. Even from a distance, you would likely judge that your safety may be in question (either from a smell, sight of tents, litter, syringes, etc). In Australia, often the coolest bars and restaurants are in alleyways, and much of social life takes place there. In fact, Melbourne’s “laneways” are a famous tourist attraction in their own right. The darker, graffitied-up alleyways are places for photo shoots with your girls, dressed to the nines after brunch or a night out. The thought of safety doesn’t even cross one’s mind. This was so starkly different that a South African friend would regularly exchange glances and joke with me about how bizarre of an experience this was for us; we wouldn’t dare to set foot down a similarly-lit alleyway in either of our respective homes.
The level of safety is so significantly different that I found it working its way into the lexicon. I began to notice that “get home safe” was not a common parting phrase and there really was no Aussie slang equivalent. It may be subtle, but I find this to be an excellent barometer. The possibility that their friends might not get home safe was so remote, it wasn’t worth startling them by bringing attention to it. In a way, this was the inverse of my experience moving from Boston (very safe by American city standards) to San Francisco (low level dangerous). “Get home safe” or some variation of it, would almost invariably follow a goodbye in the later hours. The look in the eyes of even new acquaintances, and the sincerity of their voices when saying so, generally unnerved me the first few times I heard it. Situational awareness became par for the course.
In a year of living in Australia, I was only accosted on the street twice and shouted at once. Both of the experiences were mild and would barely register for me back in SF.
I’ll get into a deeper discussion of what I believe to be major drivers in the upcoming Cost of Living section, but one clear contribution is homelessness — or the relative lack of it in Australia. This was also apparent from day one. Since my arrival, I started counting how many individual homeless people I encountered in my walks around the CBD. The fact that I could even keep all these individuals in mind is a testament to the Australian government’s effectiveness here. In Sydney, I began to recognize about 20 unique individuals, a few more in Melbourne. Their state and attitude was starkly different than what I was used to; these people, for the most part, didn’t seem greatly in distress and none seemed dangerous. In fact, some I did not identify as homeless until they asked me for money — in the most polite way imaginable I might add. It certainly felt like they were much more part of the community than the homeless people I encountered back home.
Stereotypically, another major contributor to my feelings of safety were the lack of guns. Equally stereotypically, during my first few weeks in Sydney I didn’t realize that the city puts on fireworks every Friday at 9PM. I felt a shiver run down my spine at the sudden, booming sound of explosions in the distance; my first reaction was to double take and ask if there had been any shootings in the area. My Aussie companions thought this was hilarious and the most American thing I had done to date, then began teasing me about my pronunciation of the letter “R”. Extremely telling of how detached they were from even the possibility of gun crime in their city.
Even though I witnessed far more late night bar fights in Australia than I ever did back in The States, I was never concerned that these would escalate beyond a few punches or that I would need to evacuate the area. This is a direct result of Australia’s response to their first mass shooting back in the 90’s: it was met with immediate and strict gun control along with a buy back scheme that has largely been successful in keeping guns off the streets ever since. The memories of this event are far enough removed from daily life that I heard a British comedian make a joke about this exact fact during the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, which was met with a roar of laughter. Of course, Australia has its share of hooligans, with the usual broken glass and public property damage after drinking. Think frustrated teens taking their aggression out on a bus stand, rather than my American experience of broken car windows, brazen theft, and gunpoint robbery.
From George Street to The Mission: A Tale of Two Nightlife Ecosystems
Worth taking a small aside to point out that Australian cities are noticeably cleaner than their similarly sized American counterparts. This is not because Aussies are innately cleaner or more conscientious about throwing their trash in a bin, but because the government has made a concerted effort to keep the cities and highways looking pristine.
The greatest example of this would be the nightly cleanup of George Street in Sydney. It’s the primary artery of the city (similar to Market Street in San Francisco), packed with food and nightlife venues stretching for blocks, as well as being a transit hub. While technically drinking on this street is illegal, there is a vibrant culture built around enjoying a pint and food with your mates outside. With plenty of fast food options open late on this street, you can imagine how absolutely trashed it gets on the weekends. 16th and Mission in SF is a comparable level of litter; however, the City of Sydney manages to make this street spotless again by morning.
While I’ve seen similar efforts of power washing and cleanup in the US, somehow they simply don’t achieve the same results. Crowded nightlife hotspots in the US seem to have a perpetual level of grime and litter that never dissipates. I can only guess at what Sydney’s secret is here, but if I had to venture a guess it would be Australia’s high minimum wage, especially for those working weekends, nights, and public holidays (more on that in the upcoming Cost of Living section). In short, my hypothesis is that if you can make a legitimate career of being a street cleaner, the consistency and pride will show up in your work. I’ll wrap up here by simply saying:
While pools of vomit and sticky spills on the street or the floor of a train car are common enough sights in Australia, the frequency is noticeably less than in the US — and not once did I see (much less step on) a syringe or human feces.
Ditching the Car (and the Stress): How Aussie Public Transit Won Me Over
Speaking of the floors of train cars, what about the rest of them? I have a bias here I need to disclose. I absolutely love living in cities that are either walkable or have good transit options, in fact I refuse to live in any city that requires me to own a car (sorry LA, love you, but it’s a deal breaker). Not only because I enjoy saving on the exorbitant cost of a car payment, gas, insurance, parking, etc, but I generally experience much less stress when I don’t have to commute. I’m not the type of guy who needs to go for a drive to get his head straight; my wearable data proves this. With the brief exception of a year during the pandemic, I have not owned a car since 2015. Since I want to keep it that way, and also have quick access to a rental car when needed, a variety of convenient transit options becomes paramount.
SE Australia absolutely delivered! Remember how in part one of this series, I mentioned Aussies love to complain about their weather, despite it being phenomenal by nearly any other country’s standards? It’s exactly the same with their attitudes toward transit. I find most Aussies complain about their transit systems because they compare them to places like Singapore, China, Japan, and Western Europe; in short they set their bar based on the best transit systems in the world. Once again, the very fact that they do this is telling. It’s not at all the attitude of any transit agency in the western hemisphere and I would argue that the transit in place in both Sydney and Melbourne are leaps and bounds ahead of their American counterparts.
The best American counterpart for this comparison would be Chicago. Melbourne and Sydney both have their central business districts inside a loop, with lines extending to the inner neighborhoods and outer suburbs. I’m a big fan of loop lines, but the primary disadvantage of these types of systems is that you often need to take extra time to come into the center loop and then leave it again to go between the neighborhoods. However, unlike Chicago, Australian CBDs are conveniently both the business AND nightlife hotspots of their cities. Meaning the loop is not a ghost town after 5pm and you are more likely than not meeting your friends there anyway. That being said, these neighborhoods all have their own unique character and attractions (especially so in Melbourne); these are places you really do want to move between at least once per week. The local governments have taken notice and are actively investing in expanding the system to include additional outer loop lines to solve the neighborhood-to-neighborhood issue.
Parallel Tracks: LA’s Transit Dreams vs. Aussie Realities
The rail expansions in both cities are truly impressive feats that simply don’t have American equivalents.
Melbourne has two ongoing rail expansion programs that together promise to add nearly 100 km of rail and 11 new stations by 2035. Not to be outdone, Sydney’s rail expansion project is touting 46 new stations and 113 km of new tracks, some of which are opening this year. For comparison, LA’s currently funded and active rail projects are only adding 53 km and 33 new stations (Combination of K, D, A, and East San Fernando projects).
These are not simply planned / budgeted projects either–they are active construction sites that had broken ground even before my arrival in Australia. Just these expansions could be considered full service transit systems in most American cities in their own right. It became blatantly evident to me that state governments in Australia are not simply chasing their growth, but instead are actively planning and preparing for it. All this despite a higher cost of labor and increased cost of importing materials and technology.
LA’s rail project is the largest in the US right now, enough to be qualified by Bloomberg as a ‘Transit-Building Tear”. Yet this is ultimately an unfair comparison, as the LA metro has a population that is 80% greater than both Melbourne and Sydney combined, not to even touch on the wealth and resource gaps between these two regions. Though hey, neither Melbourne nor LA have managed (as of this writing) to actually deliver on their promises of connecting their international airport to their rail systems. Perhaps lobby groups speak loudly in both countries; go figure.
The difference between these rail extension projects lays bare the state priorities, urban planning capabilities, and efficient allocation of capital — and Australia is the clear winner.
So enough about the future, what is it like to actually use these transit systems day to day? You become quite accustomed to being able to get just about anywhere within about 30 minutes by transit. On the off chance you miss a train, another (or a bus) is usually available a few minutes later. I could count on one hand the number of times I had more than a double-digit wait. In Melbourne, I even had the advantage of most of my trips being completely free due to their legendary Free Tram Zone.
Certainly there were a few delays, the most notorious of which added a full hour to my trip when I was trying to get to Altona Beach from Southern Cross, due to single tracking and failing switch infrastructure. One critical delay in a year though? I can live with that. I rented a car 3 times and each was for the explicit purpose of a road trip. The prices were quite reasonable and there were plenty of convenient car share alternatives (GoGet being the one I saw everywhere). Worst case scenario, I could always rely on an affordable rideshare from Chinese Uber competitor Didi. Not a beat was missed.
Train Delays Down Under: A Love Story (Almost?)
One particularly striking story that encapsulates a lot of how I feel about the state of transit in Australia is the transformation of Sydney Central Station. This was my local station in the city. When I arrived in September 2022, it was a station like any other: pretty heritage building on the outside, aging infrastructure on the inside. The only thing setting it apart was a plethora of screens giving you precise platform information — great!
Then, on my return last October, the station was a marvel to behold. In the span of one short year it went through a metamorphosis and emerged a seamless fusion of old and new. A few areas almost seemed like they could fit in a solar punk art piece. I was floored by how much progress was made in such a short time, never having witnessed a public building restoration on this scale in the US. Apparently the current progress is only the beginning.
I’d like to close off the transit section with one last story that will come as a particular shock to my fellow Americans. Train strikes. If you’re like me, you’re likely already visualizing a particularly bleak scene of overcrowded platforms, droves of people venting frustrations while waiting in the rain, perhaps even civil unrest? Well unlike even our European counterparts, the Aussies really have this one figured out. I experienced a few train strikes while I was in Sydney, yet none of them bothered me or really much interfered with my day. How is that possible?
Transit workers in New South Wales figured out it’s better to have the public on your side rather than at the butt of your protest.
The train strikes I experienced did not involve significant loss of service, marching, yelling, or even too much chaos. Instead, the transit workers simply refuse to collect payment from you, while still doing their job. The fare gates are left open, the payment machines are powered off, and any transit card readers are papered over. This way, they align with the interest of the public, while simultaneously putting pressure on the government to meet the worker’s demands. Honestly brilliant. I lucked out as well, since this strike was happening on the same day I decided to train out to see the Blue Mountains (see Parks & Rec section), saving me about $16 AUD round trip and continuing to provide me with a convenient nature escape.
Pool Bliss to Porcelain Woes: Perks & Annoyances of Australian Life
This is going to be more of a rapid-fire round to close off the Quality of Life section. A massive shoutout has to be made to public pools in Sydney and the library system, especially the State Library of Victoria.
As a remote worker, getting out of my apartment from time-to-time was important to my mental health and sustained energy. Unfortunately, the anti-wifi culture of many Australian cafes (more on this in the upcoming Food section) made this more challenging than I initially anticipated. In comes the library system to my rescue! Not only do the central libraries of New South Wales and Victoria rival the best libraries in America, but they are an aesthetic feast for the eyes and double as art galleries, maker spaces, recording studios, event spaces, and the list goes on. Did I mention these were free services? My go-to combo on Mondays was a late start to my work day (due it being Sunday for my colleagues back home) at Mr. Tulk cafe, built right into the State Library of Victoria — complete with access to their speedy wifi network. This setup allowed me to have a delicious breakfast, take some calls in a space that doesn’t require complete silence, and then get a 2nd coffee to power me through the rest of my workday deeper within the library.
I’m going to expand some more on the pools of Sydney in my future series comparing Sydney and Melbourne; however, it’s worth mentioning here as it is a public service.
Firstly, the public baths at Sydney beaches — there simply is no equivalent in the US. Essentially a public infinity pool with a stunning view, warmer water, and no waves or shark warnings. What could be better?
Second are the actual swimming pools within the public parks in the heart of the city. With a few notable exceptions, public pools in The States have a reputation for being dilapidated, dirty, and sometimes even unsavory. Generally, there is a class delineation here: the Have-Nots use public pools and the Haves can afford a higher-end gym membership, which includes access to a private pool. (Hey… this applies to a lot of things in America!) The quality and accessibility of the public pools in Sydney completely flips this equation on its head, especially during the summer season. While I’m sure some element of “pool classism” still exists in Australia, it seemed the patrons of my local pool were from a wide variety of ages, ethnicities, and financial backgrounds — a stark contrast to my American public pool experience. Even though the entry fee was $7 AUD or less, the pools were generally beautiful and in a good state of repair.
Finally, the annoyances. At the time of writing, it seemed that 5G was notably less prevalent in Australia as compared to the US. Not once did I see 5G+ grace the top of my status bar in my year abroad. During my brief visit back to The States, I was surprised how frequently I was on the faster network here, in the big cities at least. Not a huge impact on my quality of life, but noticeable.
What did have a big impact was the bathroom situation in Australia. I’ve never experienced so much fluctuation in shower water temperatures in my life! I’m wondering if this is because I was living in much taller buildings than I was used to back home; both of my apartments were in buildings that had 30+ floors to them. Though I somehow doubt that the esteemed residents of Central Park Tower deal with scalding to freezing showers daily. Look, I don’t mind the extra cold shock proteins, but really would like to be more in control of when I receive them.
Furthermore, public mens bathrooms in Australia stink in 4D. It’s common to see an entire wall converted to communal metallic urinals, the kind that don’t ever fully flush. Instead they are partially rinsed (more like a heavy misting at times) from a few holes at the top. So after a few hours of use, the smell just starts to waft out of them. Worse yet, these metallic monstrosities seem to be a magnet for the local cockroaches/crickets, which one has to occasionally step over to even use said urinals. I get the water saving aspect, but there are better ways to be eco-friendly, Australia!
Unfortunately, toilet bowls don’t fare much better. They all seem to be lacking a certain “non-stick coating” that I took completely for granted in even the most basic of American toilets. Realistically speaking, Aussie toilet bowls need to be scrubbed down after each use, just think about how often public toilets get used with no one knocking off that build-up… I rest my case.
The TL;DR
- Australia is one of the safest places to live, enough so that the level of safety permeates the culture.
- Major thoroughfares in Australia are clean and welcoming.
- Transit systems in Australia are more expansive and more beautiful than any of their western hemisphere counterparts.
- Europe could learn a thing of two about train strikes from New South Wales.
- Pros: Gorgeous libraries and pristine public pools
- Cons: Atrocious bathrooms and slower mobile data
This article is the second part of my ongoing series comparing life in the US and Australia. You can read Part I here.
Next up we dive into the juicier aspects of Australian life. That’s right, food and nightlife! Stay tuned.
