An urbanist's guide to Perth: ‘Perth has stripped me of my vagabondism’

I’m an American journalist living in Perth, Western Australia. I blog at Great about Perth and work as the editor of Perth Guide and the deputy editor of Scoop – two awesome local magazines, if I do say so myself. My job is to spread the word about what makes this underrated city so amazing. The longer I live here, the easier that task becomes.

I moved to Perth in 2008 and haven’t looked back. Or forward. Perth has stripped me of my vagabondism. Life’s just too good here. But living here has also made me incredibly soft. I hail from Seattle, which is the opposite of Perth: rainy, mountainous and filled with cyclists. Perth is dry, flat and filled with drivers who should be cycling. I’m one of them. Instead of biking, hiking or skiing like I did back home, I pout and won’t leave the house when the temperature falls below 20°C (70°F). In winter.

Perth is a city of two million souls and the capital of Western Australia. Aside from its sharky waters and god-awful remoteness, Perth is an incredible place to live. It boasts flip flop weather nine months of the year, has gorgeous beaches and award-winning wine regions within a 10-minute drive from the city and – best of all – near-negligible levels of crime, homelessness and traffic.

The high quality of life comes at a cost. This city is damn expensive, made worse by the substantial pay gap between those who work in the resource sector (WA’s biggest industry) and those who don’t. Unfortunately for the latter, the cost of living is priced for the former. It’s not abnormal for cocktails to cost $20 (£11), a bowl of pasta $25 (£14) and a tickets to a concert or festival over $200 (£110) – and rent is so high that most young people live at home until their mid to late twenties.

Perth’s urban sprawl is considered one of the worst in the world, due to the unfortunate tendency to build out rather than up. Western Australians are loath to give up their three-car garages. Where else would they keep their second SUV?

What’s the best building?

The 140 building in the city is my favourite – not from an aesthetics point of view, but because of its amazing arts program. The 22-storey building is home to an unreal concentration of street art within the laneway labyrinth on its ground floor. There’s the abstract, kaleidoscope-like mural by US graphic artist Matt W. Moore, who’s collaborated with Ray-Ban, Nike and Coca-Cola, and a beautiful hanging sculpture by Sydney Nike Savvas alongside work from local artists including Kyle Hughes-Odgers and Alister Yiap.

Developers have a certain quota of art they have to include in a building, but those at 140 have deliberately exceeded it, making it one of the most interesting – and attractive – buildings in the city.

And the worst?

Many would call the Perth Arena the worst building in Perth. I guess I get it – it’s misshapen and angular. It resembles a teenager who hasn’t grown into his body and is all elbows and knees. But I’m a huge fan. The design is gutsy and unique, it looks different from every angle and attracts some truly amazing acts who in pre-arena days might have snubbed Perth.

Bruce Springsteen, Andrea Bocelli, Beyonce and Justin Timberlake have all recently performed there. Because it’s located right in the centre of the city, getting to and from it is a breeze. It’s definitely the city’s best building.

How clean is the city?

Perth is extremely clean – especially the air. We’ve got this amazing south westerly breeze nicknamed the “Fremantle Doctor” that kicks up around midday. Along with a handy knack for cooling the city down in summer, the wind brings fresh air off of the Indian Ocean, blowing any air pollution away. Litter isn’t a problem either, though graffiti is becoming a growing concern. The local councils have responded by raising fines for vandals, which is great.

The only real pollution issue Perth faces is that of the river running through it, the Swan. Run-offs of fertilizer from nearby agricultural land, algal blooms and a growing lack of rainfall have added to the river’s decline, rendering life in it nearly impossible. Dolphin sightings are rare. Recreational fishermen and swimmers are met with raised eyebrows. The river is no longer a pristine waterway.

What’s the best way to get around?

Perth drivers are notoriously crap, but it’s not something I ever notice. I’m pretty sure that’s because I’m one of the crap ones! We rarely head check. We don’t notice when the light turns green. We – ok, maybe just I – spend more time singing along to the radio than keeping my eyes on the road.

You can hardly blame people for their automobile dependency. The public transport system in Perth is widely criticized for being unaffordable. A ticket for the 30-minute trip from Perth to Fremantle, for example, is a whopping $4.40 (£2.50) each way. That’s certainly not cheap enough to incentivise anyone out of driving. Furthermore, there aren’t enough train lines servicing the city, nor do those train lines run late or frequently enough.

Considering how flat and dry this city is, more people should really cycle to work. Whether laziness or the city’s low number of bike lanes that are to blame, I can’t be sure. I walk to work, so don’t look at me!

What does your city sound like?

If it’s not the roar of the ocean or the traffic, it’s birds that you hear in Perth. Birdsong in Perth is, in a word, loud. Crows take the morning shift, with an obnoxious, three-part call. Unlike of the perky, single-syllable caw of North American crows, their Australian cousins emit a depressing-sounding of rah-rah-raaaaaaah…. It’s so pathetic a sound I’ve considered putting Xanex in the birdseed.

The local rainbow lorikeets are no less cacophonous – in the evening, they congregate at Cottesloe Beach (who can blame them?) leaving the poor picnickers beneath the Norfolk Pines left to yell over the squawking and mind their wine glasses for falling debris. Small price to pay for a front-row seat to the epic Indian Ocean sunsets.

What’s the best place for a conversation?

The best place for a conversation along the stretch of coastline from Port Beach in the south to Mosman Beach in the north. It takes about an hour to walk there and back. The sand is hard and flat, the waves are gentle and there are heaps of things to see – surf life savers sprinting along the soft sand at Leighton Beach, kitesurfers zigzagging over the water (Perth is the third windiest capital city in the world) and deliriously happy dogs splashing through the waves at Mosman Beach.

It’s the perfect place for a conversation – free from the distractions of television, beeping mobile phones or children. There’s something about the salty wind in your hair, grainy sand in your feet and that wide expanse of blue that encourages long, soul-bearing talks.

What one thing is indispensable for life in your city?

A healthy love of drinking. Perth people love a drink and hate a teetotaler. They kick off early from work on Friday for after-work drinks with the colleagues. Saturdays are for drinking through the game and big nights out. Sunday sessions are a Perth institution – the hair-of-the-dog drink or two are the only way to finish off a weekend right. I chalk it up to the proximity of some amazing wine regions.

Margaret River produces some of the country’s best chardonnays and cab savs and the Swan Valley – just outside the city limits – is the home of some of the country’s oldest vines and the state’s most awarded vineyards. Perth is also home to over a dozen craft breweries. You’d raise a glass if you lived here too.

Are you optimistic about your city’s future?

Once upon a time, Perth creatives would arrive at a point in their careers in which they would inevitably up sticks and move to Melbourne or Sydney. It was a given; the alternative was career suicide. But today, that’s changing.

Artists, musicians, photographers and writers are staying put, and it’s having an incredibly positive impact on the city. Take photographer Jarrad Seng who has toured with the likes of Ed Sheeran and Passenger. Along with exciting photography projects, he’s just launched an amazing secret concert series called The Hidden Sound. Street artists like Stormie Mills and Kyle Hughes-Odgers aren’t just making Perth streets more interesting – their giving the city an identity all its own and increasing civic pride.

Now if only something could be done about those overpriced cocktails…