Bernard Salt From: Herald Sun December 30, 2009 12:00AM
WHAT is it with Melbourne? Record prices being paid for top-end real estate. Closing the population gap with Sydney. Best job growth figures for the eastern seaboard.
There’s even begrudging acknowledgment of Melbourne’s existence by admirers in Sydney.
When television personality and proud Sydney resident Margaret Pomeranz was recently asked to nominate the worst thing you could say to a Sydneysider she replied “that you’re moving to Melbourne”.
A decade ago the word “Melbourne” didn’t appear in the harbour city’s lexicon – or if it did, it was for derisive purposes. ‘
Was it not Sydney that coined the term “Bleak City” to describe Melbourne’s mood as much as its weather? And those Sydneysiders have been at this name-calling business for more than a century.
In the 1880s Sydney made reference to Melbourne’s meteoric rise with the term “Marvellous Smellbourne”.
Today I detect a wistful admiration of many things Melbourne by Sydneysiders, from the star appeal of Crown Casino (where else would the now-controversial Tiger Woods have stayed?) to the fluidity of CityLink, to the edginess of Docklands architecture.
And this is on top of the national impact of iconic events that Sydney has always resented, such as the Melbourne Cup and the AFL Grand Final.
Mind you, Sydneysiders retort that the only reason the MCG pulls big crowds is because there’s nothing else to do in Bleak City. And as for the Cup, well, the only reason that’s a success (they say) is because of all the Sydney celebrities who fly down to Flemington before scurrying back to civilisation.
And still the insults continue to flow. Sydneysiders say that Melbourne streets are better laid out like a corpse.
And what cutting comments do Melburnians offer in return?
Truth be told, Sydneysiders see the term “Sin City” as a compliment!
But this banter doesn’t mask the fact that something changed during this decade in Melbourne’s relationship with Sydney.
There’s concern up there about what’s going on down here. And what’s going on down here is, I think, connected to issues based around engagement and prosperity.
The average Melburnian is much more likely to have an opinion on the city’s form than the average Sydneysider. “Save Our Suburbs” originated here, long before being transferred up there, but Sydney people take their city’s superiority for granted.
Melburnians love nothing more than to compare their city with Sydney for the singular purpose of finding evidence of the harbour city’s eventual and much-deserved comeuppance.
Traditionally, Sydney has never considered Melbourne as a competitor – it floated far above the fray, keeping company with other “global cities”. But perhaps it is this hubris that contributed to Sydney’s sluggish performance this decade.
It is the assumption that new residents will pay whatever is required for housing and endure daily commuter agony just for the privilege of living in the kingdom of Sydney. Surely no one (worthwhile) would seriously consider moving to Melbourne?
Well, apparently this logic no longer holds. Melbourne is closing the population gap with Sydney at a rate of about 25,000 per year. Indeed, if current rates were to continue, Melbourne would overtake Sydney in the late 2020s or early 2030s.
The reasons for Melbourne’s recent ascendancy ultimately come down to strong population growth underpinned by relative housing affordability and quality of life. (Whatever you might think of Melbourne traffic, it’s still better than Sydney’s.)
Also important to the rise of a modern Marvellous Melbourne has been the benefit of almost two decades of strong (or at least consistent) governance, which has given business the confidence to invest.
Melbourne is no longer the city it was in the 1990s. Not only is it bigger, it is also more confident, prosperous and attractive to new residents. And that’s a combination that should have Sin City worried about our trajectory over the next decade.
