Differences and similarities of Byron Bay and Sydney
Monday, October 13th, 2008 | Cultures of Sydney, Life
As I grew up in Byron Bay and have lived in Sydney for the past 3 years (and 1 year 14 years ago) I thought I’d write about the differences and similarities of the two places.
Firstly both places are growing very fast.. when I was a child Byron Bay’s population was about 6000 people, now it must be around 20,000 or more and tripling in holiday season, however due to land and building restrictions, the population of the town can’t increase too much more unless there are major building changes - at the moment the council has restricted the height of buildings to be no higher than about 4 stories. Byron Bay’s house prices are among the most expensive in Australia in particular from about 2004 house prices went through the roof with some house prices tripling in a matter of weeks.
Sydney’s population is growing all the time, and the population is spreading out through the suburbs, at least the houses can go upwards in Sydney with taller buildings being built all the time. House prices are also very expensive in most suburbs of Sydney and finding a place to rent in ‘07, ‘08 is a difficult task indeed, with usually over 50 coming to inspect a place at the one time.
Some people say Sydney is like a big Byron Bay, as Sydney also has beautiful beaches, and good pubs and shopping, just go to places like Newtown for the hippies :). . I can see what they mean, as there are many beautiful places in Sydney, the headlands around the Harbour, the beautiful bushland walkways around Manly, Lane Cove etc. the excellent restaurants and entertainment of the city. For me Sydney is like a bigger version of Byron Bay, however bigger isn’t always better. As the uniqueness and petiteness of Byron Bay is that you can see all of the town and most beaches in one big walk, however in Sydney you could spend days just going to all the beaches.
Sydney has a lot of great places, however they aren’t as accessible as places in a small town like Byron Bay, I guess you could make a place like Byron Bay if you mix, i.e. Dee Why with Palm Beach and Newtown with Lane Cove, however that’s silly and it may also be an insult to those unique places. Byron Bay is unique and so are those suburbs….. there’s not much point in saying you can make Byron Bay in Sydney.
Some people say Sydney is boring, well Byron Bay can also be boring, any place can be boring if you let yourself be bored. Some say Sydney is an exciting place, and it can be if you allow yourself to get excited and put yourself in the right situations. Byron Bay can also be a fun place.
Sydney beats Byron Bay for jobs… more jobs there, that’s one of the reasons I moved there. There are more people in Sydney, but that doesn’t mean you’ll have a better social life, it depends on who you spend your time with and who your circle of friends are. Cities can be a lonely place, if you don’t find people to mingle with, it can be hard. Small towns are friendlier, maybe that’s why many people like Byron Bay… these days it’s on the most part a backpacker town.. so you can play “spot the local” they are becoming a bit rarer to see.
The air is fresher in Byron Bay, water probably cleaner, night time much quieter.. however there are many tranquil places in Sydney, you just have to be lucky to live there.
I’m a bit of a city person myself..(even though I spent most of my life in a small town) there’s more to see in the city, more people to meet, (however more is not necessarily better), I like meeting people from Asia as I speak Japanese, and some of other Asian languages, so Sydney is a good place for me as there are many students studying English there. The population of Sydney city has a majority of Asians, however the ethnicities of the suburbs vary.. quite diversely. Byron Bay’s main ethnicity is Caucasian, with a wide variety of backpackers going through the town, most from Europe however it is slowly becoming more popular with Asian tourists, with Byron Bay now having it’s own language school.
Any facts welcome.. I’ll try and modify this blog from time to time.
-Lindsay
www.sydney-friends.com