Split on city’s state

The debate over how Perth is viewed by those outside the state rages as heatedly now as it ever has.

Perth’s just a big country town, behind the times, the WA stands for ‘wait a while’.

Such barbs are nothing new to those who have been in the west a while.

The truths behind such descriptions of a city that proudly boasts of itself as the world’s most isolated capital depend, of course, on each individual’s perception.

Participants in the roundtable were split on whether Perth was a place worth being, both professionally and socially.

Professionally, the Gen Xers said they struggle with the lack of opportunities in Perth, which is why there is an overwhelming trend among their peers to travel to London and even interstate for employment.

Bullet Sign Shop managing director Patrick Simpson said a lot of his friends had packed their bags and gone to Melbourne.

“Some of them have been there for a few years now because it is a bigger market and there are more opportunities,” he said.

From a design point of view Nicky Brennan, an architect with Parry and Rosenthal Architects, said there was a perception that Perth had no opportunities to do great work and that was why London was so attractive.

“But for the same reason we have the opportunity to make changes and shape the city,” she said.

“There may be the opportunity to have an impact on Perth, but on its own it’s not a great place with lots of big clients.”

MinterEllison lawyer Michael Rudd challenged his fellow Generation Xer members with his theory that Perth’s size had actually given him a number of advantages over his interstate colleagues.

“Compared to my counterparts in Sydney, they don’t get half the client contact or opportunities we do,” he said.

“It is much more competitive here because the market is smaller. They want you to go up the ranks quicker, so it is an advantage being here.”

Inevitably no discussions about Perth as a place worth being socially could finish without a comment about how behind the times WA, the “state of excitement” really was.

And after almost an hour of discussion it was Maunsell engineer Braden Walton who said: “I think Perth is 20 years behind Sydney and Melbourne.

“You look at Sydney and Melbourne 20 years ago and that is sort of what Perth is today.

“We’re behind them because we don’t have the population to support the 50 different bars and pubs and the various restaurants.

“There is just not the market or the population, it is not a bad thing and it is not a fair comparison between Perth and Melbourne and Sydney.”

MinterEllison lawyer Troy McKelvie said Perth’s social scene was dominated by the “crowd mentality”.

“You go wherever the crowd goes,” he said.

“As soon as a new pub opens it’s the in thing for six weeks and then another one opens and this one dies.”

But not all those at the luncheon agreed, particularly GHD consulting engineer Michael Coombes who said: “It is there if you are willing to look for it”.

“There are lots of small venues and things, you don’t have to go to a U2 concert to have a good night out.

“You can go to a small band in Freo somewhere.”

A project officer with the Public Transport Authority, Rachael Westheafer agreed, saying for the little bars and restaurants to survive, Generation X had to support them.

“I suspect we don’t support the little guy and that goes for the small retailer up to the small bar,” she said.

Mr Rudd said when he was living in Sydney he could walk out the door and always know there was something to do.

“In Perth at night if you’re not into clubs it is restaurants. There might be a concert every once in a while, but most big artists never come here,” he said.

But SmartSoftware technical support operations manager Donna Griffith said people didn’t take advantage of what Perth had to offer if socialising at night.

“We take advantage more and more of the Perth lifestyle. I find we don’t go out at night as much,” she said.

“We go out in the afternoon and go sit by the river or the ocean and have a few drinks and talk and catch up.”

But it was Mr Rudd’s summary of the Perth lifestyle discussion that found the most common ground.

 “If the stereotype is correct that Perth is the place to settle and raise your kids then you would say that places like that, pubs and nightclubs, are not in demand,” he said.

“It is a contradiction to have both.”

Whether Perth is a place worth being professionally and socially for members of Generation X, therefore, depends on their chosen profession and what they liked to do in their spare time.

In the end it became obvious that the group believed the city has or will provide Generation X members with satisfaction and opportunities, both socially and professionally, at different times in their lives and careers.