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Comment by xsive | Hacker News Reader

In Australia, where the prevailing winds are also westerlies, the opposite is true. i.e. the east of most cities is more prestigious than the west.

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True for Sydney, false for Brisbane. In Sydney it's because East means harbour and/or beach. In Brisbane east is flat industrial wetlands, West is hilly with views/breezes, with the exception of Clayfied/Hamilton/Ascot. However, if you travel further west towards the city fringes, this reverses quite quickly. I'd say on balance true for Melbourne, but I'm not enough of an expert to say for sure.

Generally I would say that the desirability of certain areas comes down to : - topography (low, hot bad, hilly, views, breezes good) - orientation : people (in general) like to live on or near the water, assuming the water is clean. Areas that face into hot sun are less desirable. - history : sometimes older parts of cities have bigger houses and land, and are more established.

Melbourne's western suburbs are definitely regarded as less desirable than the eastern suburbs.

Historically (in the 1880s), the western suburbs were where the working class lived, and where heavy industry was located.

Today, the majority of the wealthy suburbs are still east of the city - Toorak, Camberwell, Kew, Hawthorn etc.

The History of Western Civilization, by TISM:

http://www.geniac.net/tism/history.txt

That's funny. I actually have a relative who was in TISM. Some of their better work.

I also have a friend who never liked them, because in one of their songs they list everyone they hate, and it includes 'anyone called Trevor' : this is my friends name.

TISM : the original acquired taste.

Except in WA, where many prestigious suburbs are in the West (Peppermint Grove, etc), and Adelaide where they are distributed around the center (North Adelaide to the North, Unley Park & Springfield to the South, as well as some in the East).

I think that in Australian cities factors other than wind direction have a larger influence.

Adelaide is a big exception, since it is bordered on the west by the ocean, and the east by the hills. All the prestigious suburbs are around the city, with the North and South regions having the worst places. The most prestigious places are to the south and east, then north, and lastly west.

Sydney, the further west you go, the worse it gets. The population center of Sydney is actually 10km west of the city. Pretty much all the nice suburbs are either East, or North.

That's because the West is further inland, away from the cooling ocean breeze, and gets bloody hot compared to the city.

Out of interest, is that typical on both coasts? Just wondering if the river direction has anything to do with it.

I don't know about Perth, but it's definitely true in Sydney (Ocean on the east) and Melbourne (Ocean on the south).

Access to the surf is definitely a big factor in Oz cities. Also many of the cities started as coastal settlements, so the older parts of the city tend to be closest to the coast (and they tend to be the richer bits??).

In Brisbane much of the east of the city is taken up by port and airport, so not such a desirable area.

On the east coast it tends to be true. As others have mentioned it might not hold on the west coast. I just wanted to give a counterexample that shows how shallow the OP's argument is. The reality is that there are many factors which make certain parts of a city more desirable to live in than another. In Australia proximity to the beach is strongly correlated with desirability. In other places the reasons will differ. Whatever the reason, I don't believe for a second this oversimplified fairy tale about the prevailing wind.

Whatever the reason, I don't believe for a second this oversimplified fairy tale about the prevailing wind.

Agreed. Here (Twin Cities of Minnesota) the location of lakes and rivers has much more to do with what areas are the wealthiest. The wealthiest towns are west or southwest of Minneapolis, terribly located for prevailing winds or for commuting without the sun in drivers' eyes.

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