Well there was that article recently by Matt Barrie (Freelancer CEO) that took a jab at Sydney's lockout laws as one reason that (young, enterprising, tech-focused) people don't want to stay here. He claimed that the inability to find fun and exciting places at all hours of the night was driving some people away from living here (in Sydney) as compared to places like London or New York (with a more bustling night scene).

Well I am bit too old to be worried about lockout laws, but it is my understanding that they just apply to a fairly limited area and there are heaps of places that are not affected.

I think a bigger issue is the ludicrous rents. We are paying SF/NYC/London rents, but wages for developers are not anywhere near the level they are in these cities. We do have very nice beaches and fantastic weather - today is just perfect in Sydney.

Yeah, I guess it affects someone like me (or younger) more. It does only affect a small area of the city, but that part now becomes dead after midnight, and the problems that used to be encountered have just shifted to other neighbourhoods.

I actually think we are paying more in rent than the cities mentioned. The only place where I can think of higher rent is in SF.

The only thing more crazy than rents in Sydney is the house prices.