Sydney is the capital of the state of New South Wales and the most populous city in the whole of Australia.It is located on the east coast of Australia, and the city surrounds the world’s largest natural harbour. It is the second official residence of Prime Minister of Australia and the Cabinet of Australia.
There has been a lot of History attached to Sydney as it was inhabited by indigenous Australians since the Upper Paleolithic period. Sydney was founded as a penal city in 1788 by the British, and that’s when the settlers from the UK begin to arrive here. The city had a metamorphosis from an outpost to a major global cultural and economic centre over the years.
Sydney is one of the most multicultural cities in the world with 30% of its current residents born abroad. More than 250 languages are being spoken in Sydney and for one-third of its resident, the mother tongue is other than English. Sydney is a major economic centre famous for its strengths in finance, manufacturing, and tourism. Its GDP in 2013 was $ 337 Billion, the largest in Australia. There is a large concentration of the banking industry and Fortune 500 Corporation in Sydney. The city is often promoted as Asia Pacific’s leading financial hub. Millions of tourists arrive in Sydney every year to witness the city’s landmarks. Its natural attractions are Sydney Harbour, the Royal National Park, and Bondi Beach. Other man-made attractions such as Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge are also popular with tourists.
What Sydney has to offer as a Startup Ecosystem
Sydney is an emerging bright star on Startup scene of Australia and the world. It is home to around 2300 active High Technology start-ups as well as half of Australia’s 500 largest corporations. Some of the weak spots here are Performance, Funding, and lack of Market. However, with the success of recent start-ups like Atlassian, Campaign Monitor, and Freelancer.com, industry watchers expect Sydney’s ecosystem to throw some surprises in the future. These three successes cumulatively add up to $ 3.5 Billion in valuation.
One high point of Sydney’s startups is that most of the employees have previous startup experience. Around 60% of Australia’s startup activity happens in Sydney. Sydney also scores high on talent availability despite a relatively high cost of hiring software engineers ( around $ 88500). The observers and stakeholders in the ecosystem reckon that Sydney’s popularity both inside and outside the country helps the ecosystem access young, capable and diverse talent.
Sydney, however, faces numerous challenges in terms of Market Reach and Funding. Due to generally a risk-averse Australian investment culture, the startups in Sydney face a lack of later stage funding. In recent times the US VC community has started making inroads in the ecosystem here, still, that has not done any large scale impact. Industry experts here make a strong plea for government interventions- similar to successful measures taken by governments in the UK, Israel, and Singapore.
Australia generally has an open door policy for highly educated workforce from other countries. Long term work permits can be applied based on your employment status with a local employer. After two years of continuous work stay in Australia, you can apply for Permanent Resident status which will allow you to stay and work in Australia indefinitely.
Sydney is well developed and fully functional locale which boasts of one of the best facilities in Australia. Be it Shopping, entertainment or clubbing, the city has to offer something for everybody’s taste.
Sporting Facilities
If you are a sports aficionado, then you have many major sporting arenas in Sydney
1, Sydney Super Dome
2, Sydney Football Stadium
3, Sydney Cricket Ground
There are a lot of clubs for almost all the major sports located in Sydney. There are a lot of hiking getaways in and around Sydney, should you like outdoors and hiking, some of them are listed below:
Sydney is a great city for hiking in the great outdoors. Sydney has many national parks and natural landmarks, the hikers here have no dearth of options to explore. The 2.2 Km Glebe Foreshore Walk is an ideal setting to view the Aztec bridge and Sydney Port. The leafy 3.3 Km walk in Grand Drive Circuit along the Centennial Park is a refreshing release from city’s humdrum. One can also traverse from Woolloomooloo to the circular quay with the enchanting view of Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge along with Royal Botanic Gardens.
River Rafting in Sydney
About a distance of an hour west of Sydney, there is a man-made river ? Penrith white water rafting especially for those who are looking for some fun and adventure. It was the competition venue for Canoe / Kayak during the year 2000 Olympic games. This man-made river is at the foot of the Blue Mountains and only one of its kind facility in the southern hemisphere.
Travel and Connectivity
Sydney is well connected by Highways, Rail, and Air with other cities of Australia. For the local commute, you have Metro rail running across depth and breadth of Sydney. One need not have their vehicle to move around in the city as there are ample public transportation facilities.
Night Life in Sydney
Sydney’s nightlife canvas is broad and varying. Oxford Street has bars, eateries, and nightclubs for people with all kinds of orientation. The Rocks and King Street Wharf are slightly more upmarket. One can also enjoy drinks at the Harbourside Terraces, though a bit expensive but worth the views. One has the option to experience high-class operas at the Sydney Opera House too.