The one ‘shallow’ trait about Sydney

Australians have dubbed Sydney the ‘snobbiest’ city because locals ‘always judge others based on where they live’. 

While many argued it’s a ‘huge stigma’ that’s been around for decades, others said Sydney is massive both geographically and culturally, so locals tend to stay in their own suburbs. 

A conversation started on Reddit after a man from regional Queensland who now lives in the NSW capital noticed the trend.  

‘Why do people in Sydney care so much about what area someone lives in?’ he asked.

‘I was born and raised in regional Queensland so this goes right over my head. I may be generalising but I’ve not heard similar lines of questioning from the Melbourne people I’ve met. 

‘Why are some Sydneysiders obsessed with the boundaries and if the suburb they live in? Is it just plain old snobbery?’ 

More than 300 comments were left and many agreed with his observation.

‘Sydneysider here. Sydney is big geographically but also culturally. Different suburbs have very distinct socioeconomic, political, and ethnic identities, and for better or worse people like to stay in areas with other people like them,’ one wrote.  

‘It’s definitely a thing… also the perception of entitlement or snobbery around people from wealthier areas,’ another said. 

A third wrote: ‘Yep lots of classism in Sydney.’ 

Another person who’s not from Sydney originally said they ‘found it odd’. 

‘I think it’s because many people in Sydney associate your suburb with how well you’re doing in life. It’s a way of measuring your wealth or living situation without really asking directly,’ the Redditor said.

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Sydney has a population of more than five million and can take ‘hours’ to travel to different suburbs. 

For example, Parramatta is almost 40km west of the beachside suburb of Manly and would take around 50 minutes to travel from these two suburbs by car or one hour and 30 minutes by public transport. 

With this in mind, Sydneysiders tend to stay within their home areas in their spare time. 

One women wrote: ‘Now that I have a toddler and have friends who also have toddlers, I know that if they live more than 30min away I will see them once a month. If they live in my suburb I can catch them multiple times a week.

Another agreed and said: ‘This was me on dating apps. I was effectively cutting out half of Sydney because I didn’t want to have to drive far.’

Due to the size of the city, many tend to also form friendships with others who are close by – and would likely ‘never’ cross the opposite side of Sydney Harbour Bridge unless completely necessary.

Though a selected few disagreed and said it’s more of a topic of conversation, such as asking which school someone went to.

‘I’m sure there are some people who get snobby about it, but in any real-life conversation I’ve had about it it’s just been small talk, like bringing up the weather,’ one wrote.