South Australians Agree, They are a Backwater

Victorian Premier John Brumby made big headlines by calling Adelaide a "backwater" which was quickly condemned by South Australian politicians, but apparently most South Australians agree with him:

STATE politicians may be furious, but many South Australians seem to agree with Victorian Premier John Brumby that Adelaide is a "backwater".

Mr Brumby’s blunt assessment of the South Australian capital has been labelled insulting by the SA Opposition, while Premier Mike Rann said it just showed Victoria’s insecurity.

However an Adelaide Advertiser online poll shows most agree with Mr Brumby.

More than 60 per cent of more than 2500 respondents to the poll agreed with the Victorian Premier.

Asked the question: Is Adelaide a backwater, 48 per cent of respondents voted: "Yes – we lag behind the eastern states”.

A further 16 per cent voted: "Yes – but that’s part of the appeal”.

Some 27 per cent of people voted: "No – Brumby is a jerk”; while a further 7 per cent said: "No – look at how many major events are on at this time of year”.

Mr Brumby said yesterday Victoria would end up as a "backwater” like Adelaide if it didn’t proceed with channel-deepening in Port Phillip Bay.  [AAP]

I really like Melbourne and living in Victoria in general, but due to work related reasons I have often had to go to Adelaide and really do not have anything bad to say about the place.  The city is nice and easy to get around, the people are friendly, and has some nice beaches.  I could live there quite happily if I had to, but if I had a choice I would definitely choose to live in Melbourne instead.  Melbourne is closer to the  mountains, the snow fields, has more rivers and lakes, and the beaches are equal to anything in South Australia.  Really the only thing that South Australia has that Victoria doesn’t is the vast red outback which is extremely impressive but not enough for me to want to live there instead of here in Victoria. 

Anyone else have any thoughts on why they would choose living in Melbourne/Victoria over Adelaide/South Australia?