From the perspective of a long term visitor. I’m loathe to admit I have lived there 
Seriously though, I really don’t like the place. Before I temporarily relocated, I’d visited Perth a few times for work. Didn’t have anything particularly bad to say about the place then. Now it’s another story entirely.
Got plans for a Sunday? Better cancel them! Unless you’re in the CBD or in Fremantle, everything in Perth is shut on a Sunday. Even in Fremantle you’re hedging your bets. Sunday trading in Perth is effectively banned by the state government. And they won’t be changing it any time in the near future since the new state government ran on the platform of not changing the law. Even better (for those of us who are forced to live in Perth) is the fact that there’s no after hours trading either. Want to go grocery shopping after 6pm and you’re living in fantasy land. Everything shuts at 6pm during the week, end of story. So shops are shut after work and on Sundays, that means you get to go shopping with 1.5 million other people on Saturday! You really have to love it! Not.
Getting a taxi? Don’t hold your breath. I’m not joking. It’s not uncommon for taxis you’ve ordered to simply not show up. It’s not uncommon to have to wait 2-3 hours for your taxi to show up after you ordered it. It’s not uncommon for the taxi driver to have zero idea where they’re going despite having in-car GPS. It’s not uncommon for taxi drivers to take the long way when you have no idea where you’re going so they get a bigger fare out of you. If you pre-book a taxi the night before you have to fly out of Perth because you need to be at the airport by 5am, don’t rely on it showing up. I almost missed a flight recently because of that happening. If you order multiple taxis, confirm it at least 5 times. I have missed a flight before because someone ordered 2 taxis because there were 7 of us and only 1 showed up and we got stuck waiting for the second one which never turned up. I actually have missed business meetings before because taxis that were ordered never showed up. The blame for this lies squarely with the taxi company who doesn’t want more licenses issued because that means less income for the current crop of drivers and taxi owners and the state goverment who won’t force the issue and issue more taxi licenses against the taxi company’s request. It screws over both the locals and the visitors to the city. Not exactly a good way to get people to return.
The costs? Perth is exhorbinantly expensive, whether you’re visiting or living in the city. Business owners, hotels, real estate agents all assume that everyone who’s in Perth is earning a mining wage of over $100k a year. Be prepared to pay accordingly. Eating out reasonably cheaply (excluding fast food joints) you can expect to pay upwards of about $30 a head. Eating out somewhere nice, expect to pay upwards of about $80 a head. Eating out somewhere really special, upwards of about $150 a head. Excluding alcohol. A night out clubbing in Northbridge/Subiaco, expect to pay $100+ in club entry fees and a few drinks.
A hotel? Upwards of $150/night. Backpackers I’m not sure on exact costs. And book in advance. It’s extremely difficult to find hotel accommodation in Perth. There’s regularly navy ships in port in Fremantle from Australia and the US. They’re known to book entire hotels out. Perth is also the base for many fly-in/fly-out workers to the mines. They need hotel accommodation when they’re in town. Perth is also always hosting major conferences. There is a genuine lack of hotel accommodation in Perth, so if you don’t book in advance, be prepared to wander the streets for quite a while to find somewhere with a room. I learned this lesson after missing my flight when I was visiting one time because of the taxi not showing up at the same time 2 US naval ships were in town.
Housing costs? You can’t buy in the greater Perth area, anywhere, for under $300k. And even then you’ll be stuck out in the boonies with a 45-60 minute drive in to the city. To live anywhere near the city you’re looking at about $500k minimum. Renting you’ll be looking at a minimum of about $350 a week for a 1brm apartment to live anywhere near the city (minimum 6 month lease). Goes up exponentially from there.
The people? Idiots. Well not everyone, just the locals. People who’ve moved to Perth from elsewhere are ok. The locals just seem to have this weird sense of entitlement. They’re incredibly arrogant and will tell you to “f*** off back to where you came from” if you say anything remotely negative about their state in front of them.
Whatever you do, do not insult both the West Coast Eagles AND the Fremantle Dockers AFL teams. You have to support one or the other. Otherwise “you can just f*** off back to where you came from”. And never admit that you think AFL is crap and you follow another code of football. I did and now there’s people who won’t talk to me over it.
All that being said? Perth has a few redeeming features. The beaches are great! Rottnest Island is awesome. Margaret River is only a 4 hour drive south. And Singapore is only a 5 hour flight away (yes, it’s quicker to get to Singapore than Brisbane!).
