Ooh yes, Cott is lovely, as is Subi (have friends who live in both).. my aunt is somewhere around north perth...
Claremont & Applcross, Dalkeith etc etc very classy and prob expensive for us Perthies, but if you're coming across from the eastern states having sold a fair-sized house, you'd be surprised at what you can (could?? given the property market & buyers outnumbering sellers)... for example my mother's place (which is in quite a nice suburb, 4 bed 2 bath B&T on a half acre with city views) would go for the same price as a 1-bed unit in Sydney or Melbourne.....!
I've done Cott to the vicinity of the airport in around 22 minutes once... but it was late at night. Rush hour would pose a longer time. Though with the Polly Pipe getting around is a bit quicker and less congsted... well, except for days like today when someone has a pile-up right outside it, or so I heard....
If you don't mind being a bit further out the hills may be an option for you. Darlington, Mundaring etc but they tend to get pricey up that way (not as pricey as Subi or Cott though as far as i know)
Some idea of what you'll pay:
a 2-bed, 1 bath unit (top floor) in Cottesloe, ocean views (this is agent-speak for " a tiny smidge of blue in the top right corner" probably...
) for $350/wk
a 2-bed, 2 bath townhouse with study in Subiaco, fully furnished, in secure complaex & close to transport, $550/wk
1 bed 1 bath fully furnished apt in East Perth, pool and BBQ $220/wk
You should be able to find similar on any of the good real estate web sites.
As for what the particular suburbs are like, I know a survey was done on various characteristics but i can't find it for the life of me!! I bet my mum still has it from when she was looking for a house last year....
Sinala, OMG! Sunday Sesh - I made the mistake of dragging some friends down to Cott - our timing was unbelievably bad as the US Navy was in town and every bar/club etc was full to the gills and totally impossible to get taxi and so forth. All of us with cars were getting asked for lifts here there and everywhere as there were no cabs to be had...!
But, nothing beats a nice Sunday arvo in summer with a good drink and some fish & chips at Cott beach!!
(by the way, that swimming episode wasn't around late Nov last year was it? Some terrible boyfriend of my mate nicked the clothes of some people who were skinny dipping and left them up at those pine trees - the poor buggers had to stay in the water till we took pity on them , told off said bloke and took the clothes back!! )