Welcome to Perth!
I've been here near on 2 years. Having lived in most Oz capitals, Perth is not like anywhere else. It's sort of laid back (like SYD), with ADL weather.
Be prepared to get out of bed early! Me (and others from "over east") always laugh at how everyone's out of bed at 5am to go surfing - no wonder everything is closed by 10pm!
Seriously though, it's pretty friendly (unlike SYD), but with a SYD feel to it.
As for living - I sold my house in ADL and bought one in Subiaco - be prepared for MEL/SYD prices! From my home to airport takes about 25 - 30 minutes in traffic (and yes, the driving is bad), and the cabbies do it in 15-20 early mornings. Don't know much about public transport, except for the Freo line, but PER appears well served with it. Trains are regular and ON TIME. They're also clean (AMAZING!).
...but back to suburbs etc. I chose Subiaco because of my and my wife's workplaces, and ease of access to public transport. It has great housing, and is close to town and to the excellent shopping strip on Rokeby road. It's only 5-10 minutes drive to Claremont (BIG shops and good boutiques), and about the same on the train to the city. Given a choice, I'd probably live in Freo, but it's a long way to the airport (by PER standards). Cottesloe is filled with visiting UK Docs and Nurses, but has a good beach (if you're into that). Also a bit of a drive to the airport. For somewhere close to work and home, how about East/West Perth, or the areas around Northbridge. Mt. Lawley's pretty funky, and I usually spy the odd (Ex-) FA there too.
PM me if you want to know some more.
RD.