The upshot is that the main Sydney port has been largely shunted to an area south of the city, adjacent to the airport. Economically, Sydney is doing well, albeit with unemployment stubbornly remaining at around 7 percent to 8 percent. The cost of living is on the high side, incomes on the low side. Driving a car into the city center is not a good idea for the thrifty. However, light rail and a first-rate regional bus system seem to flawlessly move people into and out of the city.
Traffic jams occur on narrow streets and on the motorways outside the central city.
Like Vancouver, B.C., Sydney has no downtown freeways feeding the central city. The combination of a very progressive business establishment and the Westminster parliamentary system seems to help move things along. Much of the Olympic Park was already finished and operating when the city won the summer games. The first weekend of our visit, some 110,000 rugby fans flooded into the new stadium without any major congestion. An estimated 80 percent used trains and buses.