Emigration forced or chosen across national frontiers or from village to metropolis is the quintessential experience of our time.

Sydney in the 1960s wasn't the exuberant multicultural metropolis it is today. Out in the city's western reaches days passed in a sun-struck stupor. In the evenings families gathered on their verandas waiting for the 'southerly buster' - the thunderstorm that would break the heat and leave the air cool enough to allow sleep.

To some extent Seattle remains a frontier metropolis a place where people can experiment with their lives and change and grow and make things happen.