Not that I don't think Sydney is bonza, and is on our list of things to do ( shame we can't drive there it would be a definite road trip destination) but,
the surveys seems to be a marketing gurus measure of how random people around the world perceive the city. It's famous enough for people to have heard of it, and vaguely good stuff like it's in Autralia where it's sunny and they drink beer, but not infamous enough that people have heard bad stuff about it, if there is anything, also Hollywood doesn't make movies about it being crap.

I would like to say "flamin' galah" in no particular direction what so ever:D

Well, one memory I have of Sydney is that they have these really exotic looking white birds with long curved beaks. Like flamingos or something. I thought they were really cool and special, until I saw a couple of them pop up out of a garbage can with garbage in their beaks. Exotic flying rats.

i dated a girl named sidney for a short time. is that the same?

I thought Sidney was a guy's name.

Well, anyway the rat birds are the Australian White Ibis. And apparently they are an annoyance in Sydney. I wasn't just imagining it. So there. Sydney has a flaw.

Dick. ;)

actually at the time 10-12 years ago, quite a few strippers were using that name... wait - did i say that?

Hitchock notwithstanding, I'd rather be overrun with birds than actual rats. Although I'm sure Sydney has those too in spades.

I doubt anyone clicked my link and followed through the slide show, so I'll post a pic here. Exotic rats.

or . . . desperate creatures faced with extinction and forced to scavange garbage for survival . . .

best observed at a distance, obviously

i don't like birds so i didn't follow your link.

thanks for putting the picture in a post. now it can haunt me for the rest of the day.

does Sydney also have pigeons?

I think so. I don't really remember.

Sydney has pigeons. Thousands of them.

The Ibis lives all over Australia and has greatly profitted from human habitation. They're traditionally a marshy area bird, but they really love scavenging. They're quite a problem in some areas. We have them in Brisbane too.

The survey was of 10,000 travelers, so...whatever beest. The survey is done every year, and I'd be very surprised if they asked people who hadn't been to Sydney if they liked it or not. You'll find more info here.

If they are like the birds in that pic they are some huge assed pigeons? Fucking homeless in the US could eat for a week on one of those things.

I have many wonderful memories of being down in Sydney for about a month. Great place to work, great people, surprisingly good musicians (I'm an LA snob, but at least I know it), and wonderful, wonderful food.

One of my snapshot memories is of having dinner at Doyle's seafood, upstairs in the corner table, looking out over the Opera House.

I'm not trying to be snarky but, the survey you link to there is not the one the OP is based on, 10,001 travellers say it's a nice place to visit, Super I'd love to visit there.
It scores tops in but that's not aimed at telling me if I it would be a good city for me. I try to read through the headline and don't trust anything anybody in sales or marketing or on the interenet, tells me :D