Life in the ’burbs
Opinion
Opinion
A monstrosity looms over my suburb. Yet, it’s hard to beat as the place to live
In some suburbs, you’d find irritated locals fighting tooth and nail to have this monstrosity removed. In my suburb, many fought to have it heritage listed.
- by Lawrie Bradly
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Opinion
Fitzroy North
My suburb is a woke, lefty haven. It may also be Melbourne’s whitest
When Peter Dutton takes aim at “woke inner-city elites”, he means people in my suburb, where all children (or wokelings) are fluent in Welcome To Country.
- by Tom Ormonde
Opinion
Opinion
My village may be tiny but you can still get a latte every 165 metres
Our little community sits at the point where concrete suburbia meets bushland. And like all good frontier communities, we make our own rules.
- by Rosie Beaumont
Opinion
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My suburb once had 98 pubs. These days, you’re more likely to bump into a ‘nana trolley’
With a “pub on every corner” during the gold rush, my neighbourhood is now a source of amusement for suburban workmates.
- by Ella Hamilton
Coles, Myer, Ansett: In my suburb, these weren’t brands. They were our neighbours
My suburb’s luminaries were regularly seen picking up their milk supplies in their Rolls-Royces, while locals told the time by spotting a tycoon in his private helicopter.
- by Jon McMillan
Opinion
Opinion
My big hug of a suburb never wants for anything. Who cares if it’s boring and bland?
My suburb’s secret sauce is its solidity. What the younger me saw as boring and bland, I now recognise as reassuring, comfortable and privileged.
- by Jacquie Byron
Opinion
Clayton South
My unpretentious suburb is such a vast nothingness, it doesn’t even have a stereotype
Maybe Clayton South’s bubble of irrelevancy is its appeal. You can leave the house looking as terrible as you please, without fear of retribution.
- by Maggie Zhou
Opinion
Gardenvale
My suburb is Melbourne’s smallest – and no, it’s not the one you think
Even after the Brighton Empire’s annexation, my whole suburb has so far defied the worst of the growth-for-growth’s-sake mindset.
- by Robert James Stove
Opinion
Fitzroy
On the mean streets of 1970s Fitzroy, even the trees looked like they wanted to die
The Fitzroy of today – filled with bars, cafes, markets and designer boutiques – was unimaginable. But back then, locals loved the cheap rent and “anything goes” attitude.
- by Justine Costigan
In winter, my suburb feels like an abandoned carnival – and that’s its appeal
Aspendale is a sleepy paradise from Monday to Friday, a blip on Nepean Highway on the way to Frankston. But my suburb is transformed on weekends.
- by Jane Lewis
I teased a friend who moved to this daggy suburb. Then I joined her – and fell in love
After a fruitless search in cooler suburbs, my partner and I ended up in Glen Iris ourselves, thinking we wouldn’t stay in the area long. Twenty-five years and two extensions later, we’re still here.
- by Lisa Drought