Investigation
Life in the ’burbs
The Age asked Melburnians to write about their suburb, whether the cliches about it are true and how life there has changed in recent years.
- Opinion
- Opinion
Can you guess Melbourne’s smallest, poshest or smelliest suburbs? Explore our interactive map
The Age has developed a new map where you can explore Melbourne’s suburbs, through the eyes of Melburnians who live there.
- Damien Nowicki
- Opinion
- Opinion
I left my small, overlooked suburb. But there’s a reason I came back
It’s played host to marathons, notorious ghosts and generations of family history - it’s no wonder this unpretentious pocket of Melbourne keeps drawing its residents back home.
- Liz Anderson
- Opinion
- Opinion
I thought this suburb was the fanciest place in the world. Then I moved here
My father would bring me here so I could stare at the historic buildings. But I soon realised this suburb needed an injection of youth.
- Bianca Simpson
- Opinion
My suburb is an urban oasis, never mind the bikies. We even resolved the rotting cabbage smell
A fateful detour led me to this tranquil slice of Melbourne and sparked a 17-year love affair.
- Todd Lane
- Opinion
The idea of living in this suburb left me aghast. Then it captured my heart
You would never call it trendy or bustling, but this area is connected to the landscape, and the rhythms of family life dominate.
- Rebecca Laface
- Opinion
People say my suburb is Australia’s coolest. To me it’s just families creating magic
The population of my suburb has doubled over the past 20 years, and yet its beautiful, welcoming essence remains the same.
- Peter Mattessi
- Opinion
My suburb has the Mad Mile. We call the rest of you ‘flatlanders’
I have a theory: the closer you are to the city, the less connection you have with your neighbour. I now have a dream lifestyle – and neighbours who will lend me anything other than a blowtorch.
- Uppma Virdi
- Opinion
My suburb feels like it’s hiding. But its genteel exterior belies a boisterous heart
Living in a village has its downsides. When you are trying to have some fun, someone’s mum will inevitably appear to yell at you, and probably text your mum as well
- Ethan Seiderman
- Opinion
My suburb is the heart of the city’s shtetl-south. It’s no utopia but a lesson in coexistence
When my family moved here from the Soviet Union, we began a quest to feel at home. It took us to four suburbs, but we ended up right where we belonged.
- Katia Ariel
- Opinion
I escaped my suburb on the edge. Now I’ve I found my way back
Kangaroos under high voltage towers, a whole street as our backyard: my suburb was an adventure playground until they brought the dynamite.
- Aaron Magro
- Opinion
My suburb was seemingly made for summer. Then the secret got out
When I went to uni I finally met all the people who had holiday houses down where I grew up. These kids from Hawthorn, Toorak and Camberwell couldn’t believe that I actually grew up here.
- Lizzy Gordon
- Opinion
My suburb has an odd mix of a posh name and a reputation for being a bit dodgy
I was once told my suburb was the place to go if you wanted a second-hand DVD player. But this historic area has so much more to offer than that.
- Michelle Glennon
- Opinion
My suburb is so safe that if I collapse, a doctor will trip over me on their way to get coffee
I live surrounded by hospitals and medical centres. I know because I’ve been to many of them. I’ve even walked to emergency, rather than call an ambulance because it was quicker.
- Nicolas Brasch
- Opinion
I loved my childhood suburb so much, I bought a house around the corner from where I grew up
Playing tennis on the street, picking figs from my dad’s pride-and-joy veggie patch and watching Rocky movies at the drive-in: it felt like an idyllic childhood.
- Orietta Guerrera
- Opinion
My suburb has beaches, space, fresh air – and the slight smell of chicken nuggets
We never thought we’d match our NSW lifestyle, but found relaxed authenticity and everything we need within walking distance.
- Jim Klages
- Opinion
Moving to my suburb was a no-brainer – but first someone had to die
The industrial smells have been drifting away from the place fondly known as WeFo. Now we’re luring the giants of the digital future.
- Ross Cayley
- Opinion
My suburb is a hidden gem. It has just one cafe and no shops
My suburb is only a train ride from Flinders Street, but we live among the birds and gumtrees.
- Charlotte Chidell
- Opinion
My suburb has an island, purgatory, and 2000 wardens to catch you doing anything sneaky
My resort-style suburb confuses both outsiders and residents. But its true delight is in the quirky, unexpected pleasures that come with life here.
- Marg Perry
- Opinion
My suburb is quiet, green and close to dumplings - it beats its better-known cousin hands down
There’s much to be said for living near a bustling neighbourhood rather than in it.
- Avery Poole
- Opinion
My suburb is an overlooked island. People keep pushing for us to ‘sex up’ its name
Our most famous resident said we could boost house prices by $20-$30,000 if we adopted the name of the local “Bunnings of dildos”. Luckily, residents have stood firm against change.
- John Tait
- Opinion
My suburb often makes headlines for the wrong reasons, but our Coles is the best in Melbourne
A period of trouble several years ago cast a shadow on my suburb’s reputation, but it doesn’t define us.
- Giridhar Vemulapalli
- Opinion
My suburb has its own unofficial suburb – with a completely different vibe
Those residents prefer to think of themselves as living in a separate suburb that doesn’t officially exist.
- Jess Burke
- Opinion
My suburb changed its name decades ago, but everyone’s still confused
It was recognised as its own suburb in the 1990s – three decades on, people still call us by three different names.
- Elspeth De Fanti
- Opinion
My village suburb makes some people nervous, but the hoons brought me here
You’ve probably never heard of this place. And what’s with locals calling it a village? But you have to admit it has charm.
- Jason Doyle
- Opinion
My suburb is mocked relentlessly. But people can’t stop talking about it
It seems everyone has an opinion on my neighbourhood, where there’s a lingering characterisation that we’re the heart of Melbourne’s boring suburbia.
- Matthew Etty-Leal
- Opinion
My suburb wanted to beat Chadstone. So it banned traffic
But the game-changer arrived in 2008, bringing evening crowds and turning our suburb’s heart into a dining precinct and community meeting place.
- Victoria Kyriakopoulos
- Opinion
My quiet suburb has no bars and one cafe. But that’s not why we speak in whispers
Some residents claim to live in a different bayside suburb, while neighbours think they live here. The truth is anyone’s guess.
- Henry Herzog
- Opinion
I bet you know my historic suburb, but I doubt you know anyone who lives here
You probably see my suburb as a place to whizz through on your way somewhere else. But it has a hidden beauty worth sticking around for.
- Kathy Watty
- Opinion
My suburb’s name is a mystery, but it’s how you say our main drag that reveals if you’re a local
Some refer to my suburb as “Tradie Town”, but while there are heaps of utes and Pete Murray covers played at the local pub, those who live here affectionately call it something else.
- Samantha Allemann
- Opinion
In my suburb a woman put a cigarette out on my head. It’s that kind of place
Perhaps because it’s neat and small, my suburb absorbs the energy of the neighbourhoods that so tightly surround it.
- Ronnie Scott
- Opinion
My bayside suburb has no shopping strip, cafe, or even a milk bar. That’s how we like it
It is not far from the CBD, but my suburb is the antithesis of inner-city hustle, a place where the snapper bite at dawn, pelicans drift overhead, and footpaths wind alongside the creek.
- Kat Lodder
- Opinion
We moved to a suburb with a bad rep. Then we forgot to lock the house and car
My suburb is well known, but not for the right reasons. YouTubers and TikTokers often visit to film content with titles like: “Inside Melbourne’s most dangerous suburb”.
- Lee Crossley
- Opinion
My suburb’s so small, our primary school was cut in half
Welcome to the highlights of this blink-and-you’ll-miss-it slice of urban tranquillity, typified by relative anonymity and an unusual community gathering spot.
- John Dodson
- Opinion
I live in a suburb of the dead and dying. Even our train station is inside a graveyard
Weekends bring the familiar sound of another deceased estate being auctioned off – before it later gives birth to a subdivision of three townhouses.
- David Ryding
- Opinion
I cringe when people ask where I live. But my suburb ended up proving me wrong
I barely noticed the fleeting lights as I drove through. And as I walked back to this dark, cold place, I never would’ve guessed that it would be my future home of 45 years.
- Kate Feher
- Opinion
My suburb may be home to gangsters, students and rats, but its food can heal a broken heart
Friends asked why I’d chosen my suburb over cooler ones like Fitzroy, Collingwood, or Brunswick to start my new single life. Until I introduced them to “Tom”.
- Nina Culley
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- 4 stories
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