The best Melbourne suburbs to live in lockdown
Parks, cafes, beaches and Uber Eats — your local neighbourhood has never been more important. Whether you live north, south, east or west, these are the best suburbs to be locked down in.
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Homes have become havens and the streets our getaways — but which suburbs are really best when it comes to being locked down?
The Sunday Herald Sun put it to the experts and asked agents and advocates to pick their top suburbs for surviving Covid-19 lockdowns based on three key metrics: access to nature and green spaces, cafe culture and proximity to good takeaway food, and walkability.
And from the bay to the foodie-filled streets of Brunswick and beyond, there’s plenty of appeal in pockets across the city.
Brunswick, Beaumaris, Hawthorn and Williamstown topped the list for the city’s north, south, east and west — each hailed for their closeness to parks or waterways, popular cafes and accessibility.
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Collingwood, Warrandyte, Hampton and Yarraville also make the cut, while lesser-known Heatherton was applauded for its untouched open space.
“There’s a reason Victoria was always referred to as the garden state,” Wakelin Property Advisory director Jarrod McCabe said.
“There’s a lot of parklands and public open space that people can utilise and there’s not too many parts of Melbourne that you wouldn’t find a green space.”
Mr McCabe said tree change suburbs like Warrandyte, as well as idyllic, inner-suburban beachside haunts like St Kilda were perfect for bunkering down without feeling “stuck inside”.
“Warrandyte is a classic example,” he said.
“It’s got the Yarra River that runs through it, there’s plenty of trails and walking tracks and you’ve got the state park very close by, too.
“The beaches are pretty self explanatory along St Kilda, but you also have Albert Park Lake close by and depending on what part of St Kilda you’re in, you may even be able to get up to Fawkner Park or the Shrine of Remembrance (within 5km).
“There’s lots of options in that space to not feel like you’re stuck inside.”
He said eateries including the local Warrandyte bakery and the Grand Hotel were popular food spots while St Kilda’s Fitzroy and Acland streets were full of choice.
According to walkscore.com, Carlton, Fitzroy and Fitzroy North are Melbourne’s most walkable suburbs, with good access to parks, public transport and shops.
St Kilda and South Melbourne were the only beachside suburbs to make that list.
Jellis Craig Brunswick partner Elizabeth Kelly said the inner north’s suburbs were equipped with everything Melburnians needed to power through a lockdown.
She said residents of Brunswick and Brunswick East were “spoiled for choice” with trendy cafes, restaurants and Uber Eats offerings all within their 5km radius.
“There’s heaps of really funky places, like a cafe called Clinker in Brunswick, where you don’t really go to sit down anyway so it’s perfect for takeaway,” Ms Kelly said.
Carlton and Fitzroy enjoyed similar options, with “heaps of pop-up bars” on the street offering takeaway cocktails amid restrictions.
“A lot of the best bars and restaurants, like Neighbourhood Wine, have been converted into lovely outdoor setups, and you can’t go past Lygon St,” she said.
The Merri Creek trail, a bike and walking track along the water, had scope for spotting birdlife and tortoises on daily walks, while the suburbs’ leafy parks, including Princes Park, were popular for Covid-safe picnics when restrictions allowed.
West Preston also made the list of lockdown havens thanks to the Preston Market.
“It’s got all this produce, Mediterranean-style delis and bakeries – it’s like stepping back to Preston in the 1950s,” Ms Kelly said.
Hawthorn’s western pocket had also “become really popular,” even in lockdown, according to Kay & Burton’s Rebecca Edwards, who said being close to green spaces and coffee spots, such as Morrisons Cafe on Church St and the Glenferrie Rd shopping strip, was helping keep locked-down locals happy.
“In Hawthorn you’ve got the Yarra River, Glenferrie Rd and you can almost walk through the suburb from park to park,” she said.
“There’s definitely been a shift in appreciation, sense of community and a desire to have those amenities close by.”
She added that Abbotsford was slowly being recognised as an “untapped gem,” given its walking tracks and proximity to the Yarra River, while neighbouring Richmond and South Yarra offered great eateries and sporting facilities.
Meanwhile in the west, Hocking Stuart director Leo Dardha said Yarraville’s “community feel” helped cement it as an ideal area to tackle lockdown.
“There’s an abundance of playgrounds and parks between Seddon and Yarraville. Depending where you live there’s about six within 2km,” Mr Dardha said.
“Cruickshank Park has a great walking track that people have made the most of during lockdown. There’s a walking bridge and you can hear the trickle of water from the creek.”
He said Footscray was a prime spot for foodies to bunker down in while travel was off the cards, thanks to its various authentic Asian restaurants.
“It’s got everything from noodles, dumplings, Vietnamese rolls – it gives you a taste of Asia in the inner west,” the agent noted.
The area also benefited from the bike path under the West Gate Bridge that leads to the waterfront strip of The Strand in Williamstown and along the foreshore to Altona, he said.
Mr Dardha said while buyer feedback since lockdown had been primarily about seeking more “space and size,” people also wanted to move to suburbs where they could enjoy a “complete lifestyle” without having to travel too far from home.
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Sean McBridge and his wife Jaya said they “couldn’t fault” living in Cheltenham during lockdown with their two young daughters.
“We moved here from Sydney years ago and I’m still stunned at how green Cheltenham is,” Mr McBridge said.
“Cheltenham Park has a flying fox and spinning teacups and some really nice bush walks — it’s probably one of the best parks I’ve been too.”
He said the family had been grateful to ride their bikes down to Mentone Beach and the peaceful Half Moon Bay in Black Rock during Victoria’s six lockdowns.
The young family, who are about to list their penthouse-style home at 307/19 Hall St, said they were only doing so in order to move closer to family and would miss living in the area.
Ray White Cheltenham director Kevin Chokshi said the bayside strip from Hampton to Beaumaris had become an enviable spot to live in the last 18 months, with a “variety of really nice streets and pockets to walk in” while stuck at home.
“There’s a little pocket in Cheltenham called the Golden Triangle, near Swinden Ave, there’s beautifully tree-lined streets, plenty of dog parks and open spaces for people to have a coffee and do their exercise,” said Mr Chokshi, who will be selling the McBridges’ home.
“Even Dingley Village, which is obviously more inland, has lots of big spaces and land. And there’s plenty of good cafes not only in Beaumaris but in the surrounding suburbs.”
He also highlighted nearby Heatherton, between Cheltenham and Bentleigh East, as somewhere you could “forget you’re in Melbourne”.
“There’s a full-blown walking trail at Karkarook Park with a man-made lake and nobody knows about it,” he said.
“It’s such a good place, you forget you’re in Melbourne.”
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