Future Victoria: Parkville, Collingwood top list of most liveable suburbs

The best Melbourne suburbs for access to education, transport and shopping have been named, with some surprising results. See how your area ranks.

Inner suburbs dominate the list of the best places to live in Melbourne, with a new analysis revealing East Melbourne, Parkville and Collingwood are the pick of the bunch.

But beyond the inner suburbs the data reveals a few surprises, with Dandenong and Frankston topping the list of Melbourne’s most liveable locations 20-40km from the CBD.

The analysis by PRD Real Estate, compiled exclusively for the Herald Sun, ranks more than 400 suburbs on liveability in terms of access to public transport, shops, medical care, education and parks, as well as planned commercial and government projects.

But experts point out the data does not capture many lifestyle features that attract people to the outer suburbs, including lower density living, cleaner air and cheaper houses.

PRD chief economist Diaswati Mardiasmo said Melbourne’s inner suburbs outranked outer suburbs, with the top 22 most liveable locations all within 5km of the CBD.

“The nearer you are to the CBD, the higher the score,” she said.

“The CBD gets a lot more investment when it comes to commercial, infrastructure, transport, schools, everything.

“But as you go out more from the city, you start to see availability of green space increasing. You might not have access to a Westfield, but your kids have plenty of room to play.”

University of Melbourne professor in urban planning David Nichols said while inner suburbs rated higher for liveability, many people preferred the lifestyle in Melbourne’s booming outer suburbs.

“People love living in the outer suburbs if they have children, because it’s often – not always but often – a great place to raise kids, predominantly because of the open space and the recreational opportunities,” he said.

Professor Nichols said the Covid-19 distance restrictions had forced people to explore and learn to enjoy their immediate local area in a way they never had to before.

“Some people may have decided they hate their local area, but I think in most cases it was one positive experience out of an overwhelmingly negative experience,” he said.

Dr Lucy Gunn, senior research fellow at RMIT’s Centre for Urban Research, said most Australian cities were considered to be highly liveable by global standards.

“Even if we’re looking at the outer suburbs or growth areas of Melbourne, in relative terms to the rest of the world, it’s very liveable,” Dr Gunn said.

“We have good houses. We have reasonable streets.

“But relative to the inner city areas, the outer areas are less liveable, mainly because they don’t have things like close proximity to shops and services and healthcare.”

PRD research analyst Owen Mitchell, who compiled the data, said outer Melbourne needed more government and commercial development to improve liveability, but it must be carefully planned to address potential challenges such as increased traffic.

“This development can boost economic growth, improve infrastructure and enhance residents’ quality of life by providing better retail options and shorter commute times,” he said.

Dr Mardiasmo said many people chose to live in outer suburbia not only for cheaper housing, but also lower housing density, less noise, fewer people, and greater cleanliness.

“One thing this data really doesn’t capture is preference of lifestyle, which is very different from one person to another,” she said.

Fatima Musai and son Lirian Dauti, 9, love living in Dandenong. Picture: Josie Hayden

“Sometimes people do love living in a quieter, smaller place, and it’s OK that it only has one shop and one school.”

Lifelong Dandenong resident Fatima Musai wasn’t surprised her “thriving” suburb had been crowned Melbourne’s most liveable location 20-40km from the CBD.

“We’ve got everything at our doorstep,” she said.

“It’s got the markets, and the shopping centres and schools and medical centres are all walking distance.

“The parks are full of kids and very family-oriented. It’s just a great place to raise a family.”

Ms Musai runs her hairdressing salon, Hair by Fatima Musai, from home, while her son, Lirian Dauti, 9, attends school only 700m away.

“It’s so good that the school is close and I can walk my son to school,” she said.

“Hopefully, in a year or two my son will be able to walk to and from school by himself.

“And I love that his school is very multicultural. I love that because you grow up learning all the different cultures and religions.”