Life in the ’burbs
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
Latest
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
Opinion
Opinion
My suburb has a language barrier – and it makes people act differently
Owning a piece of sky instead of land? Raising a family in an apartment? All these things are normal in Asia, and yet so strange to many Australians.
- by Meg Davies
Opinion
Opinion
In my suburb, a bypass was meant to fix the traffic. But people still pour in
The shops are now bigger and brighter in Greensborough’s beehive of development – and no longer owned by people whose names I once knew.
- by Martin Galvin
Opinion
Opinion
Who needs the trendy inner city? My suburb had the Hemsworths
Inseparable like two peas in a pod, my suburb and its twin are tight-knit communities where families intermingle across their Scouts and sports clubs without a second thought.
- by Kellie Floyd
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