Why we love living in Melbourne

WRITTEN BY JENNY MOWATT ON 19 SEPTEMBER 2019

Melbourne missed out on 'the most liveable city in the world' this year, runner up to Vienna. Still pretty good and Australia gets three cities in the top ten, when you add Sydney & Adelaide, so Australia looks a pretty good place to live, no matter which city or town you live in, but read on to see why Melbourne has won us over.

We think Melbourne has something here for everyone: great shopping, great arcades, old buildings & boutique shopping malls. It has a European feel to it, whilst also reminding us of New York, with the outdoor cafes, historic architecture, patrons sipping on coffee or wine, and a smattering of languages from all around the world. Truly a cosmopolitan city.

And in no particular order here are some reasons we love it and welcome you to experience it too!

Note the image above is from an exhibit at the NGV where you were encouraged to place a sticky flower on anything within a series of rooms of a house. Really cool!

Our Location

We live right next door to the Arts Centre, National Gallery of Victoria & the live theatre district. Known as the "Arts District".

Highlights:

Just about all of this area is a highlight for us. That's the Art Centre with it's "Ballerina" inspired "Spire" alongside the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV). The image is the view from our apartment, and yes we are spoilt!

Transport options

We can catch trams & trains (buses too on occasion) to all our city and local area haunts, all with the same "MYKI" card for payment. And all within a short walk for us. That's of course only if it's raining as we walk most places!

Highlights:

Flinders Street Station, Arts Centre Tram stop (pictured). Oh, and the "Seniors" rate MYKI for Peter!

The Yarra (Birrarung) River

We love the beautiful Yarra River, yes I know it's brown, but we get water views & beautiful bridges that we can just walk across on a daily basis. And some breaking news is that there are moves a foot to return the river to it's indigenous name of Birrarung, much nicer.

Highlights:

Princess Bridge, Owen Walker bridge (aka Poppy's bridge), Immigration bridge, Swan Street bridge and the river foreshore area near the boatsheds.

Beautiful gardens and tree lined streets

We look out across the NGV and beautiful tree lined St Kilda Road to Queen Victoria Garden, the Kings Domain and further right to the Royal Botantical Gardens. We see all this as our back-yard (or is that front-yard?).

Highlights:

For me nothing like a run through the Botanical gardens early in the morning. For Peter it's the walk to the devonshire tea at the garden's Tea Rooms!

Street Art

Before it was called Street Art, we used to call it graffiti, how times change. But these works have changed from vandalism to art and it changes almost every day and usually has something to say.

Highlights:

Hosier Lane is a must as this is the most popular lane for art, but we also love Centre Place, AC/DC Lane, Caledonian Lane, Duckboard Place, Croft Place & Rankins Lane.

Laneways with character

Melbourne has numerous laneways to explore for food, art, and you can do lots of people watching once you find a coffee shop to sit.

Highlights:

We love Degraves (a street but really a lane in size) as it's close, but Hardware Lane, Market Lane, Postal Lane, Meyers Place, Tattersalls Lane and don't forget The Royal Arcade & the Block Arcade are all fantastic.

Constant activity

There is always something going on in Melbourne - constant activity no matter the day or time of year. On the water, streets, riverbanks, parks, throughout the city. Perhaps, it has someting to do with all the university campuses being based in the CBD.

Highlights:

There are also numerous events held annualy we love, like White Night (now 3 nights!), Moomba Festival, Night Noodle Markets, Comedy Festival and currently runnning at a theatre "Harry Potter & the Cursed Child" (an event that will run for years as only staged in London, New York and here).

Sports!

You have heard it said I am sure, Melbourne people are sports made. And it's true, come the AFL season and Mondays at work (at least for me) is all about how your team did on the weekend. Summer is about cricket and tennis, but throw in netball, basketball and sundry other sporting pursuits and it really is the mecca of sports.

Highlights:

You can't go passed the "G" (or MCG for non locals) for a sporting venue. It is ideally placed in the CBD, easily reached by Train or Tram (or on foot for us). Then throw in AAMI Park (Rectangular Stadium for ABC viewers) and Melbourne Park (home of the Aussie Open) all beautifully co-located and then add Docklands Stadium (now called Marvel Stadium) to make a sports lover cry.