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Melbourne. It’s known for its CBD streets, gritty rock ‘n’ roll suburbs like Richmond and Brunswick, Los Angeles-style St Kilda and Little Italy in Carlton. Even the “blue wave” of May’s federal election put the glitzy bayside suburbs of Beaumaris and Brighton on the map.
But there are dozens of unknown, underappreciated, up-and-coming neighborhoods across the sprawling metropolis that won’t make it into travel guides, but are beloved by those who live there.
After successive lockdowns, Melbourne’s suburbs have become more important both in our daily lives and in the collective consciousness of the city; they are not just places to come home to, but places where we live, work and play.
This list, inspired by our readers’ suggestions, is by no means scientific or exhaustive, but is intended to give a shout-out to some of our lesser-known suburbs.
The former Philip Morris factory in Moorabbin has been transformed into the Stomping Ground Brewery. Credit: Paul Jeffers
Moorabbin
A craft brewery inside a former cigarette factory looks like something you’d only find in Melbourne’s north.
But Stomping Ground Brewery co-founder Justin Joiner sees similarities between the south-eastern suburb of Moorabbin and Collingwood, where his group set up its first brewery six years ago.
“It’s kind of a light industrial area, changing to residential and more office and hospitality as well,” says Joiner, who set up Moorabbin Brewery a year ago.
“There are many families in the area, many young people. It’s an exciting time.”
In the former Philip Morris cigarette factory on Cochranes Road, Stomping Ground comes with burger and donut shops as well as a nursery, yoga studio and trendy office space.
The development is exciting for longtime residents who have often considered their home a mere crossroads or “car suburb.”
Elisa Mori serves coffee at the Minnie Miny Mo cafe in Moorabbin. Credit: Paul Jeffers
The suburb got an ego boost when the St Kilda Football Club, which controversially left the area for Seaford in 2010, returned to regular training in Moorabbin four years ago. Players are now regularly seen in cafes around Station Street, an area where new apartment towers are springing up to house young inner-city workers who can reach the CBD in 30 minutes by train.
Minnie Miny Mo cafe barista Elisa Mori, 21, says her friends don’t think of Moorabbin as a place to go for coffee or food, which is a shame, she says, as there are some “jewels of hospitality”.
“There’s high-quality coffee out there, competitive coffee shops. There’s four or five of them around this block, and we’re all competing with each other; it makes for a really good coffee culture.
“It might be popular, but not many people know about it yet.”
Travancore
Travancore: the suburb of the “cheese stick”. Credit: Craig Sillitoe
Travancore, the ‘Toorak of the North’, is possibly the inner city suburb you’ve never heard of.
“You know when you’re whizzing down the freeway to the airport and you see all the decorative structures shiny like cheese sticks?” says Melbourne-based buyer’s lawyer Cate Bakos. “Well, this is Travancore.”
Interestingly, the suburb was named after the Indian kingdom of Travancore after lawyer and horse breeder Henry Madden, who bought a mansion in the area in the early 1900s.
Mooltan Street in Travancore. Credit: Eddie Jim
Bakos says you can’t see the suburb’s “magic” from the freeway. At ground level, the leafy corner nestled between Flemington and Parkville is “a world of beautifully preserved brick houses,” he says.
“There are Californian bungalows, period homes with a high degree of artistry in the brickwork. The architecture is pretty divine,” says Bakos, who has helped families buy some of the larger family homes in the coveted neighborhood within walking distance of the Parkville hospital complex.
In the 1940s and 50s, what was once a large estate was divided to create the suburb of Travancore, and many of the streets were given Indian names: Cashmere Street, Mangalore Court and Delhi Court. The neighborhood has been recognized as heritage.
There are a few high-rise apartment buildings on Mount Alexander Road and only a handful of shops, but the locals are about a 12-minute walk from Flemington’s Newmarket station and the 59 tram.
Werribee South
One of our city’s food courts is also one of the most underrated suburbs, according to prominent local GP Dr Joe Garra.
“In the summer, there are still kids playing cricket in the street when you drive home at night. You don’t see that in many places in Melbourne anymore.”
Joe Claw
“Where do I start?” river, before hitting a list of key attractions including Werribee Zoo, Shadowfax Winery, Werribee Park Golf Course, the stunning K Road Cliffs, Wyndham Harbor and the grounds of Werribee Mansion, which have hosted concerts by Elton John and Suzi. four
So Frenchy So Chic Festival in Werribee in 2020. Credit: Sarah Tee
“The population is about 2500 people. There are not many people, but there are so many things that people have to look at”, says Garra.
Werribee South could not be more different from its sister suburb, Werribee, across the Princes Freeway, which has grown in population thanks to sprawling housing estates.
You need a car to get in and out of Werribee South easily, although there is an hourly bus to Werribee, where trains leave for the city. Plans for a commuter ferry between Werribee South and Docklands, floated under the previous Liberal state government, were shelved several years ago.
Garra says the old part of Werribee South, affectionately known as “the village” by locals, is like a time capsule.
A Werribee South farmer checks his broccoli crop. Credit: Joe Armao
“We still have a milk bar, there is a standing oval, two car parks for caravans [and] you have the beach, which is good for kids to paddle in the bottom,” he says. “On a nice day, the public fishing ramp is full of boat trailers.
“In the summer, there are still kids playing cricket in the street when you drive home at night. You don’t see that in many places in Melbourne anymore.”
Saint Albans
West of the city on the Sunbury railway line, St Albans has not had a great reputation over the years. High crime rates have grabbed the headlines.
A lively Alfrieda Street in St Albans. Credit: Luis Ascui
But those who live and work here believe it doesn’t get the credit it deserves.
“I’ve been here since I was 14, about 46 years,” says butcher Joe Diblasi of Ross’s Meat Supply, which is in Big Sams Fruit and Vegetable Market, the beating heart of the suburb.
“We’ve seen the dynamic change, but it’s the way it’s been all along. You’re still serving working people. It’s a thriving, vibrant suburb,” he says.
Walk down a packed Alfrieda street on a winter morning and you’ll see tanks of live crabs, stacks of fruit and vegetables, cute bubble tea shops and locals sipping bowls of Vietnamese pho.
Inside the Big Sams market there is a cacophony of languages: Vietnamese, Polish, Greek and Italian. Bush nurses from the nearby Sunshine Hospital pass by, alongside grandparents and families with young children nibbling on piles of ripe fruit.
Joe Diblasi, a butcher at Ross’s Meat Supply inside the Big Sams market in St Albans. Credit: Luis Ascui
“In its day it was a large European area. Now it’s more Vietnamese, some African and Indian, with still a lot of older Europeans. It’s a good mix,” says Jack Koutesis, 53, who helps run his family’s stall at the market that sells nuts, candy, beans and pantry staples.
Of course, residents see the negative news, but Koutesis says St Albans feels safe, especially because of the amount of people constantly on the streets.
“I think it’s a great suburb, it’s hopping at the moment. More and more people are moving to this side of town as well. People who may have been priced out of Footscray because places like St Albans and Sunshine are jumping.
Croydon
Almost but not quite in the Dandenong Ranges, Croydon feels like a regional town while still being an hour from Melbourne by train.
The township, located 28 kilometers northeast of the city, has a much-loved bookstore, trendy cafes serving açaí bowls and an independent cinema with 1990s prices.
The Dandenong Ranges are a 20 minute drive from Croydon View. Credit: Simon Schluter
It doesn’t hurt that you’re on the right side of town to get out into the Yarra Valley or down the peninsula.
Christie Kumar, 34, who grew up in the area, says Croydon has a different feel to when she was a teenager growing up here.
“We took the buses to the station when we were at school, and it was a bit rough. But it’s definitely become a safer area,” he says.
The village is perfect for young families, with a public swimming pool, tennis courts, football pitches and good schools. The small market town might feel sleepy, but the large shopping centers of Eastland and Chirnside Park are only a short drive away.
Playground designer John Arena with one-year-old grandson Isaiah at Croydon Park. Credit: Simon Schluter
Those who sing Croydon’s praises say that its green spaces are what make it special.
“It’s probably been seven years since this playground went in,” says Croydon Park playground designer John Arena. “And it gets really bad on the weekends.”
Meadows of Altona
“People know Altona, Altona Beach … maybe Altona North,” says Houda Elbadwr. “But when I say Altona Meadows, people say, ‘Where is that?’
Cheaper than Altona and Seaholme, but only a five-minute drive from the beach, South West Altona Meadows is definitely a forgotten bayside suburb.
Altona Beach is a five minute drive from Altona Meadows. Credit: Paul Jeffers
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