Loading
The character of the area is laid back and refreshingly unpretentious. With few high front fences here, we all live among each other, parking in the street (why waste your tiny yard by parking in it) and embracing the trams that deliver us into the city in just a few minutes. It’s a short walk to the Shrine of Remembrance, or to wander down to the Grand Prix. Between South Melbourne, Port Melbourne (hello, Bunnings), and the city, we can get everything we need without travelling further afield.
South Melbourne has continued its gentrification over the past 30 years, and is increasingly multicultural now, with only 59 per cent of locals born in Australia. After growing up in rural Tasmania – where everyone was white – it was a heart-warming revelation to see multicultural Australia blended at our kids’ school, with children from the US, Finland, Spain, Thailand, Vietnam, India and China all learning and playing harmoniously.
It seemed antithetical to this that the South Melbourne Hellas Soccer Club, formed in 1959, was renamed South Melbourne Soccer Club as the sport became more inclusive and moved away from its direct association with migrant communities at the club level. The club was a proud bastion of the Greeks who had moved to the area en masse during the post-war boom of the ’50s.
The famous “Big Ange” Postecoglou, who now manages Tottenham Hotspur in the English Premier League, played here from age nine and continued for many years as a player and coach. The South Melbourne Swans flew north in 1982, but you’ll still see their flags at local houses.
An anomaly of South Melbourne is the relatively large public and transitional housing supply. The sheer concentration of these populations makes South Melbourne so diverse. Despite frequently seeing mentally ill or drug-affected people making trouble, I have never felt unsafe here.
Loading
South Melbourne is perhaps most well-known as the home of Melbourne’s oldest market, which has operated continuously on its site since 1867. The market has become much trendier over the past 20 years, and the high quality cafes and boutiques surrounding it attract many visitors.
While South Melbourne Market is famous for its dim sims, to locals, it’s a place to buy quality meat, fish, fruit, and vegetables, perhaps have a manicure from the stylish nail bar or buy all your meals for the week.
So, should you live here? Absolutely, yes, if you can cope with a spot (OK, a lot) of decluttering and parking in the street, but secure in the knowledge that you always have access to amazing coffee.
Ella Hamilton is a long-time South Melbourne resident.
The Opinion newsletter is a weekly wrap of views that will challenge, champion and inform your own. Sign up here.