Over the last twenty years Albert Park shops became 'the village'. Albert Park has been the poster child of a successful neighbourhood shopping centre. It was the place to go for coffee long before other places developed their own coffee cultures. Its anchors over all those years have been the …
Port & South Melbourne
A Port place
North Port is stop 127 on the 109 tram service. Not just a tram stop - a place. Could it be the best on the Melbourne tram network? Step off the 109 at North Port straight into Port Melbourne's Railway Reserves - the hugely generous legacy of parkland set aside when the first railway line was …
Bringing the market home
When we came to Australia in 1987, we rented a house opposite the South Melbourne Market. It was nothing to do with the market, we knew nothing of it. It was just that it was affordable. From day one in Melbourne, the South Melbourne Market has been part of my life. Over time, I took root in …
The Picture Tells a Story
Stories of transformation and transition are at the heart of Port Places. Sometimes I come across an image which really brings that home. This photograph shows the South Melbourne Gasworks and surrounding Albert Park and Port Melbourne in 1978 - forty years ago. This photograph was on the …
Birds
The morning begins with the wattlebird in the banksia. The golden autumn day invites a walk to Lagoon Pier is at the end of the street (apart from the interruption of Beaconsfield Parade). Lagoon Pier may not be the longest or the widest pier but it is a ‘just right’ pier for Port Melbourne …
Port Houses in 2017
Houses rise and fall, crumble, are extended, Are removed, destroyed, restored ... (T S Eliot, East Coker) Observations on Port Houses in 2017 The median house price in Port Melbourne was $1,505,000. In 2016 it was $1,380,000. The median price of a one bedroom apartment was $760,000 In …