Port Melbourne is a strange place. Apart from confusingly
not being home to hundreds of shipping containers, anyone over 25 will tell you that, not so long ago, it was a real gritty working-class suburb. But you wouldn't know that now, with all the gleaming bay frontage apartment blocks, multi-storey Victorian renovations and fancy European cars around.
From a map it's not hard to see why things have changed; residents of the town formerly known as Sandridge enjoy the unique combination of beach-side living and a 10 minute tram-ride into the city. However despite the astronomical property prices, Port Melbourne conspicuously lacks the hard-earned cool of other well-to-do inner-city suburbs such as Fitzroy, St Kilda and Carlton.
Those places have gentrified much more slowly; their bohemian bars and restaurants got a foothold before rents sky-rocketed, and existing businesses have adapted gradually to the changing social profile (and pocket) of their clientèle. Also, they don't have to fit the twice-daily, fog-horn signalled, arrival of a dirty great
ferry into their identities.
Not that the local
business association is ready to admit it. Reading the introduction from the glossy '
Your Guide to Port Melbourne' pamphlet, you could be forgiven for thinking they're describing somewhere else entirely: "Port Melbourne is Melbourne's coolest new hub of urban culture, style and cuisine, combining all the sophistication and excitement of the city, with a relaxed beachside vibe."
This site exists as a slightly less rose-tinted
guide to the suburb, offering one cat's eye view of the
best (and
worst) of Port Melbourne, in the hope of encouraging a little more diverse culture and perhaps a little less conformity...
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