Imbros Street, Hampton, VIC 3188

Typical California bungalow neighborhood in a heritage protection zone so it has kept most of the feel of this style of housing. The council are reasonably strict on enforcing this so not too many examples of housing that doesn't fit into this style. This lovely tree lined street is divided by Villeroy St with the section from here down to South road slightly busier due to the proximity to Haileybury school but only really noticeable during drop off/pick up times. The road is wide so not ever a problem. The section around to Amiens St is very quiet with hardly any traffic passing through. There are one or two examples of the original unrenovated houses but not many left now as most have been snapped up and extended. It is about a ten minute walk to the excellent local shops on the junction of South Road and Hampton Street or slightly longer to the main shopping strip on Hampton Street. There are all the main shops you would need including a Safeway supermarket, some good butchers, fruit/veg and a very good fish shop (Fegari). There are also lots of ladies clothes shops and dog grooming shops which might indicate something about the area but not sure what. There are a huge range of cafes and restaurants so you will not be spoiled for choice and many are often very busy at the weekends. Special mention goes to my favourite which is the Hampton Foodstore next to the primary school which does get a bit busy at school drop off time in the morning. Hampton Primary is ten minutes away and has a reasonably good reputation. Haileybury and St Leonards private schools are less than 5 minutes walk to both schools. At the end of Imbros St is Castlefield reserve where the kids can play, watch a sporting game or exercise your dog. Quite a few dogs around as it is a family area but most people are good at cleaning up and there isn't too much noise from barking. There is a childrens playground plus milk bar, shop, a cafe and a Fish and Chip shop at the far end of the reserve on Ludstone Street. There is a kindergarten on Kingston Street which is a lovely place for kids as the staff there are just superb and it has a great community spirit. The one problem with this whole area is access to public transport as it is at least 20 minutes walk to the nearest train station at Brighton Beach or Hampton. Also Hampton Station is in Zone 2 so a bit more expensive to travel into the city. There is a bike cage at Brighton Beach station so if you are energetic you could ride there to catch the train. There is only a fairly limited bus service in the area mainly towards Brighton Beach station so not very well serviced for public transport. It is a leisurely 25 minute walk down to the beach or fairly easy to ride down there with the kids. This is a very friendly street with a good mixture of younger families, older families and a few retirees.