JonH2

We bought here 8 years ago, when affordable buying in our preferred Darebin council area (Northcote, Thornbury, Preston...) was just a pipe-dream. Just further north than these suburbs, and we were looking at some pretty soulless, semi-industrial wasteland suburbs that we knew were not where we wanted to raise a family. East, and Fairfield, Alphington, Heidelberg and Ivanhoe were equally expensive.

It was actually on house-hunting in the not-much-better (affordability-wise) Eltham that we found ourselves attracted to the Henry St area of Greensborough. Lots of 1930s to 1960s character homes on typical Melbourne blocks, undulating hills, diverse treescapes, parks and quiet streets, close to the Plaza (JB HiFi and Robinson's Bookshop two welcome additions since I moved here), WaterMarc and Grimshaw St restaurants, a hop-skip-and-a-jump over to Montmorency for (admittedly much better) café/village scene, easy escape out to the gorgeous Yarra Valley and country but seriously only a 20-30 minute drive anywhere we want to go in Melbourne (even quicker at night when we tend to want to head back in to the nightlife-style suburbs of the inner north), train to the city, immediate access to the Western Ring Road for airport, goldfields or Western suburbs (ScienceWorks took no time at all!).

Admittedly, it's not a pre-made hip suburb (some decent cafes and bars wouldn't hurt) and it probably lacks an identifiable 'personality' or 'vibe' as a community, but it also lacks the pretension and the dodgy element that other suburbs have. But the suburb seems to be being 'discovered' a bit recently; a property not far from me sold for close to $1m, and $600-$700k houses on normal blocks are not rare at all (my friend having just sold one). It's a bit sleepy I guess, but its being woken up and perhaps its day will come.