laraw

Yes I have lived in AV for 6 years. People posting who haven't lived in the suburb should shut their mouths. AV is lovely. We're very happy there. Our street is very quiet despite being next to two very busy main roads, trams and trains. Every time my husband is on his mobile in our front yard he's asked if he's in an aviary. Our neighbours are either city professional commuters or have been there for 20+ years with grown up kids. Our street is very friendly. We know everyone. Each year we have a street Xmas party. There are nice places to eat and two great and very convenient shopping strips: one in Union Road and the other Puckle St in nearby Moonee Ponds. They are both now better than the Prahran end of Chapel St, so there. That's what yer property prices did to that precinct.

There is a housing commission presence, as there is in many inner city suburbs. My husband and I regularly walk and never had any issues with crime or dodgy people. Nightlife is restricted to restaurants and a couple of good wine bars, which is fine for us. We also love the facilities at the leisure centre. We're right near Flemington Racecourse but you wouldn't know it. Except once we could hear the Metallica concert in our back yard, and we enjoyed it very much :)

An issue I see for the long term is traffic. So many new housing estates in the west and not enough motorway access to the city. A lot of non-local traffic is moving west-east via Racecourse Rd and Holmes Rd. Also few river crossings mean traffic is pushed down Maribyrnong Road.

LindyC you're just sour grapes because many of your effluent suburbs are not ranked too highly on this site. Which only goes to show, as a quick look at the interior design of many Toorak homes will tell you, money don't buy taste.