LilyT

If you ever want to get a good nights sleep or have a peaceful night in watching tv forget Melbourne CBD. On the weekends our apartment is surrounded by hundreds of drunk yahoos yelling and carrying on all through the night (which we did expect before moving here). The worst noises are the ones you wouldn't even dream would be a problem. While we anticipated the drunkards over the weekend we were not expecting to often be kept awake past 3am by the sounds of concrete saws and jackhammers only meters away from the apartment... not to mention the garbage trucks that run anywhere between 1:30am and 4:30am and keep you awake with the sounds of revving truck engines, reverse beeping sounds and smashing glass (multiple trucks every night - apparently there are different companies contracted to do different jobs around the CBD). Complaining to the council makes no difference. After about 6 months construction works started throughout the day as well. So no matter day or night there was no peace. While living in Melbourne CBD I felt like my life was on hold, on hold until I could finish the lease and get the hell out of there. I felt tired, stressed and irritable all the time. If you like sleep, relaxation or privacy do not move to Melbourne CBD.

This is not to say that the city is not for everyone. People who don't mind noise at night or who can sleep through anything might be okay. Also I'm not talking about Melbourne in general, I'm just talking about the CBD. I've lived in Prahran and West Melbourne before and they have both been fine. I still love the city for shopping, working and dining, just not for living. If you really feel like you want to live in the CBD and are worried about noise try to get an apartment above at least the 20th floor. Having a newer apartment with good insulation and double glazed windows would probably help keep out the noise too.