The new cool place to be

It's official. Just read this week's "Melbourne Magazine" in The Age and you'll find announced that Melbourne's Northern suburbs are now "classy". Of course, they do seem to be referring primarily to the inner sector - Brunswick, East Brunswick and Northcote. Anything west of Sydney Rd seems that bit Too Far West, and anything north of Bell St is, well, Preston.

According to the article, Melbourne's "creative classes" have been forced to take refuge in the North, because of the ridiculous housing prices that have now made their previous havens, Fitzroy and St Kilda, a somewhat yuppified pipe-dream. So, if you want to have your latte and drink it too, and maybe even create a piece of movement theatre based around the experience, you move North. Only, not too far North, because then you'll be in Greensborough. Unless you want to go all the way, and live at Monsalvat, but, let's face it, that's not an option for most of us.

Now, I'm very happy to have my hood declared the New Cool Place to Be (although a little upset that West Preston doesn't rate a mention - not surprised, note, just upset). Nevertheless, the article has made me think about my own reasons for moving North.

In reality, I moved to the North because I couldn't find anyone who wanted to move to the West (only Yarraville's cool so far, and there's no way I could afford that...). And why did I want to move to the West? To be closer to school. And, let's face it, if I'd moved to Pascoe Vale, it would hardly have been Cool. Convenient, yes. On the right train line, yes. But Cool? Sorry. Move to Westgarth for that.

What I found, when I accidentally wound up in the North, was quite an unexpected home. But I don't love it for the artiness or trendiness, although, to paraphrase Sir Humphrey, "it's nice to know it's there". No, what I fell in love with was the diversity, the humility, the simplicity, the quiet, and, in a strange way, the grunginess of it all. Only here in West Preston, everything's grungy because it's falling apart, not because a trendy designer made it look like that.

I maintain, of course, that it's only a matter of time before West Preston becomes Cool, but we've got to wait for Thornbury to catch up with Northcote first, and that may take a while. Meanwhile, I think I'm happy to enjoy living in a place that isn't too trendy for it's own good, and is beginning to feel like some kind of home.