Since Melbourne was established as a city a grand civic square has been something lacking. Many attempts have been made over the years to build one, and today’s example is the 1929 ‘Parliament Square’ proposal for the top end of Bourke Street. The proposal was included in the Plan for General Development created by the […]
When you look at a map of Melbourne’s older suburbs, a grid network of streets dominates. However on edge of the western suburb of Newport is an interesting street layout – with ‘The Circle’ in the middle, and streets radiating out at 45 degree angles. Google Maps The story starts in the 1927, when the […]
In the early 20th century the Garden City town planning movement gained traction in Australia, with housing on spacious lots separated by manicured gardens. The suburb of Garden City in Port Melbourne is the best known local example, but there is a small pocket in the streets of Sunshine – the ‘Concrete Housing Estate’ on […]
Car parks are usually known for their asphalt, not trees, but the Bunnings Warehouse in Sunshine tried their best. Google Street View, September 2016 With trees flanking the rows of parking. Google Maps, July 2016 But as part of the 2017 expansion of the store, every tree in the car park was chopped down. Google […]
Years ago I was wandering through paddocks of Rockbank photographing trains, when I came across an odd sight – a ‘Road Closed’ sign hidden in the grass near the intersection of Hopkins Road and Greigs Road. So how did the road come to be? Going back to the gold rush A check of land titles […]
