Melbourne Travel Blog: Part 3 | Downtown Melbourne
/Wandering in Melbourne Downtown
After visiting the waterfront of Melbourne, I started to walk nearby surrounding areas. One environmentally-friendly transportation policy I noticed is that public transit is free within certain boundaries in downtown. This encourages people to take public transit and not to drive. I hopped on a tram and stayed within boundaries, going around to see as much as possible.
I liked Melbourne’s downtown a lot. The friendly people and excellent public transit network, along with many other things, make it one of the top ten best places to live in the world.
Although population- and area-wise Melbourne is bigger than Toronto, I noticed that it’s got a lot less skyscrapers than Toronto. It kind of reminds me of how Toronto was 20 years ago. I saw a lot of construction, but possibly its priority is not building too many skyscrapers.
And that’s what I found the most striking about Melbourne; you will feel like you’re living in a city with all the modern amenities a metropolis has to offer, but it’s not a chaotic and hectic place like many other big cities. Just 45 minutes from the city will take you to suburbs where the pace of life is even more relaxed and gives off the vibe of living in a small town.
It’s no wonder Melbourne ranks so high and is always one of the top ten best places to live. One thing I found very weird is the weather in Melbourne. It fluctuates a lot and can change within hours. Because houses in Australia are not equipped with a heating system, at night I felt cold when the temperature dropped significantly, but during the day it was very hot.
Some days, even during the day, I had to wear a light jacket in Melbourne in November. This did not happen in Sydney, where I found it was always hot. So Melbourne weather is full of contrasts and fluctuations.
