The suburban streets of Watsonia are quiet. Quiet as a mouse.
There are no diggers. No demolishers. No burly white utes parking on the nature strip. No yellow "Notice of Application" signs on boards outside the predominantly flat brick veneer '60s and '70s houses.
There are no tall wire fences keeping the riff-raff out of building sites. Unbelievably, there are no building sites. Most blocks have one house. Some have been renovated, but most not.
Data from a 2015 Banyule City Council precinct profile says the same thing: this precinct has the "highest proportion of separate housing and the lowest proportion of medium density housing across the municipality". While the rest of Melbourne's suburbs seem hell-bent on subdividing blocks and building townhouses, Watsonia isn't.
Watsonia Shopping Centre tells the story of traditional Australian suburban life. It looks like there hasn't been any development here since the '70s. If that. Yet this 'burb is just 16 kilometres from Melbourne's CBD. Head out to Plenty Road and you can see Melbourne's skyscrapers in the distance. The 86 tram runs along Plenty Road all the way there.
It's a smallish suburb, split in the middle by the very busy Greensborough Road and a train line. Greensborough Road is going to morph into something much bigger soon: North East Link. It'll bring cars from the Eastern Freeway to the M80 Ring Road.
Watsonia Station sits right in the centre of the suburb. High voltage power lines rule a strip of air above, and result in a green strip below. Where people don't live, greenery does.
There's plenty of green. It's bordered on one side by Macleod's Gresswell Forest Nature Conservation Reserve. Here, running groups gather in the morning while kangaroos nibble away at undergrowth. It's a place of river red gums, golden wattle and sugar gliders.
Watsonia's own park is Elder Street Reserve, on the down side of Greensborough Road. This reserve is made for baseball, tennis, cricket and soccer.
Watsonia is the kind of 'burb where families have been raising kids for decades, yet its "family friendliness" is being debated on online forum Whirlpool. A Sydneysider asking for a family-friendly spot close to Melbourne for around $800,000-$1 million inadvertently starts a fight. Yes, over family friendliness.
"If you wanted something better for your buck could head to the older part of Greensborough, Watsonia or Watsonia North but they aren't anywhere near as family friendly IMO," says one contributor. "Mind to collaborate? [sic]" says another. "Where is family friendly if not in Watsonia, Watsonia North? Have you ever lived there?"
And on it goes. We'll stick to the attributes mentioned: it's safe; peaceful, Watsonia North Primary is great, Watsonia Shopping Centre has been upgraded ... But maybe best of all, for the Sydneysider who asked the question in the first place, it's just under their budget. According to Domain Group data, Watsonia's median house price is $775,000.
Five things you didn't know about Watsonia:
- The Hurstbridge line travels from Hurstbridge, through Eltham and Clifton Hill to Flinders St (the CBD is some 17 stops from Watsonia).
- A Skate Space and Pop Up Park has taken over a street outside the excellent Watsonia Library until Jan 24. There are kid-friendly activities by day, and facilitated skate sessions each arvo/evening from 3pm-8pm. See www.banyuleyouth.com.
- The only "pub" in Watsonia is the imposing RSL.
- Watsonia is super close to LaTrobe University in Bundoora.
- The Commonwealth Bank's Watsonia branch closed in June 2017, as did Watsonia Uniting Church.
