This is the view from the guest room of my brother’s townhouse. He lives in Brunswick, an inner suburb of Melbourne that has become very popular with people wanting to live near the heart of the city. This popularity has led a number of people to sub divide their land and build two or three new structures on a block that originally had one house. As a result the houses are very close together and you definitely feel like you are living in an urban neighbourhood. The upside is that you are close to everything, including public transport.

There was once a time when I would have happily lived in this type of neighbourhood but with children it becomes a little more difficult. I am now more aware of the benefit of wide open spaces and good supermarkets and have less of a need for the restaurants and bars that come with a cool inner city suburb. I feel very old all of a sudden. Sigh!