In my suburb you’ll find a country town, if you survive the roundabout

August 17, 2026 — 7:00pm

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The heart of my suburb calls itself a village, which sounds ambitious for a place where the number 59 tram regularly barrels through its centre and aircraft pass overhead, interrupting conversations like an opinionated local.

But it is a village in the traditional sense: everybody knows everybody and nobody’s business remains private for long.

That is part of its charm. Old bungalows, trams, little shops and cafes sit only minutes from the freeway and Essendon Fields Airport. North Essendon feels both old Melbourne and extremely practical.

I grew up here before leaving and spending years living in regional Victoria. When I eventually returned, I discovered something unexpected: the part of Melbourne I had come back to has an intimacy that makes it feel more like a country town than the country towns I had left.

Having spent years reporting the news in regional Victoria, where appearing on television afforded me the dubious status of minor local celebrity, I became accustomed to being recognised in the street. Years later, back in North Essendon with its population of just over 3000, everyone can enjoy that status without ever appearing on television.

North Essendon is the smallest suburb in Moonee Valley City Council, and a wedge about 10 kilometres north-west of Melbourne’s CBD, between Keilor Road, the Calder Freeway and Bulla Road.

A comfortable pocket amid some of Melbourne’s busiest transport infrastructure, it has a strong sense of “this is my neighbourhood”. When the Tullamarine Freeway was built in the late 1960s, the northern ends of many streets were simply........

© The Age