My suburb should be stuck-up, but here are the reasons it isn’t

August 10, 2026 — 7:00pm

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We got famous. When Hughesy put down the winning bid of $3,067,000 on The Block in 2017 (a generous price we locals thought), our suburb’s reputation hit a tipping point. Despite the area being a cultural centre of the south-east for some time, people finally seemed to notice, or even just remember, Elsternwick. It hasn’t felt the same since.

My family are refugees from the suburbs by the sea, Elwood and Middle Park. We wanted to stay near the bay, but we were over the pile of debt and the spoiled and siloed culture. Plus I was hungry for a backyard. Elsternwick has brought us back into the “real” world.

Elsternwick is distinctively diverse. We love the variety of our suburb – the Jewish, Asian, Italian, Greek, Polish, South African, Irish and Scottish influences. In fact, it’s a big reason we moved here, and why we will stay.

It is noisy and fun, but can also be middle-ring dull. It should be genteel based on its location and amenity – but the apartments and flats cater for all budgets. Given its location and reputation, it should be up itself. But it isn’t.

The census highlights Elsternwick’s contradictions. Despite our most common occupation being “shop assistant”, almost 60 per cent of us fill managerial or professional roles. Over the road in “Braai-ton”, the most common occupation is CEO.

The spine of the village runs along Glen Huntly Rd, at various times called “Glenhuntly” – one word or two? The historians say two. Named after a barque immigrant ship from Scotland that was........

© The Age