"This week in real estate!"

I just pulled the following article out of storage. I had 20 years of journals in storage so they wouldn't be stolen from my La Pew apt. After all they will be turned into a book. Here is an article about one of the first towns i was homeless in, in spring 1994.............................

Down Your Way


A Bayside suburb where different cultures meet
St. Kilda

Location-About 5 km south of the CBD

St. Kilda is nothing if not accommodating and flexible. This seaside suburb has had as many ups and down as Luna Park's Big Dipper.

At the turn of the century it was a rather grand place to live and to visit. Tourists flooded to the bayside to promenade and swim at the sea baths.

During the Depression its small terraces had their fair share of unemployed. Soup kitchens were set up at the Town Hall. After WW2 it accepted a a flood of Eastern European refugees who put their own stamp on the suburb's life, adding exotic restaurants and cake shops. Good coffee arrived and stayed.

In the 1960's and 1970's it was Melbourne's relatively tame sleaze capital. It became the city's drug capital in the 1980's.

Young homebuyers discovered it's charms in the 1980's and it went through a real estate transformation. It once had one of the highest levels of tenants in the state. Many of the suburb's large mansions had been turned into boarding houses and many of the flats were rented, not owner occupied.

During the 1980's however, many boarding houses were reconverted to private homes and many blocks of flats were upgraded, strata-tiled and sold to those wanting a share in St. Kilda's charms.

"A delight of the bay, St. Kilda is Melbourne's playground!"