Today
Kew has grown steadily since the early Bridge Road crossing development and is renowned as one of the most prestigious suburbs in Melbourne. Town Planners were not constrained by the smaller lot allocations found just to the west over the Yarra and allotments in Kew were developed usually with much greater size and fronted wide, leafy boulevards.
As a consequence, many of these residences now attract some of the highest residential resale values in Melbourne. In many cases, the large allotments have been subsequently redeveloped into townhouses or duplexes and have thus appealed to a newer demographic (primarily dual-income parents with one or more children), keen to be close not only to the Melbourne CBD but also to the excellent schooling facilities available nearby.
Streets within the Sackville Ward (bounded by Barkers, Burke, Cotham and Glenferrie Roads), such as Alfred, Rowland, Wellington, Grange and Sackville, have some exceptional examples of Edwardian, Victorian and contemporary architecture. There has also been a recent trend towards the development of larger retirement-living complexes, aimed principally at downsizing couples wishing to remain in the area. However, one negative aspect of this increased living density is that the infrastructure within Kew is becoming taxed and will need continuous government and private-sector investment to operate efficiently.
Nonetheless, Kew has convenient access to public facilities and transport. The 109, 16 and 72 along with tram route 48 (North Balwyn - Victoria Harbour Docklands) tram routes pass through the suburb and the City/Lilydale/Belgrave train line is easily accessed at Hawthorn and Glenferrie Stations. Kew Station and the associated railway branch was last served by passenger trains in 1952, with the station site now the headquarters of VicRoads.
Read more about this topic: Kew, Victoria
Famous quotes containing the word today:
“I remember a very important lesson that my father gave me when I was twelve or thirteen. He said, “You know, today I welded a perfect seam and I signed my name to it.” And I said, “But, Daddy, no one’s going to see it!” And he said, “Yeah, but I know it’s there.” So when I was working in kitchens, I did good work.”
—Toni Morrison (b. 1931)
“The East is the hearthside of America. Like any home, therefore, it has the defects of its virtues. Because it is a long-lived-in house, it bursts its seams, is inconvenient, needs constant refurbishing. And some of the family resources have been spent. To attain the privacy that grown-up people find so desirable, Easterners live a harder life than people elsewhere. Today it is we and not the frontiersman who must be rugged to survive.”
—Phyllis McGinley (1905–1978)
“We have today and I could call their name
Who know exactly what is out of joint
To make their verse and their excuses lame.
They’ve tried to grasp with too much social fact
Too large a situation.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)