What Melbourne lacks in cohesiveness, it gains in quirkiness.  It is so often compared to Sydney and is even about to surpass its population.  I see them as two very different cities with Sydney having a significant advantage with its famous harbor, world class beaches and nearby mountain ranges.  Melbourne has worked to define itself as business capital with lots of housing stock.  Melbourne wants people to move there from other parts of the country, where life is a little boring, and it shows.

In Melbourne, the urban planners are incredibly active.  They want to make sure you can get around quickly and easily and the tram system occupies the dense urban grid.  In the central business district, the tram has a large free zone.

Older architecture exists as a relic of the original gold rush that brought investors to this town.  Those original families became incredibly wealthy and future generations inherited this wealth.   The city has beautiful gardens and parks to make up for its lack of beach access.  While a river runs through the city, it did not excite me as much as I thought it would.  There are some interesting bridges crossing the river and a series of riverfront restaurants.  I had lunch in one, it was ok.

Melbourne does seem to have a theme of teeny tiny buildings right next to enormous skyscrapers.  Our zoning provisions in New York prevent that kind of thing from happening typically.  It makes for a skyline of long thin lines with even spacing between them. 

Between some of the older buildings are newly revitalized alleyways.  They alleyways of Melbourne are really wonderful.  They add a layer of charm and culture to streets that feel kind of flat, sometimes with asphalt for sidewalk.  The street art or grafitti of Melbourne is now a major tourist attraction.  I think it feels like they are trying too hard but I also support any city that gives platforms for artists to express themselves.   I have to give them credit for this.

While riding the tram, I noticed large groups of people speaking Chinese.  I wondered if they were Chinese-Australians (like one would find in Sydney) or if they were on holiday?  It looked like groups of 20 year olds and they were wearing clothing appropriate for school.  I was really confused.  I asked some new friends about this and I learned that Melbourne's universities are major places for Chinese international students.  Chinese families pay full price in cash and the students get an opportunity to practice speaking and learning in English.   I love international students and some of my best friends from NYU were international students.  I guess this still was not clicking for me.  Why would international students come to another country and only stay with each other and speak their own language?  It sounds isolating.   I can understand doing it sometimes for wanting familiarity.  This was not what I was used to for an international city.   It's just not what I experienced at NYU.  It did not seem like there was any mixing.  I noticed this on the streets as well with large groups of students all speaking Chinese.   Mixing takes two to tango.  In this case, I think both groups of foreigners and Australians are missing out on opportunities to mix more.

In quite a few of the conversations with my Australian friends and with Australian backpackers I met along the way, race came up as a topic.  We mostly discussed how the race issues in Australia differ from the race issues in the US.  The fact is, race is an issue in Australia.  As I judged these groups of international students for isolating themselves, I wondered if they were perhaps better off this way because of racism they might have experienced?  I really have no proof.  I don't think my blog is the appropriate space to have a conversation on race.  I want my readers to know the topic came up, it's on people's minds and it's something that locals are concerned about.  Sometimes during my travels, I've had some pretty deep conversations with locals and other travelers but the conversations are not really meant to be on the Internet.  They were private moments between me and my conversation partner.  Maybe I'm old school because I still have a respect for privacy.

Enjoy these photos of quirky Melbourne: