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Margaret Gardner

Melbourne is a city that embraces people. Although my family and I came to live here only two years ago, we have quickly found in Melbourne places that are our places, and experiences that are our experiences. It is a city in which we feel at ease and yet it is also constantly surprising.

We live only a few kilometres from the CBD and so we experience and enjoy all the scale and bustle of a large cosmopolitan city, its theatre, music, events and food. And still our daily lives and our weekends are easily filled with the warmth of local cafes for breakfast, bookshops for browsing, varied cinema, shops, and parks – village life in the middle of the city.

And that village life means lots of small, specialised shops, restaurants and parks and strung out along streets made for walking. Melbourne makes this mix seem effortless.

I enjoy life in Melbourne because whether you are in a crowd of 100,000 spilling out of the MCG after a game, shoulder to shoulder with people in the city, or strolling with one or two, so much happens on the street and in the lanes. It’s made for walking - flat, long streets, tree-filled parks and paths, tiny, bumpy lanes.

And trams whether they’re crowded or empty, remain a great way to get around – I think it’s the way they make you feel close to the street life of the city.

Melbourne is surprising because it is always ready to be bold. Its architecture, its public art, its major events, its fashion, even its secret bars, express the individuality, the creativity and the diversity of the city.

Beginning with the gracious and monumental facades of the 19th Century, Melbourne is now a city with many examples of high quality and innovative buildings. I’m proud that over the years RMIT University through its students and its buildings has contributed to the quality of design in the city.

And the sheer scale and international reach of education in this city has brought youth and diversity to the city – making it hum day and night.

So Melbourne is for me a place that’s creative, that’s international yet essentially Australian in its passions, and that cares about its culture, its sport and its life.