jotoma

I would love to be able to afford to retire to Surfers. There's a reason so many of Australia's elite move up here. Great beaches, great shopping, restaurants and golfing. Of course it has the tourist traps, what international tourist destination doesn't but overall a great place to call home.

And now it's getting an AFL team in 2011!

One of the main streets connecting the front and back beaches of Portsea. What was once a wasteland in terms of typical Portsea, luxury style homes is starting to dramatically improve with older homes being demolished and replaced with modern, all white, beach style homes with tennis courts. There are no footpaths on Back Beach Road which can make it a little dangerous for pedestrians and there are many blindspots for drivers. The old Portsea Caravan Park has been sold and the developers are moving in to make a new subdivision. Homes now regularly exceed $1 million.

A mix of newer homes being developed and older Edwardians, Fermanagh Rd is dominated by the tree canopy that has formed over the street. During the day, like so many streets in the area, cars are parked on both sides of the road which can make it difficult to drive down but with homes in the $1 to $3 million mark, along with walking distance to the shopping at Safeway and Burke Road it is a great street to live in.

Frognall Place, is one of Canterbury's hidden gems. Being a court, it has the benefits of low traffic and noise and the homes are some of Canterbury's newest (and nicer) additions. Home prices would be from $1.2 to $3 million. You can see the Frognall mansion through the end of the street. Great (underappreciated in my opinion) part of Canterbury.

Gascoyne St is a cut through between Canterbury Road and Allenby Road. Some high quality homes from $800k to over $2 million for some of the larger blocks. You can easily walk to the shops at Burke Road or catch the tram. The nursing home does take up a large proportion of the street but doesn't seem to impact too much on the area.

Beaumont St, Canterbury is no longer than 500 metres with homes running along only one side of the road. There's a small mix of shops including 7/11 and a Fish and Chip shop that has changed hands a few times. The coffee shop on the corner is always busy with locals on the weekend. Overall would be a great street, you can walk to the corner store but have one of the better parks right at your doorstop. The park is always busy with joggers, kids in the playground and dog walkers.

Maling Road is home to the Cafe Latte set in downtown Canterbury. A mix of old world antique shops and fashions for the over 40's, Maling Road is a great place for a quiet relaxing coffee break but not so great for real world shopping. Your better off to go to Burke Road in Camberwell for this. Can be a traffic nightmare at times with room for only one car once both sides of the road are full with parked cars. Would I live there? Yes, if I were retired.

Torrington is the street on which Camberwell Girls Grammar School is on. The street is only small, no more than 500 metres which makes parking an absolute nightmare during school hours, compounded by the fact it is a narrow street and when cars park on both sides of the road, forget about getting through.

The houses are nice though and no doubt in excess of $1 million now being in the prestigious suburb of Canterbury.