Collins St, Melbourne (CBD), VIC 3000

Very busy road but lots dinners and shops to go to

One of the main cities in Melbourne CBD, Collin Street connects one end of the city to the other. With shops, restaurants and more, this iconic strip is more of a business district than anything else. Great for people watching as well, hard to miss if you are visiting town.

Collins Street is often called Little Paris - a reference to the charming buildings, leafy streets and ground floor cafés. There are a number of apartments here, many in the upper floors of the high rise buildings above buildings and hotels.

This is a great spot to live, particularly if you are looking for super-convenient inner city living in the heart of the CBD. Your office would be two seconds away, and you can easily hop on a tram to any Melbourne locations. The shops are nearby, and there are a range of gyms. The Melbourne CBD is flanked by a number of large parklands, so you can definitely spend some time outdoors even if your apartment doesn't have a courtyard or balcony.

The obvious downside is the traffic and the lack of packing. It can also be noisy at nightime due to the number of trendy nightspots in the area.

I love Collins Street, the shopping and atmosphere are great. Australia on Collins is the best place to start, the shopping center stretches between city blocks. There are heaps of up market shops in the central city blocks, heading south on Collins takes you to a business district that is dominated by large corporates like the ASX. You should explore a bit though because the Rialto is on Collins and has a nice observation deck.

There are plenty of little side streets so make sure you explore the shops and small streets the break off Collins Street, you will find the best food and the nicest people and you're likely to discover a really unique shopping experience.

I live at the Westin Hotel apartments and whilst I appreciate that this is not a typical inner city apartment, it does offer many benefits living in the city. Melbourne is definitely warming up to the idea of living in the city confines and there are a large variety of places available to suit all types of budgets and locations. Inner city living is really catching on with many.
I do like what Collins street does offer, and whilst there may be suits in the daytime, there is some activity in the night. Fortunately for those of us living there it is not too disruptive.
Night life can be found very close by, just like in the burbs. You do not want too much going on in your street at night when you come home from work, you only want to chill out.
If you are feeling lonely you can just walk the streets to feel part of the action. Not like in the suburbs.

I worked on Collins St for a few years and can't imagine living there. Famous for being one of the big "financial" streets in Melbourne's CBD you see a lot of well dressed "suits" and "skirts" bustling around at lunch time but after dark it's a wasteland. Tramlines run the length of the street and taxis are a hand wave away.