triciad3

Kensington is a small town-like leafy pretty suburb, with three train stations (Macauley, Kensington, and South Kensington) and buses at your doorstep, primary and secondary schools, basic shops, medical services, gyms and pools, cafes and some park patches. Some old streets are very pretty with traditional terrace houses and small picked fenced homes that are really lovely to walk by; however, the suburb is also full of cookie-cut apartment blocks used by Public Housing and Unison.

Population is a a mix of locals and foreigners, something that I always love. I'd say that people in their 30s form the majority of my neighbourhood.

What makes a suburb great is not just the facilities in it, it's the spirit of the community. Despite what some newspapers say about Kensington, this is the most unfriendly neighborhood I've ever lived in. In my block, a good deal of neighbors are unfriendly, rude, noisy, prone to malicious gossip, no manners or friendliness whatsoever, with a dubious behaviour some of them. Greetings aren't returned, people tend to leave space and stop on the stairs just not to come across anyone else, they avoid looking at you or totally ignore you when coming across, you open the door for them and not even a thank you, you are a bit friendly and they look at you as if you wanted something from them; slamming doors at any time of the day and night is common. As I've said, that is not just one weirdo or two, this is common behaviour among a lot of my current and past neighbours. I've never ever experienced this kind of behaviour anywhere else. Many people would think that I'm talking about immigrants, but they aren't. One could argue that it's just my floor or a couple of neighbours; however, people change very often in this building, so I've had many different neighbours, and too many of them are of the same kind, unfortunately. One could argue that I'm the problem, right? but I've lived in many neighbourhoods in Australia and I have never experienced this kind of behaviour.

I'm sure if I lived in the posh side of Kensington, when houses are lovely and you see neighbours talking with each other and greeting passers by, my experience would be different; however, my experience is way different and as valid as anyone's else, and it is the only experience I have in Kensington.

Blocks of apts are massive in some areas of Kensington. At first sight the blocks and apts look fab, but once you live in, you'll notice the poor sound proofing, the easy-peeling painting, the poor building structure, the hollow tiling, the bad plumbing, that main doors slam with barely touching them, etc. A good part of the structure is not solid concrete but timber, which is great if you have a home, but not so great if you live in a block that gets the building alarm beeping if you steak is sizzling on the stove a bit too long. Great places if you are going to stay for two years or so beyond that, you'll want to move.

Renting is quite expensive for apartments that are impersonal and poorly built. The blocks in my area are badly oriented, and some get too much sun or too much shade, depending on the apartment, or sun in summer and shade in winter in some others. No lift is the norm, so forget it if you have a disability or become sick.

I feel safe in Kenso, that's a good thing. I love the location and environment and some streets are really pretty, but my experience in my block has never been satisfactory mostly because of a good deal of neighbours have been unfriendly and unwanting to engage, scared of a simple hello. One stops saying hello because one doesn't want to great the walls or come as interested on anything, but that's never a sign of a good neighbourhood. This is my experience, if it is not yours, good for you, but don't come to insult me because my experience is different from yours.