LIVING IN ST KILDA IS LIKE LIVING IN NEW YORK’S EAST VILLAGE – OR AS CLOSE AS IT GETS
![ARCADIA - CONSULTING VIETNAM](https://arcadiaconsult.com.vn/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/5449fae550c6e91dba4f0563ec6b218f4e64c248.webp)
![Palais Theatre (left) and the Palais de Danse, circa 1934.CREDIT:STATE LIBRARY OF VICTORIA](https://arcadiaconsult.com.vn/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/daa4251a6e8348ab3607f99732d9030325355f10.webp)
![Tourists flock to watch penguins at St Kilda pier in 2020.CREDIT:JOE ARMAO](https://arcadiaconsult.com.vn/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/c6e157ec3604afa51e2a66fb688750634e581a52.webp)
For decades there’s been talk about the gentrification of St Kilda, and certainly The Block’s makeovers of the former Gatwick Hotel and Oslo House Hostel adds fuel to that claim. The revamped Espy may have lost its sticky carpet of yesteryear, but it still hosts some of the best local and international acts around.
And while it’s true that St Kilda is a suburb where the homeless rub shoulders with the nouveau riche, in my mind it retains its bohemian grittiness by virtue of the socio-economic diversity of its inhabitants. There’s still plenty of poverty here, evident in the homeless sleeping on Fitzroy and Acland streets and the daily queues at Sacred Heart soup kitchen. We live side-by-side with drug users and sex workers who are also part of our community’s fabric.
The longer I’ve lived here, the more I’ve become drawn into the hidden magic of St Kilda’s village-like community, which is visible when you scratch beneath its rough surfaces. There are the old Russian ladies who share their life stories as we soak in the thermal spa at the St Kilda Sea Baths, and Dave at my local cafe who knows my name and always offers friendly greetings. St Kilda is awash with characters from near and far who have chosen this gem as their home.
But it’s the realness of St Kilda that grounds it and keeps it from tipping over the edge into generic gentrification. Give me that any day over an endless parade of SUVs and absurdly overpriced Victorian terraces (although in fairness, we do have those too).
![Nick Cave on stage at the Palais Theatre in November 2022.CREDIT:RICK CLIFFORD](https://arcadiaconsult.com.vn/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/6cb06b89c9140a96f665b244818b4d2bb5f781cb.webp)
St Kilda in the past 20 years also became derided as Melbourne’s ground zero for backpackers. They come from all over the globe – the UK, Ireland, Colombia, Brazil – you name it. They can at times be bloody annoying (try navigating through drunken packs of Brits behaving like soccer hooligans down Grey Street at midnight, or the stench of piss out the front of your home on a Sunday morning – not that it can always be blamed on backpackers) but they add much to St Kilda’s transient, youthful energy.