A couple of posts ago I mentioned that I was going to check out a session at the Australian Travel Writers Festival. That session was on Saturday. I almost didn't go to it. The forecast called for a torrential downpour and I was not relishing the idea of going all the way into the city just for an hour talk, especially after a night of drinking and not a lot of sleeping. But I got myself some coffee and threw on some clothes and made plans to meet up with my flatmate for lunch after the session, and that took the sting off making the trip into the city.
I'm really glad I did end up going! It was quite an interesting talk that got my slightly beer soaked brain juices flowing. The session was on the psychogeography of Melbourne and about if cities have personalities. Melbourne's got personality coming out the wazoo, so I expected the talk to be more focused on how Melbourne's rather distinctive personality came into being. Instead, the talk was more about how we develop a sense of place and come to see space as holding parts of our personal history.
I found this particular personal interest and relevance because since moving to Melbourne, I have been very aware of how my sense of the space of the city has evolved and changed as my sense of place in the city has become more established.
Having done a fair bit of travelling before I moved here, I was well aware of the fact that when I initially arrive in a city everything looks shiny and exciting, but as I spend more time in that city, my perceptions of the city change. When I lived in Amsterdam, I had quite a hard time adjusting to the city and never was able to feel at home there. As I was moving to Melbourne for a much longer period of time, I was determined not to make the same mistakes I made with Amsterdam. I had very few expectations of Melbourne before I arrived. I'd heard that the shopping and food were good, and was pleased by this, but that was all. When I arrived here, I paid attention to how I felt about the city: what I noticed, what interested me, what I liked, what I didn't like. Doing that has allowed me to watch my feelings about Melbourne grow and change as I've become more integrated into the city.
Before I arrived in Melbourne, I spent a lot of time looking at maps of the CBD (downtown) so that when I did get here I was able to make my way around the city with relative ease. I didn't feel anxious about getting lost because I had memorised the map. I find it very freeing to know where I am in a city, so having this map in my head really put me at ease. Now that I've got an iPhone, being able to look up an address or my own location at a moment's notice has been invaluable in developing my sense of place in Melbourne.
The first year I was here, when I would drive with someone somewhere, I often felt anxious because I didn't know the roads. I didn't know what we would encounter from point A to B, even if I was familiar with points A and B, because I get around by walking and public transport. I have now come to know the city well enough that I can almost always locate myself on my inner map of Melbourne. And the more I am able to do that, the more at peace I feel.
My perception of Melbourne has shifted and changed in the nearly 3 years I've lived here. Aside from just knowing the city better, I have developed much more of a history with it. Now when I walk, drive, tram, or train my way through the city, I can point out places of personal relevance to me. Places I've lived, share houses I've looked at, restaurants and cafes I've been, adventures I've had. These days I often unexpectedly run into people I know when I'm wandering around the city, which I love!
After the session had finished, I made my way down Swanston St to meet up with my flatmate for lunch. Walking down Swanston St was a perfect example of how my perception of Melbourne has shifted since I moved here. When I first arrived in Melbourne, I spent most of my time wandering around on Swanston St. It's a pedestrian busy street that runs north from Flinders St station,which is itself a very busy hub. The street is lined with touristy shops and cheap clothing stores, along with historical buildings, shopping malls, and tram lines. It felt safe to wander around the CBD from Swanston St, as I was surrounded by other newcomers to the city. I made many trips to Target and the QV in those first few months here and came to feel quite at home on Swanston St.
As I settled into uni and moved from a hotel in Preston to a house in Flemington, the central street in my CBD experience shifted from Swanston St to Elizabeth St. I stopped going to Target and QV and started going to Melbourne Central. I even switched to a different bank. Gradually, I lost familiarity with Swanston St. It became touristy, brash, disorienting, a place best avoided. Then, slowly, as my friendship circle expanded, Swanston St became a meeting ground, a place to grab a coffee or a beer or lunch, a place to catch a tram, a place with a bank of ATMs for my bank, a place with specific shops like Virgin, the start of China Town. It became infused with memories, some important, others trivial. It holds a part of my history with this city and as we both continue to exist in this space, that history will grow and become more multifaceted.
Think about the city you live in and how the streets have changed for you over time. What memories do they hold? You might be surprised to realise a seemingly mundane place can be infested with important moments of life history.
