Source: Domain.com.au
Box Hill is a universe unto itself. Once a booming market town for surrounding farms then a quiet residential suburb during the first half of the 20th century, it was tapped by the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works in 1954 as one of five district centres for metropolitan Melbourne.
You could say the MMBW was outrageously successful in its predictions, not only for Melbourne’s continuing sprawl in the postwar boom but Box Hill’s modern-day evolution into a mini-city complete with its own growing cluster of high-rises pin-pointing it on the Melbourne skyline.
The growth of its house prices – an astonishing 167.4 per cent over the past five years – has sent the average house to just short of $1.7 million. The census tells another tale of this most Chinese of Melbourne’s suburbs: in 2016, more than one-third of residents claimed Chinese ancestry, up from 26.7 per cent in 2011. Part of the attraction is Box Hill High School, one of Melbourne’s top public schools. Living within the catchment zone is estimated to increase a house price by about $100,000.
But even beyond its high-achieving school Box Hill has got the lot. Its self-sufficient infrastructure includes a hospital, while the train, tram and buses cover the bases on public transport links to the city 14 kilometres to the west. To determine postcode 3128’s spiritual heart, however, look no further than Box Hill Central.
This teeming retail zone featuring a fresh food market is the conjoined twin of the former Whitehorse Plaza and the southern Box Hill Central and has become a quasi-Hong Kong. Along with Carrington Road and its adjoining streets lined with excellent family restaurants, Canto-style cafes and specialist groceries, it exerts the gravitational pull of a black hole on Melbourne’s food lovers.
“Box Hill has changed immeasurably from the days I first started going there,” chef and Asian food expert Tony Tan says. “The market and all the side streets are amazing. These days I find ingredients there even I’ve never seen before.”
Houses on larger blocks are in the sights of developers as traditional brick veneers and humble weatherboard are sacrificed for townhouses and more modern builds. There remain residential streets tucked behind the frenetically modern Box Hill action, however, where lawnmowing life goes on almost as it was several decades ago.