Melbourne, Victoria: Part 3—Under Construction: the American England

One well known fact about Melbourne is that it’s still growing. And one of the most visible signs of this is the sheer number of cranes in the skyline. From any position on any night you can generally count about ten—and there are still more obscured by already constructed buildings. The city is changing, evolving into taller city, the buildings that are being built are easily exceeding 5 stories, some beating 10 and a few higher still. On every street there is evidence of construct of reinvention and of a more to the modern. The buildings, new and old, take on what I would describe as American English as a walk through the city can evoke feelings of both American and England. From what I can deduce it’s more of a modified English, but at the new buildings rise it is slowly becoming even more Americanized. The street signs for example, in the city they take on an American vibe, while the motorways and signs are named and created in the same fashion as England (motorways, a roads, b roads and c roads). Mailboxes are both English in shape (rectangular openings) and American in placement (at the end of driveways). The transport system (to be described later) is a complete mix between something European and something American. The overall result is a city that is very easy to settle into (especially for me), and to get to know. A partly unfortunate result is that it can feel too familiar at times, and I’ve gotten caught out a number of times saying I was in the States.