Richmond / East Melbourne

What you gain

• ↑Victoria Street Richmond is the finest Vietnamese restaurant street in Australia: 50+ Vietnamese restaurants, pho shops, and bánh mì bars on a 1km stretch serve Melbourne's significant Vietnamese community and have done so since the 1980s — the food quality and value are unmatched by any other Vietnamese restaurant concentration in the country
• ↑The MCG (capacity 100,000) and Rod Laver Arena (15,000) are both within walking distance, making Richmond the most convenient base for AFL football, cricket Test matches, and Australian Open tennis — the three largest annual sporting events in Australia
• ↑East Melbourne's Victorian terrace houses and tree-lined streets provide the quietest and most architecturally beautiful inner-city residential experience in Melbourne: the Fitzroy Gardens, the Treasury Gardens, and the proximity to the CBD create a neighbourhood that is genuinely pleasant to inhabit rather than just to stay in

What you sacrifice

• ↓Richmond during AFL or cricket events can be significantly crowded: the streets between the MCG and the tram stops are packed on game days, and accommodation prices spike substantially on major match weekends
• ↓The neighbourhood lacks the independent restaurant and bar concentration of Fitzroy and Collingwood: Swan Street Vietnamese is excellent but the broader dining scene in Richmond is less varied than Fitzroy's