CBD is home for at least a while

CBD is home for at least a while

By Sunny Liu

The CBD is 21-year-old Chinese student Yuri Ye’s home for the next two years.

Like the thousands of other international students calling the CBD their temporary home, Ms Ye said she would wait and see where life took her but would not likely settle down in Melbourne indefinitely.

“I’m not sure if I will stay here after graduation. I may look for work after I graduate and will move depending on where my work is,” she said.

Even though she has only been living in the CBD since July, she said she had found a strong sense of belonging through being around other people.

She looked back at her life living in south-eastern suburb Clayton with feelings of occasional loneliness, because everyone lived far apart and the quietness was just not what she imagined her life to be.

“Living in the CBD, I never feel lonely. There are always so many people on the streets and I get to see so many people every day,” she said.

“I see more people in the lift in the apartment building than when I went out in the suburbs,” she said.

“So to be surrounded by people, especially with many Asians living in the CBD, is what makes me feel home.”

Ms Ye is in her first year of Master of Management Marketing at Melbourne University and said she chose to live at her Elizabeth St apartment because it suited her lifestyle.

“I love the hustle and bustle of the CBD. If not a city that never sleeps, it’s a city that stays up pretty late!” she said.

She said life in the CBD was the perfect blend of sociality and accessibility.

“What the CBD attracts me to the most is the convenience,” she said.

“It’s all walking distance to shops, restaurants, amenities and my university.”

Growing up in Chengdu, Sichuan, Ms Ye said she was long used to a life where everything was accessible within a five-to-10-minute walk.

“Only in Melbourne’s CBD am I able to access everything I need. Before, I lived in the suburbs and I was not able to walk everywhere,” she said.

“In the city, restaurants close much later than the suburbs, so at night there are still many places I can go with friends.”

Ms Ye said life within the Hoddle Grid was so convenient and comfortable that she could not think of anywhere better to live at the moment.

“I don’t really need to go anywhere else when I live and study in the CBD,” she said.

“I think the Melbourne CBD is the best place to be when I’m in Australia.”

After the lease at her current apartment ends, Ms Ye will team up with her university friends and look for another apartment to stay in the CBD.

“I can’t think of anywhere else to live other than the CBD. It’s not that hard to find an apartment to stay and the location just makes life so much easier,” she said.

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