Some things never change.

Colliers International researchers found that in December last year, house prices for suburbs near trains and trams hit an average of $526,000 - with top rail suburb prices soaring by up to 57 per cent in the year.
– Herald Sun, 24/7/2008

(See also a similar article on The Brisbane Times web site, 10/8/2008)

Now compare to this…

…Bentleigh will take its proper place among the southern suburbs. Caulfield and Brighton are spreading out to Bentleigh, and it is only natural that the development of the suburb will be most marked on the main roads close to the station, the very position occupied by WARD’S ESTATE. When the railway is electrified Bentleigh will be only 25 minutes’ run from the city.
– advert in The Argus, 7/2/1920.

In some ways, attitudes haven’t changed much in the last 90-odd years.

I found the Argus article via the National Library of Australia’s newspaper digitising project. They’ve got a search facility running, which is very neat. Some things aren’t in the system yet, but there’s quite a bit that is.

So far I haven’t found any trace of my family, even though on my Dad’s side they’ve been in Australia for over a century. But I did find plenty of old ads for Hattams, the menswear shop I used to work for, which has been around at various locations since 1879. I’ll have to print some out and drop them past.