Tecoma - An Introduction

Tecoma is an outer Eastern suburb of Melbourne that is bordered by Sherbrooke Forest in the North and the fields of Lysterfield in the South. From the northern edge edge of Tecoma, along Terry's Rd, there are magnificant views of Port Phillip Bay, the city of Melbourne and the Mornington Peninsula. The town is largely residential but it is not a typical outer suburb, as Tecoma is full of native trees, steep blocks, fern filled gullies and unconventional houses. Sometimes the boundary between the forest and residential zones becomes blurry and one could feel that you were in a mountain community, not the suburb of a major city. The demographics of the suburb are best described as eclectic, the natural beauty and relaxed lifetsyle of the area attracting an intriging mixture of people.

A railway line that connects the small town (just over 2000 peope according to the 2006 census) to the centre of Melbourne 34 kilometers away runs south easterly towards Belgrave from Upwey. The railway line roughly follows the line of Burwood Highway which finishes at a busy roundabout in Belgrave just a couple of kilometers from the Tecoma shops. Burwood Highway connects many of the residents of the "hills" (a generic term to describe the Dandenong Ranges) to the city and the large shopping centres in nearby suburbs. At peak times, the traffic along the climb up Burwood Highway between Upper Ferntree Gully and Tecoma can be extreme and consequently this stretch of road has earn't the title "the mad mile".

Apart from Burwood Highway, the major roads are Terrys Rd (running North South from Sherbrooke Forest to Belgrave), Sandells Rd, which climbs from Burwood Highway to Terrys Rd, and McNicolls Rd with winds away from the southern side of Burwood Higway and follows downards into a valley on the edge of Belgrave Heights and Lysterfield. On both sides of the highway, there are myriad of minor roads, cresents, courts and avenues, that suggest either a random approach to town planning or a degree of eccentrity at the shire offices.