[1] Alphington shares a postcode with neighbouring suburb Fairfield,[2] and is bounded by the Yarra River in the south and the Darebin Creek in the east.

This area has little remaining industrial or commercial development and relied on easy access to railway lines and coach ways such as Heidelberg Road.

James and Percy Dobson released their Fulham Grange estate (the former Perry Brothers' orchards), they proclaimed that the acre lots on the Yarra were 'ideal for Gentlemen's Residences'.

The bulk of housing development arose once efficient and cheap public transport was provided by the upgrade of the Heidelberg railway line in the Edwardian-era.

Hence it was the Edwardian-era that allowed the potential for houses to be built in the Alphington area, often in the Queen Anne or Federation Bungalow Styles.

This was followed by the short-lived catch-up house boom, after World War I, in the Californian Bungalow style when emerging use of the motor car allowed less residential density further from main centres of industrial and commercial employment.

The area around Alphington railway station contains a stand of River Red Gum trees, the oldest of which (closest to Platform 1) likely predates European settlement.

The Melbourne Innovation Centre is located just to the north east of the railway station and adjacent to the shallow valley of the Darebin Creek.

The La Sirene brewery was located in Wingrove Street; moving to Darebin when the Melbourne Innovation Centre was closed by Council.

Melbourne Innovation Centre (located at 2 Wingrove Street in Alphington) is one of Australia's longest-running and most successful business incubators.