This established suburb between 5 km (3.1 miles) to 8 km (5.0 miles) north-west of the Johannesburg CBD was designed so that most of the streets and avenues form similar sized blocks.

Bordering suburbs include Northcliff, Blairgowrie, Victory Park, Greenside and Cresta.

Prior to the discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand in 1886, the suburb lay on land on one of the original farms called Klipfontein.

[2] It became a suburb in 1901 and possibly named Johannes van der Linde who laid out the land with Lourens Geldenhuys.

[3]: 167 In recent years, a number of street cafes have relocated to Linden from Melville.