Distance and trendiness big things for me. So disregarding price but giving consideration to the type of house and the demographic of an area, I'd say:
1. South Yarra (proximity, good public transport, tan, river, stadiums, nice houses, Chapel St)
2. Hawthorn (proximity, parks, schools, nice houses, Glenferrie Rd)
3. Albert Park (proximity, beach, lake, sports center, great village feel, nice but smaller houses and no trains)
Some other contenders: Port Melb (Albert Park's poorer brother with uglier houses), Prahan/Windsor (South Yarra's poorer brother with uglier houses), Kew/Camberwell (Hawthorn's less convenient brother); Malvern/Armadale (South Yarra's less convenient brother).
If trendiness was dropped as a criteria, Parkville starts entering the competition. If distance was dropped as an issue, I'd start considering Elsternwick/Brighton/Hampton or say Canterbury/Balwyn/Surrey Hills. But you can never drop distance as a factor, because I might as well live in say Ferntree Gully then.