Darlinghurst

Darlinghurst
SydneyNew South Wales
Beauchamp Hotel, Darlinghurst
Map
Map
Darlinghurst is located in New South Wales
Darlinghurst
Darlinghurst
Coordinates33°53′00″S 151°13′30″E / 33.8833°S 151.2250°E / -33.8833; 151.2250
Population10,615 (SAL 2021)[1]
 • Density11,470.0/km2 (29,707/sq mi)
Postcode(s)2010
Elevation52 m (171 ft)
Area0.8 km2 (0.3 sq mi)
Location1 km (1 mi) east of Sydney CBD
LGA(s)City of Sydney
State electorate(s)Sydney
Federal division(s)Sydney
Suburbs around Darlinghurst:
Sydney CBD Woolloomooloo Potts Point
Sydney CBD Darlinghurst Kings Cross
Surry Hills Paddington Paddington

Darlinghurst is an inner-city suburb in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Darlinghurst is located immediately east of the Sydney central business district (CBD) and Hyde Park, within the local government area of the City of Sydney.[2] It is often colloquially referred to as "Darlo".

Darlinghurst is a densely populated suburb with the majority of residents living in apartments or terraced houses. Once a slum and red-light district, Darlinghurst has undergone urban renewal since the 1980s to become a cosmopolitan area made up of precincts. Places such as Victoria Street (which connects Darlinghurst to Potts Point in the north), Stanley Street (Little Italy) and Crown Street (Vintage and Retro Fashion) are known as culturally rich destinations.[3] These high street areas are connected by a network of lane-ways and street corners with shops, cafes and bars.

Demographically, Darlinghurst is home to the highest percentage of generation X and Y in Australia.[4] The majority of businesses in Darlinghurst are independently owned and operated small businesses with over 50% of all commercial activity in the area being consumer oriented: indie retail, food, drink, dining, leisure and personal services.[5] Darlinghurst is also home to large number of off-street creative industries.[6]

Darlinghurst's main street is Oxford Street. This major Sydney road runs east from the south-eastern corner of Hyde Park through Darlinghurst and Paddington and terminates at Bondi Junction. Oxford Street is one of Sydney's most famous shopping and dining strips.[7] The Darlinghurst end is well known around the world as the centre of Sydney's gay community, is the yearly parade route of the Sydney Mardi Gras and the spiritual birthplace of the LGBTQ rights movement.[8] It is home to a number of prominent gay venues and businesses, while more broadly Darlinghurst is a centre of Sydney's burgeoning small bar scene.[9]

From the 1990s onwards, Oxford Street began to garner a reputation for being Sydney's primary "nightclub strip", popular with both gay and straight clubbers, surpassing the notorious red-light district of Kings Cross in popularity. As a result of the influx of revellers, crime rates increased in the area around 2007, particularly for assaults and robberies.[10] This reported increase should be understood in terms of a very low background crime rate in East Sydney in general.[11] The 2014 lockout laws saw many nightclubs close and the crime rate drop once again, with a new focus on small bars, restaurants and cafes after the lockout laws ended in 2020.

There are a number of named localities in and around Darlinghurst including Taylor Square, Three Saints Square,[12] and confusingly also East Sydney. Locals have used this name to refer to the area immediately around Stanley Street in the suburb's west, however the title is used more broadly throughout the area from Woolloomooloo[13] up to Taylor Square[14] where the old Darlinghurst Gaol still has the words East Sydney in brass lettering above the main entrance. This is because from 1900 to 1969 the entire area to the east of Sydney's CBD, from the harbour to Redfern, was an electorate known as the Division of East Sydney. Already in 1820 the entire ridge line running from Potts Point to Surry Hills was known as Eastern Hill.[15]

Darlinghurst shares a postcode (2010) and an extensive soft southern border with neighbouring suburb Surry Hills which, with Paddington to the east and Woolloomooloo, Rushcutters Bay and Potts Point to the north, comprise the metropolitan region of East Sydney. Although only minutes walk away from the Sydney CBD, this region is geographically distinct from it; separated from the more well known commercial centre by several landmarks: Central railway station, Hyde Park, St Mary's Cathedral and The Domain. East Sydney hosts many well-known restaurants.[16][17][18]

Sydney's Eastern Suburbs cover all the land from the east of Darlinghurst up to the Pacific Ocean.

  1. ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "Darlinghurst (suburb and locality)". Australian Census 2021 QuickStats. Retrieved 28 June 2022. Edit this at Wikidata
  2. ^ Gregory's Sydney Street Directory, Gregory's Publishing Company, 2007
  3. ^ Heritage of Australia, Published by Macmillan Company, (1981), p.2/83
  4. ^ "Media Release - Life starts at 40 in Australia's oldest capital (Media Release)". 28 September 2018.
  5. ^ "2012 FES overview and summary reports - City of Sydney". www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
  6. ^ "Sydney's economy: global city, local action" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 June 2014. Retrieved 28 July 2015.
  7. ^ "Oxford Street - City of Sydney". www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au. Archived from the original on 22 August 2018. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
  8. ^ "Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras - The Dictionary of Sydney". dictionaryofsydney.org. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
  9. ^ "Welcome to Time Out". timeout.com. Archived from the original on 25 December 2015. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
  10. ^ Aston, Heath (3 December 2007). "Oxford Street beset with violence". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  11. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 April 2020. Retrieved 28 July 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  12. ^ "A place for saints and sinners - National - smh.com.au". The Sydney Morning Herald. 21 September 2008. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
  13. ^ "the-east-sydney". the-east-sydney. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
  14. ^ "East Sydney Doctors". www.eastsydneydoctors.com.au. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
  15. ^ "Darlinghurst - The Dictionary of Sydney". dictionaryofsydney.org. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
  16. ^ "Sydney's top 10 restaurants of 2014". November 2014.
  17. ^ "2007 Winners - Entertainment - smh.com.au". The Sydney Morning Herald. 4 September 2006. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
  18. ^ "Sydney named top nosh city - World - smh.com.au". The Sydney Morning Herald. 26 September 2005. Retrieved 10 April 2018.