Oxford Street, Sydney | |
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Darlinghurst, 2007 | |
Coordinates |
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General information | |
Type | Street |
Length | 4.5 km (2.8 mi)[1] |
Gazetted | August 1928[2] |
Major junctions | |
Western end | Liverpool Street Darlinghurst, Sydney |
| |
Eastern end | Old South Head Road Bondi Junction, Sydney |
Location(s) | |
Major suburbs | Paddington, Woollahra |
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Oxford Street is a major thoroughfare in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, running from the south-east border of the Sydney central business district to Bondi Junction in the Eastern Suburbs. Close to the CBD in particular, the street is lined with numerous shops, bars and nightclubs. After the 1980s, Oxford Street garnered a reputation as Sydney's primary nightclub strip (firstly gay nightclubs in the 1980s followed by straight nightclubs in the 2000s) and subsequently saw a large increase in the number of crimes committed in the area. However, the 2014 lockout laws saw many nightclubs close and the crime rate drop as Sydney's nightlife hubs moved to Darling Harbour and Newtown. The lockout laws ended in 2020 with a focus on small bars and restaurants. Many nightclubs reopened in 2021 especially around Taylor Square.[3]
The western section of Oxford Street, which runs through the suburb of Darlinghurst, is widely recognised as Sydney's main gay district and Oxford Street is closed to traffic once a year in early March for the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. Specifically, the area of Oxford Street between Hyde Park and Paddington Town Hall became known from the early 1980s as 'The Golden Mile' because of the growing density of popular venues for the gay community.[4] The section to the east of Taylor Square, running through the suburb of Paddington forms an upmarket shopping strip and represents the home of the new medical faculty of the University of Notre Dame Australia as well as the University of New South Wales' College of Fine Arts, Victoria Barracks, Paddington Bazaar and St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney amongst other locations.