Melbourne's original bohemian suburb sits just north of the CBD and has spent two centuries being interesting. Fitzroy gave the city its first workers' terraces, its first Aboriginal political organisations, and some of its best live music venues. Brunswick Street is the main artery, lined with vintage clothing shops, bookshops, record stores, bars, and restaurants that range from Ethiopian to Japanese to old Italian. Smith Street, running parallel to the east, has overtaken Brunswick Street as the hipper address, packed with share houses, gallery spaces, and some of the city's best new restaurants.
Despite the gentrification — and there has been plenty — Fitzroy has retained a genuinely mixed character. The Atherton Gardens housing commission towers sit two blocks from some of Melbourne's most expensive restaurants, and the area still has a visible Aboriginal community around the Gertrude Street end of the suburb.