The Inner West is a general term which is used to describe the metropolitan area directly to the west of the Sydney central business district in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The suburbs of the inner west are predominantly located along the southern shore of Port Jackson (Parramatta River), stretching south to the shores of the Cooks River.

Suburbs

Italian Forum, Leichhardt

House in Marrickville an inner-city suburb of Sydney's Inner West

History

Indigenous land

Prior to the arrival of the First Fleet, the Sydney region was home to the Darug people. This nation was broken up into a number of Aboriginal clans who tended to live in a certain geographic area. Each clan contained about 50 to 100 people and, to avoid genetic problems, the men would marry women from other clans. So the clans were interrelated and members from one clan would frequently travel in the territory of others, including to hunt, trade and perform ceremonies. They didn't consider themselves owners of the land, rather custodians.^[3]

What is now the Inner West was formerly home to two clans, the Cadigal, whose land stretched along Port Jackson from South Head to Lewisham, and the Wangal, whose land was immediately to the west of the Cadigals and stretched to about Homebush Bay. Other clans that would have been regular visitors to the area would have included the Birrabirragal and Muru-ora-dial in what is now the Eastern Suburbs, the Bediagal and Kameygal from the Cooks River area to the south, the Burramattagal from the Parramatta area to the west, and the Wallumattagal, Cammeraigal and Gorualgal from the northern shores of the Parramatta River. ^[4]

Geography

The topography of the inner-west reflects rolling hills intersected by shallow valleys through which waterways including Iron Cove Creek, Hawthorne Canal (formerly Long Cove Creek), Whites Creek and Johnstons Creek flow. These waterways have been drastically altered since the late 19th century by the means of concrete lining. For example, in the 1860s Iron Cove Creek was a freely flowing waterway which in places broadened into ponds that made excellent and picturesque swimming holes. It is now barely a trickle lined by residential areas, parkland and fast-food restaurants.

Housing

The suburbs within the region are characterised by medium to high-density housing and include some of the older constructions in Sydney such as the terrace houses of Glebe and Newtown.

Schools

It is also the location of several tertiary institutions such as Australian Catholic University, University of Sydney and the University of Technology, Sydney and the more downtown areas have high student populations. The inner west also features some of New South Wales best schools such as Christian Brothers' High School, Lewisham (Private), Fort Street High School (Public), Burwood Girls High School (Public), Strathfield Girls High School (Public), Homebush Boys High School (Public), Presbyterian Ladies' College, Sydney (Private), MLC School (Private), Trinity Grammar School (Private), Newington College (Private), Santa Sabina College (Private), St Patrick's College (Private), Sydney Adventist College (Private) and Meriden School (Private).

Historic bank, Balmain

School of the Arts, Newtown

Newington College, Stanmore

Petersham railway station

Commercial areas

The biggest commercial areas in the inner west are at Newtown, Balmain, Leichhardt, Glebe, Marrickville, Burwood, Ashfield and Strathfield.

Transport

Public transport in the region includes trains, buses, ferries and light rail. CityRail's Inner West railway line runs from Central station, largely running south of Parramatta Road to Strathfield and then to Liverpool. The Northern railway line follows the same route to Strathfield and then branches off to the north to Hornsby, with stops at North Strathfield, Concord West and Rhodes. There are various bus routes provided largely by Sydney Buses.The Bankstown line provides train services to suburbs such as Erskineville,St Peters,Marrickville,Campsie and Bankstown. Sydney Ferries operates services in the inner harbour and Parramatta river. There is also the Metro Light Rail which runs from Central to Lilyfield, via Pyrmont and Glebe.

Parramatta Road runs through the middle of this area. Although still playing only a small part in the overall transport task, use of bicycles for transport has increased significantly in the Inner West since the 1990s. Denser populations and shorter distances mean cycling is often quicker and more convenient than driving or taking public transport. A network of bicycle paths, signed bicycle routes on local streets and other aids to safe and convenient cycling is developing. Main bicycle routes include an East-West route from Five Dock to the Anzac Bridge cycleway, a Northwest route from Gladesville Bridge to Anzac Bridge, a Southwest Route from Marrickville to the City via Newtown. Groups of local bicycle user groups (BUGs) provide help for new cyclists, under the parent banner of Bicycle New South Wales ^[5].

Government

The area is represented by the Federal electorates of Grayndler, Lowe and Sydney. These three seats are currently held by Labor, Grayndler and Sydney are considered very safe seats with the ALP receiving about 70% of the votes whilst after last election Lowe is moderately safe. In the state parliament, the region is represented by the electoral districts of Balmain, Canterbury, Drummoyne, Marrickville and Strathfield. At the 2007 state election, each of these seats was won by the Labor party. The local government areas with responsibility for the Inner west are Canada Bay, Strathfield, Burwood,Ashfield and parts of Canterbury, Marrickville, Leichhardt and City of Sydney.

Population

Demographics

Sydney's inner west is multi-cultural, resulting in a diverse range of cuisines enjoyed by locals. Leichhardt and Haberfield have long been associated with the Italian Australian community. Marrickville and Earlwood have a very strong Greek Australian presence. Petersham has a vibrant Portuguese Australian community. Marrickville also boasts colourful Vietnamese Australian restaurants and fresh food markets. The Inner West has a growing Islamic community including Lebanese, Egyptian and Palestinian Australians.

Gay and lesbian

The Inner West is home for the other half of Sydney?s large gay and lesbian population. The gay and lesbian community is well established in Newtown and Erskineville and extends into neighbouring Glebe, Leichhardt, Annandale, Marrickville, Enmore and Dulwich Hill.

The Inner West is home to two of Sydney?s gay and lesbian pubs: the Clarence Hotel http://www.clarencehotel.com.au/ in Petersham and the Imperial Hotel in Erskineville http://www.theimperialhotel.com.au/. The Imperial or ?Impy? is famous for its flamboyant drag queens and as a pub?club venue staying open well into the early hours on weekends. The Newtown Hotel ceased trading on Saturday November 3, 2007 and currently remains vacant.^[6] Newtown remains a gay-friendly diverse spot with many great pubs hosting a cool mixed crowd.

The Metropolitan Community Church http://www.mccsydney.org/ is located in nearby Petersham. The MCC Sydney is part of a network of other MCCs in Australia and forms part of an international denomination. The MCC extends its welcome to anybody who feels excluded by established religious groups, especially members of the gay, lesbian, transgendered and bi-sexual communities.

Located in Newtown is Twenty 10 http://www.twenty10.org.au/ a support organisation for young gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, same-sex attracted and gender-questioning people who are under 26 and having problems at home or have recently become homeless.

Also based in Newtown is the Gay & Lesbian Counselling Service (NSW) a volunteer based community service providing free, anonymous and confidential telephone counselling, information and referral services and support groups for gay men, lesbians, bisexual and transgender persons (GLBT) throughout New South Wales (NSW) on sexuality and life issues.

The Sanctuary (a free health clinic for gay men) is located in Mary Steet Newtown. The Sydney Pride Centre http://www.sydneypride.com.au/ is located in Erskineville and provides support, referral and fund-raising services for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community of Sydney.

Sport

The inner west is represented in the National Rugby League by the Wests Tigers, a merger of the Balmain and Western Suburbs clubs. In rugby union the area is represented by Sydney Uni and West Harbour in the Sydney grade competition. Non-competitive activities like walking, cycling and swimming are well catered for.

References

External links