THE suburb that recently topped a survey assessing Melbourne gentrification levels is continuing to evolve.

Northcote, five kilometres from town, has had a major rezoning approved which will see prominent factories that only a generation ago helped define the suburb, bulldozed and replaced with cafes, shops and apartments.

The rezoning will see the precinct’s residential and retail precinct spill over from High Street into Arthurton Road – and in particular a busy thoroughfare full of factories which connects the strip to the Northcote train station.

Northcote and Maribyrnong, in the north-west, have experienced the most rapid gentrification in Melbourne since 2001, according to a study conducted by the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute at Swinburne and Monash universities.

Read more...