Rozelle

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John Williams

Abstract

To her audiences of the 1960s, who knew it as slum housing for postwar migrant labour, Edna Everage, Australia's 'La Dame aux Gladiolas', lampooned Rozelle as the new resort of Australia's aspiring literati. More recently, Melbourne demographer Bernard Salt described the suburb as 'chick-city', a reference to the disproportionately large number of never-married female residents aged 24 to 35 recorded by the 2001 census, outnumbering local men in the same age group 1.26 to 1. Within Rozelle's retail hub, the recent proliferation of nail technicians, beauty salons, interior decorators, patisseries, and alfresco cafes avows not only that the suburb has gentrified, but also that it's chic.

Variously known in its history as Balmain West and Balmain South, Rozelle occupies the south-western portion of a hilly inner-harbour peninsula west of Millers Point and north of Pyrmont and Glebe. The western slope of the main ridge joins Iron Cove and the eastern side slopes to the contiguous Johnstons, White, and Rozelle bays.

Article Details

Section
Sydney's Suburbs
Author Biography

John Williams

John Williams is a writer.