For over a decade, Marrickville has been the frontier for the gentrification creep. If you’ve lived in Marrickville for more than 20 years, you probably remember when the first white-Australian family moved into your street – or maybe you were that white family?

Look at Marrickville and you’ll see the results of what is just getting underway in surrounding suburbs like Dulwich Hill and Petersham.  

Once considered the affordable option close to the city, Marrickville property prices now average $1 million. This change in the area has caused a shift in the demographics of the area. In 2014, Mayor Jo Haylen addressed the changes in the area, conceding that “our traditional diversity is diminishing.”

The ethnic communities that make Marrickville unique (Greek, Vietnamese) move to other areas, and the businesses that service those communities suffer. Those businesses once fetishized are being pushed out to make way for cafes and restaurants that want to maximise on those residents too scared to go into local stores without a Food Safari guide.

The Marrickville program looks at the last stages of the clash between the old and new Marrickville. We look at new café Cornersmith and the vandalism it experienced when it opened, as well as talk to our local Federal member Anthony Alabanese.