Broadway is a

road A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

inner city The term ''inner city'' has been used, especially in the United States, as a euphemism for majority-minority lower-income residential districts that often refer to rundown neighborhoods, in a downtown or city centre area. Sociologists somet ...

Sydney,

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia. The road constitutes the border between the suburbs of Ultimo (to the north) and Chippendale (to the south). Broadway is also an urban locality. Broadway connects the south end of George Street where it terminates at the junction with Harris and Regent streets, and runs west to the junction of

Parramatta Road Parramatta Road is the major historical east-west artery of metropolitan Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, connecting the Sydney CBD with Parramatta. It is the easternmost part of the Great Western Highway. Since the 1990s its role has been ...

and City Road at Victoria Park. Broadway and Parramatta Road are part of the

Great Western Highway Great Western Highway (also known as Broadway from to , Parramatta Road from Chippendale to , and Church Street through Parramatta) is a state highway in New South Wales, Australia. From east to west, the highway links Sydney with Bathu ...

History

Broadway is historically important because it is one of the first roads built in the colony of New South Wales, in 1794. It had been called " George Street South" and then "George Street West". After being widened in 1906 when the Central railway station was built, George Street west of Railway Square, it became known as "The Broadway".Widening the streets - City of Sydney website
This name was subsequently shortened to just "Broadway". In the early nineteenth century, travel to

Parramatta Parramatta () is a suburb and major Central business district, commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney, located in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district on the ban ...

on Parramatta Road attracted a toll and this was charged from the area now known as Railway Square. The toll gate was subsequently moved to the approximate junction of the present Broadway and Parramatta Road. St Benedict's Church on Parramatta Road (now incorporated into the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic university, Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend, Indiana, South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin fo ...

campus) is the oldest consecrated Catholic Church in Australia. It was the parish church of Norman Gilroy, the first Australian to become a cardinal. Broadway was once a major retailing centre, and for 90 years was home to the flagship complex of department store chain Grace Brothers. The complex consisted of two stores on either side of Bay Street. It was visited by

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

during her 1954 visit to Australia. Retailing on Broadway declined and the store was eventually closed in 1995. Today this site contains the Broadway Shopping Centre on the western side and th
UniLodge on Broadway
on the eastern side. The southern side of the road was dominated by the Carlton & United brewery. The brewery closed in December 2006 and the site was sold on 29 June 2007. The site has been redeveloped into a mixed use precinct called

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...

, which includes a new public park located just off Broadway of approximately in size, and a new tower called One Central Park designed by Jean Nouvel and featuring "vertical gardens" by Patrick Blanc. Located opposite the

University of Technology Sydney The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) is a public research university located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Although its origins are said to trace back to the 1830s, the university was founded in its current form in 1988. As of 202 ...

, One Central Park is an apartment complex with a shopping centre called Central located on the lower levels.

Transport

Broadway was a busy

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport ...

thoroughfare in the first half of the 20th century, until the line's closure in 1958. Since then it has been the primary entry point into the central business district for bus services from the

Inner West The Inner West of Sydney is an area directly west of the Sydney central business district, New South Wales, Australia. The suburbs that make up the Inner West are predominantly located along the southern shore of Port Jackson (Parramatta Rive ...

currently operated by Transit Systems..

Education

A number of educational institutions are located on or around Broadway. These include the International Grammar School (IGS),

University of Technology, Sydney The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) is a public research university located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Although its origins are said to trace back to the 1830s, the university was founded in its current form in 1988. As of 202 ...

(UTS),

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public university, public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one o ...

and the Sydney Institute of TAFE. UTS has a particularly strong presence. The UTS Tower is the tallest structure on Broadway and is a Sydney landmark. Designed in the brutalist style, it has been described as one of Sydney's ugliest buildings. An adjacent building on Broadway designed by Denton Corker Marshall was completed in 2014. There are also plans to redesign the podium of the tower.

Other buildings

Image:Broadway Bank.JPG, The Embassy Conference Centre is a historic building, built in the 1890s as the first branch of the Bank of New South Wales. File:Sutherlands Hotel, Chippendale.JPG, Bar Broadway File:County Clare Inn, Chippendale.JPG, The Clare Hotel File:Agincourt Hotel, Chippendale.JPG, Agincourt Hotel File:The Abercrombie Hotel.jpg, Abercrombie Hotel File:Chippendale University of Notre Dame.JPG, St Benedicts church with the

behind. File:Central Park apartments, Sydney.jpg, Central Park apartments File:UTS Sydney 04.jpg,

UTS Central UTS Central, also known as Building 2, is the building housing the Faculty of Law and UTS Library at the University of Technology Sydney. It is the final building to be opened under the A$1 billion City Campus Master Plan. The building is desig ...

as viewed at night File:The UTS Tower on Broadway.jpg, UTS Tower building in the background File:Sydney Central Park.jpg, One Central Park apartments File:(1)Federation Warehouse Broadway Sydney.jpg, Federation-era warehouse

In popular culture

Part of the video for singer

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

's 1983 single " Let's Dance", took place on Broadway in front of the

University of Notre Dame Australia The University of Notre Dame Australia (UNDA) is a national Roman Catholic private university with campuses in and in Western Australia and Sydney in New South Wales. The university also has eight clinical schools as part of its school of me ...

References

External links

* C-By-SA {{Sydney City of Sydney suburbs Sydney localities Streets in Sydney