Карлтон: история, культура и современность мельбурнского пригорода.

Carlton is an inner city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, three kilometres north of the Melbourne central business district within the City of Melbourne local government area. Carlton recorded a population of 16,055 at the 2021 census. By the 1930s, many homes in Carlton were seen as slums and leased by poor residents. In 1927, Squizzy Taylor, an Australian gangster, was wounded in a gunfight with rival, John "Snowy" Cutmore, at a house in Barkly Street, Carlton, and later died at St Vincent's Hospital. In the 1960s, the residents in some parts of the suburb were forced to move from their homes due to redevelopment by the Housing Commission of Victoria. Despite that, a number of areas in Carlton have survived intact. In the 1970s, Carlton was the site of three trade union green bans. One related to an abandoned block where a developer wanted a warehouse but local residents wanted a park, now the Hardy Gallagher Reserve (named after Labor councillor Fred Hardy and union leader Norm Gallagher). Another allowed a vacant lot in Cardigan street to be turned into a park, and another saved a number of terraced houses from demolition. The Carlton Magistrates' Court closed on 1 February 1985.

Carlton's public spaces were planned in the Victorian era and notably are all garden squares. These are rectilinear green spaces surrounded by buildings, based on a model fashionable in Europe. There are five main garden squares within the suburb – Carlton Gardens, University Square, Lincoln Square, Argyle Place and MacArthur Place. The largest of these squares is the 26 hectare Carlton Gardens, planned for the World Exhibition. Lincoln Square on Swanston Street has a Bali Memorial, commemorating the victims of the 2002 Bali bombings officially opened on 12 October 2005, the third anniversary of the explosion that killed 202 innocent people, including 88 Australians. The northern part of Argyle Square, adjacent to Lygon Street, has been redeveloped into an Italian style piazza, known as Piazza Italia, in a joint project between the City of Melbourne and its twin city, Milan. A giant sundial is the main feature of the piazza.

Little Italy, Melbourne, also sometimes referred to as the "Italian Precinct" or simply "Lygon Street", is a "Little Italy" cultural precinct centred around Lygon Street in Carlton. Lygon Street is home to a large concentration of Italian restaurants, and is the birthplace of Melbourne's "café culture". Although Lygon Street is most renowned for its cafes and restaurants, it is also home to some notable retail stores including Readings bookstore and Cinema Nova.

In the 2016 census, there were 18,535 people in Carlton. 27.3% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were China 22.6%, Malaysia 6.4%, Indonesia 3.1%, India 2.6% and Singapore 2.3%. 33.8% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Mandarin 25.7%, Cantonese 4.3%, Indonesian 2.8%, Somali 2.3% and Arabic 2.1%. The most common responses for religion was No Religion at 47.5%.

Carlton is also very well serviced by the health sector. The Royal Women's Hospital and the new Royal Dental Hospital provide high quality health care. It is also a centre of biomedical research. The Cancer Research Institute and the Australian College of Optometry all have their premises in Carlton. Carlton is the home of NETS (Victoria) which provides emergency transport of sick newborns between hospitals throughout Victoria and from Tasmania. It was also the home of Cancer Council Victoria for many years before moving to St Kilda Road.

There are a number of churches in Carlton, which serve the spiritual needs of Carlton residents. St Jude's Church, on Lygon Street, is one of the most active and well attended Anglican churches in the Greater Melbourne area. Other churches in the area include the bluestone Church of All Nations (a Uniting Church) in Palmerston Street dating from 1860, a Romanian Orthodox Church on Queensberry Street, a Salvation Army Church, the Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Chinese Church of Christ and the Christian Chapel of the Church of Christ, built in 1865. The Catholic seminary is located on the site of St George's Catholic Church, Carlton's oldest surviving building, dating from 1855. The Albanian Mosque, Melbourne's oldest mosque is also located on Drummond Street and has been a site where Muslims congregate and holds services.

Carlton is served by many of Melbourne's tram routes, running along Swanston Street and terminating at Melbourne University. Routes 1 and 6 continue through to Carlton North and beyond via Lygon Street. Buses serve Carlton via Lygon, Elgin, and Rathdowne Streets. There are currently no trains to Carlton, with the closest station being Melbourne Central. There were talks and proposals of extending the City Loop to service Carlton, but no concrete plans have been proposed. Rod Eddington's East West Link Needs Assessment does mention however, that there will be subway(s) in Carlton, as a part of the proposed 17 km Metro Tunnel.