HIP HOOD

MidTown Hobart is bridging the gap between South and North Hobart

MIDTOWN CAME ABOUT as something of a joke on Facebook. Occupying a no man’s land between Hobart’s sparkling harbour and North Hobart, one of Australia’s most in-vogue neighbourhoods, shopkeepers in the overlooked spot between NoHo and SoHo coined the name MidTown to put themselves on the map. Now the stretch of Elizabeth Street, from Liverpool Street in the south to Warwick Street in the north, is a thriving hub for creatives. They’ve transformed what was once a pretty tired-looking area into something that will draw the cool kids down from the nationally recognised restaurants and bars of North Hobart, and tourists up from the waterfront. With new breweries, restaurants and bars making a name for themselves and the arrival of a huge new student accommodation block on Elizabeth Street that opened in February, this historic stretch of Hobart has received a long-awaited shot in the arm. So now is the perfect time to wander up Elizabeth Street, past buildings that existed when the road itself was nothing more than a muddy track through the bush. Today it’s a place that has put itself on the map; a laughing matter no more.