What next for NEWTOWN?
TIME OUT HOSTS SOME OF NEWTOWN’S MOST INFLUENTIAL HOSPITALITY PEOPLE FOR A ROUND TABLE DISCUSSING THE FUTURE OF THE SUBURB THAT IS SYDNEY’S TREND FACTORY
Over the last two decades Newtown’s identity has slowly morphed from bohemian to hipster – and the booze and food scene is thriving in this colourful slice of the Inner West. We gathered a few friends from Newtown and Enmore’s hospitality scene to discuss the community, its challenges and what lies ahead.
“Newtown is a chosen home,” says Oscar McMahon of Newtown brewery Young Henrys. “It’s not necessarily where everybody grows up. It’s an amazing microcosm of different cultures all living together and people being proud of that diversity. The heart of it is that whoever you are, you’re OK – as long as you respect everyone else.”
Sarah Doyle, of Porteño and Bodega, has lived in Newtown for more than 15 years. She thinks the area has ‘spirit’. “I know it’s a wanky word,” she says, “but you feel that with Newtown. Everyone is welcome... I think a lot of people are coming to experience that, and a lot of people are wanting to stay.” “It’s a good food and drink town,” says Charles Cameron of Brewtown Newtown. “It’s also a bit of a party town. The most exciting thing on the horizon is probably the weekend.”
Our Newtown locals describe their beloved suburb using words like ‘bright’, ‘real’, ‘artistic’ and above all, ‘inclusive’. But just how rosy is it, really, for those who live and work in the boho ’burb? Ongoing issues include prohibitive property prices, discontent with local government, the ripple effect of the lockout laws, and WestConnex, the planned motorway development between St Peters and Beverly Hills that is expected to greatly increase traffic on King Street.
“If I were mayor of Newtown,” says McMahon, “I’d stop WestConnex.” The concern is that more traffic on King Street will turn it into a 24-hour clearway. Mitch Grady of Bloodwood says that “it will drastically change our businesses, our home. Who can park near their home on a Friday night? I