21 Sydney suburbs will receive a cash bump of $200,000 from the NSW Government’s Uptown Grant Program to rebrand in an effort to encourage more tourism.
A few examples include Harris Park in Parramatta which will now be called Little India, Eastwood in the city’s north will become home to Koreatown, Hollywood Quarter will become a feature in Surry Hills and Sydney’s queer capital Darlinghurst will rebrand as the Rainbow Precinct.
It’s giving New York City and I don’t hate it.
As a Melburnian, Sydney’s suburban sprawl can be immensely intimidating. Especially when you’re unfamiliar with each suburb. This renaming scheme sounds like it could remove a lot of the guesswork and research that comes with familiarising yourself with the essence, nay, the ~vibe~ of an area.
“This is an exciting opportunity for groups of businesses and creatives in areas across Sydney who’ve laid out their visions to create well-known precincts with unique offerings for locals and visitors to enjoy,” said Minister for Music and the Night-time Economy John Graham per 9News.
SORRY, can we just appreciate that there’s now a MINISTER for the night-time economy?
Surely that’s technically a minister for the sesh.
Either way, I kinda dig it. Wouldn’t have happened under the Liberals, that’s for certain.
“The Uptown Grant Program allows these districts to hire dedicated resources to manage their combined initiatives, including events, marketing and operations,” the minister for the sesh continued.
“The project will focus on supporting the emergence of youth culture, a local arts and music scene and amplifying and connecting existing offerings in the community.”
Despite the promise of this overhaul, there are of course a few sillier rebrands in the mix.
The Northern Beaches suburb of Brookvale will be dubbed BAD. Not because it’s shithouse but because BAD is an acronym for Brookvale Arts District.
Meanwhile, the Paddo Collective will become the new name for the nightlife area in Paddington.
Now, obviously “Paddo” looks and sounds a LOT like another word used in a completely different context but I’m sure they thought of that and it wasn’t just a huge, meme-able oversight…
Good for a laugh either way?
