Footscray is a suburb 5 km west of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its Local Government Area is the City of Maribyrnong. At the 2006 Census, Footscray had a population of 11,401.
Footscray is characterised by a very diverse, multicultural central shopping area, which reflects the successive waves of immigration experienced by Melbourne, and by Footscray in particular. It was once a centre for Italian and Macedonian migrants, it is now a hub for Vietnamese, and increasingly, North African immigrants in Melbourne.
The inner western suburbs of Melbourne were traditionally undesirable as residential areas due to the presence of heavy industry, however this has changed dramatically as nearly all of the factories have gone over the last decades, and their products now imported. From the 1950s till 1990's the affordability of housing and availability of employment opportunities in these areas have made them attractive to migrants for many years. Greek, Italian, Macedonian, Bosnian and Croatian migrants arrived in the 1950s and 1960s, followed by Vietnamese in the 1970s and 1980s. However, in recent years there has been rapid gentrification as younger people seek affordable period housing close to Melbourne city centre. This is also due to the newly approved "Footscray Superstation" and successful results from crime prevention schemes.
To mitigate crime issues, a scheme called 'Project Reduction' was implemented in 2006. Under the scheme, drug offenders will be banned from Footscray, as well as burglars, shoplifters and people with assault convictions if they are found to be drug addicted or gang related in any way, shape or form.
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