56 AUSTRALIANTRAVELLER.COM
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 restaurantsFrom MONA to NORTH HOBART, Tasmania’s capital has definitely
FOUND ITS COOL in recent years. Now this CENTR AL POCKET
of town has joined the party, too, writes DANIEL DOWN.
MIDTOWN
HOBA RT
HIP
HOOD
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.