[1] Rapid expansion came in the second half of the 19th century and in 1904 the electric tram replaced the horse-bus service and, with the advent of the motor car, London Road became the A6.

It expanded rapidly with the coming of improved public transport to Derby, and the arrival of the railways and associated employment in the mid-19th century.

Alvaston lies to the southeast of Derby city centre, bounded to the east by the A6 dual carriageway, and to the north by the River Derwent.

[5] Two miles to the west lies the site of the Derby Canal, the 19th-century township of Allenton, and the Osmaston Park Industrial Estate.

The Pride Park development, which includes the Derby County football stadium, is a short walk away.

To the east lies the open countryside of South Derbyshire and Elvaston Castle Country Park, a favourite place for picnics and lakeside walks.

Perched on the edge of the settlement, on Stocker Flat and overlooking Boulton Moor may be found a maze of 1970s–1980s-built culs-de-sac and footpaths, leading to council and privately built homes.

The other top languages spoken are 1.6% Polish, 0.4% Panjabi, 0.4% Urdu, 0.4% Tagalog/Filipino, 0.3% Russian, 0.3% Czech, 0.2% Kurdish, 0.2% Latvian, 0.2% Italian.

(2011 Census) The religious make up of Alvaston is 53.6% Christian, 34.0% No religion, 2.5% Muslim, 1.2% Sikh, 0.4% Hindu, 0.3% Buddhist, 0.1% Jewish.

As well as the sports facilities mentioned below, it has a lake with fishing and a model boat club, a science garden, play area and a new café.

It was landscaped by William Barron and Son of Borrowash – a firm founded by the young Scotsman who laid out the park at Elvaston Castle for Lord Harrington in 1830.

The Poplars, in Ellastone Gardens, is a Grade-II Georgian building with an iron shield of arms on the side elevation.