Significant residential subdivision of the area took place in the 1880s (Brunswick East Post Office opening on 13 January 1888)[3] and also in the period after World War I.

The textile industry has been in substantial decline in the suburb since the 1980s, with the liberalisation and elimination of tariff controls by successive Federal Governments.

Redevelopment of commercial and industrial property has taken place for medium and high density housing, as part of the intense gentrification Brunswick East has been subjected to.

[4] In the census, 39.4% of people identified as having no religion (markedly more than the state average of 24.0%), 26.5% as Catholic, 6.6% as Eastern Orthodox, 4.4% as Anglican and 2.8% as Buddhist.

[4] Brunswick East has a high proportion of flats, units, apartments and semi-detached row townhouses.

A high proportion of professionals work in Brunswick East, with declining numbers of labourers, trades, production and transport workers.

At the southern end of the Brunswick East strip of Lygon Street there is an increasing diversity of restaurants and cafés offering a variety of cuisines including: Italian, Greek, Lebanese, Vietnamese, Japanese, Indian, Thai, and Malaysian foods.

Community radio station 3RRR moved from Fitzroy to the corner Blyth and Nicholson Streets in late 2004, opposite another music venue, the Lomond Hotel.

On the southern edge of the suburb, the old Inner Circle railway line is now a linear park which is a part of the Capital City Trail for pedestrians and cyclists.

Three tram routes service Brunswick East: East Brunswick has several parks and reserves of varying size, as well as the Merri Creek corridor which is managed by a long-standing community group and has a popular bike path connected to the main Yarra Trail.

Rises in land values due to gentrification have resulted in many of the industrial uses vacating their buildings, which have become attractive to developers of medium and higher-density residential projects, often with a small commercial or retail component.

Many of these projects have been contentious among the local community, the most notable being the East Brunswick Village development on Nicholson Street.