Fitzroy is known as a cultural hub, particularly for its live music scene and street art, and is the main home of the Melbourne Fringe Festival.

Long associated with the working class, Fitzroy has undergone waves of urban renewal and gentrification since the 1980s and today is home to a wide variety of socio-economic groups, featuring both some of the most expensive rents in Melbourne and one of its largest public housing complexes, Atherton Gardens.

[7] Newtown was later renamed Collingwood,[13] and the area now called Fitzroy (west of Smith Street) was made a ward of the Melbourne City Council.

[14] In accordance with the Municipal Act, on 28 September 1858, a meeting of ratepayers was held in 'Mr Templeton's schoolroom, George street' to prepare for a local council election, with Thomas Embling, MLA for Collingwood, presiding.

A notable local entrepreneur was Macpherson Robertson, whose confectionery factories covered 30 hectares[16] and stand as heritage landmarks today.

[citation needed] The Fitzroy Gasworks was erected on Reilly Street (now Alexandra Parade) in 1861, dominating the suburb, with the Gasometer Hotel located opposite.

Vika and Linda Bull started their careers by singing in various venues around Fitzroy in the 1980s, including the Black Cat Cafe and the Purple Pit.

[25] Gentrification continued into the 2000s, with Gertrude Street being transformed into a string of fine dining restaurants, art galleries, bookshops and fashion stores.

[20] In 2009 the Aboriginal Health Service building at 136 Gertrude Street was converted into a social enterprise restaurant called Charcoal Lane,[20][26] run by Mission Australia, which provided training for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people and became well known for its gastronomy.

[27] It closed its doors in August 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the historic building was handed back to the Victorian Aboriginal Health Service (VAHS).

Its built form is a legacy of its early history when a mixture of land uses was allowed to develop close to each other, producing a great diversity of types and scales of building.

As early as 1923, the City of Fitzroy was accused of 'creating slums' by allowing inappropriate development such as three houses on a 31-foot by 100-foot block.

[33] Two years later the headline was 'Outcry Rages Over Fitzroy Slums', as the state government accused the Commonwealth of bringing in immigrants that the states had nowhere to house, arguing that the 'Awful, dilapidated buildings in Fitzroy, crowded beyond description with exploited New Australians were a grave danger to the health of the community.

[36][37][38] Fitzroy's traditional representation at all levels of government reflects the area's working class and bohemianism, and Left-wing politics dominates.

At a state level, Fitzroy is within the Electoral district of Richmond, traditionally a safe Australian Labor Party seat.

[39] The building was constructed in stages (1863, 1887 and 1890) to comprise municipal offices, meeting hall, police station, courthouse and clock tower.

Initially led by local groups the Primitive Calculators and Whirlywirld, it helped foster the careers of a number of notable musicians, including members of Dead Can Dance and Hunters & Collectors.

[41] Today Fitzroy is a hub for live music in Melbourne, and plays host to several prominent venues.

[42] A number of buildings and sites have been included on the Victorian Heritage Inventory (VHI) or classified by the National Trust (NT).

Bakers relocated north, and closed in 2007, while The Black Cat has transformed itself into a bar, but still retains its onstreet garden.

In fact Silas is the oldest café, located between King William and Moore Streets, on the west side.

[83] From 1884 until 1966, Brunswick Street Oval was its primary home ground, even after the club stopped playing games at the venue, the Brunswick Street Oval still remained the primary training and administrative base of the Fitzroy Football Club in the VFL until 1970.

The club keeps strong ties within the Fitzroy community, keeping a social club at the Royal Derby Hotel for Victorian Lions fans, and maintaining links with the Fitzroy VAFA team by sponsoring a men’s and women’s player each season.

They currently play their home games at Crispe Park in Reservoir with the club's off-field administration still based in Fitzroy.

Founded by Melbourne's inner eastern Greek community, the club was relocated to the Brunswick Street Oval in early 1971 but later departed by late 1978.

The suburb's first domestic first tier sporting match of any code was played at the Brunswick Street Oval on 2 May 1977, with Fitzroy United defeating Brisbane Lions 4–1 in front of over 4000 attendees.

Organisations currently operating in the suburb include; the Fitzroy Legal Service, Yarra Community Housing Limited, Society of Saint Vincent de Paul, Brotherhood of St Laurence and the Tenants Union of Victoria, a free legal service for residential tenants.

A station for the Melbourne Bicycle Share scheme is located near the St Vincents Plaza tram interchange.

Many of the central characters frequent the Fitzroy local swimming pool in the summer, referred to as the "Fitzroy baths", and the heritage-listed "Aqua Profonda" sign at the deep end of the pool is the title of the novel's first chapter, used as a metaphor for the central character's deeply troubled romantic relationship with a man.

[citation needed] Australian and American musicians have made mention of Fitzroy in their lyrics, including: ^ = territory divided with another LGA