[1] Kensington is known for its village ambiance, its cafes, and a diversity of architecture - including Victorian terraces, cottages, warehouse apartments and new structures in the west of the suburb.

Kensington was once home to one of Victoria's major abattoirs and livestock saleyards, an army ordnance depot and a number of factories.

[citation needed] They lived predominantly as hunters and gatherers, moving around the present-day City of Melbourne and its surrounds depending on changes in the weather and the availability of food.

[3] The yards' proximity to the Maribyrnong (or Saltwater) River, allowed for the discharge of liquid waste and were soon joined by factories for fellmongery, bone manure, and glue.

[4] The abattoir and its associated factories were soon surrounded by suburbs, prompting complaints and public meetings objecting to the by-products and waste produced by the saleyards.

[5] Alfred Deakin, who represented the member for Essendon and Flemington in the Victorian Legislative Assembly until 1900, moved a division in favour of the yards' closure in 1891.

[5] Economic downturn in the 1890s, however, meant that the closure was postponed and a by-law was instead passed by the Melbourne City Council making it illegal to drive livestock through streets in Flemington and Kensington between 8am and 10pm.

Low-lying land in the south of the suburb, near the present-day JJ Holland Park, was filled in around the same period, allowing for the construction of the Gillespie Mill adjacent to the railway line.

The refurbished and extended railway line also served the Newmarket cattle sale yards, which by 1888 handled more than half a million animals every year.

[10] Originally built during World War II as a means of increasing railway freight capacity, the yards were extended and upgraded to include the country's longest goods depot.

Although the closure had been discussed for almost a century, economic hardship and drought conditions, as well as the decentralisation of the livestock industry and urban development affected the viability of the yards.

[11] In line with other inner city areas, gentrification has prompted an increase in household incomes, a greater proportion of residents aged 25–49 years old, and a shift in occupation from manufacturing to property and business services.

[9] Submission to the review highlighted issues with service provision, the lack of a coordinated retail strategy for the Macaulay Road shopping precinct, and challenges for community groups operating on both sides of the boundary.

[14] Suburb review site, CityHobo has called Kensington one of the best places to live in Melbourne after the area's significant gentrification.

[1] A review conducted by the City of Melbourne in 2009 following the alteration of the council boundary found that the suburb's population was growing at approximately 1% per annum, amongst the slowest-growing in the municipality.

[15] The majority of residents (65.3%) were born in Australia, while approximately 29.2% spoke a language other than English at home, mostly Mandarin, Cantonese, Vietnamese, Spanish, and Somali.

[9] The development of the Kensington Banks project following the closure of the Newmarket Saleyards has increased the share of residential property in the area.

The new residential areas have been planned around a series of smaller-scaled open spaces, one of which is notable as the Women's Peace Park, to the west of Epsom Road.

In June 2016, the Melbourne City Council created a park next to Kensington Station, by expanding an existing reserve at Eastwood Street and Rankins Road, which effectively doubled the amount of green space.