Moss Side is an inner-city area of Manchester, England, 1.9 miles (3.1 km) south of the city centre, It had a population of 20,745 at the 2021 census.

[1] Moss Side is bounded by Hulme to the north, Chorlton-on-Medlock, Rusholme and Fallowfield to the east, Whalley Range to the south, and Old Trafford to the west.

Thought to be named after a great moss which stretched from Rusholme to Chorlton-cum-Hardy, the earliest mention of the area is in 1533 when it contained part of the estates of Trafford.

[4] Moss Side is described in the opening chapter of Elizabeth Gaskell's Mary Barton as a rural idyll with a 'deep clear pool' and an old black and white timber-framed farmhouse, later identified as Pepperhill Farm.

[8] Mass development in Moss Side occurred in the late 19th and early 20th centuries when large numbers of red brick terraced houses were built, and soon attracted numerous Irish immigrants and other working people.

Housing on the Alexandra Park Estate in the west of Moss Side has been renovated and the streets redesigned to reduce the fear of crime.

[17] The majority of Moss Side is part of the Manchester Central constituency, represented by the Labour Party MP Lucy Powell.

Following boundary changes in 2018 a portion of the ward is a part of the Manchester Gorton constituency, represented by the Labour Party MP Afzal Khan.

This includes mainly Victorian and Edwardian terraces to the east and centre, with more recent developments, primarily the Alexandra Park Estate, built in the 1970s to the west of Princess Road.

[17] A large site on Great Western Street has been developed by Moss Care Housing Ltd. to provide a mix of 2, 3 and 4-bedroom properties, with different tenures, some rental and others offered as shared ownership or for sale.

[26][27][28][29][30] Reported as being 'built or converted to a very high standard of eco-friendliness, with solar panels, water butts, thermal "skin" insulation and sun pipes being used' and aiming to offer 2, 3 and 4-bedroom homes with 'low running costs', the development plan states its aim, along with that at Maine Road, as being to provide mixed type "higher specification" housing, "diversify tenure" and promote the area as a "neighbourhood of choice".

[31] On 11 May the development was awarded the UK's Best Affordable Housing Scheme at the national Housing Excellence Awards 2011[32][33] Land adjacent to the development, formerly occupied by Bilsborrow primary school and the Stagecoach bus depot, both demolished as part of regeneration, remains vacant with no clear future use at present, though local community groups have short term plans to use the space for a gardening/food growing project.

[34] The impact of regeneration and redevelopment in changing perceptions of the area was demonstrated in The Guardian Saturday magazine, dated 8 September 2012, when Moss Side appeared in the long running Let's Move To series.

A report in the 1880s commented: "The water at the brewery is of exceptionally good quality, containing all the necessary elements for producing the finest ales, which cannot be surpassed in the district for their brightness, purity and flavour".

[43] The northern England office of Aquatech Pressmain, which specialises in the 'supply of fluid pumping equipment to the Building Services, Process and Water Industries',[44] is located in Moss Side.

[45] The "Moss Side ward profile: Version 2010/1", produced by Manchester City Council, points to a significant shift in the demography of Moss Side, in terms of age structure, from the middle of the last decade and projected into the middle of this decade, with more in the under 10 and 25–35 age groups, suggesting an increase in families with younger children.

[45] Other sources indicate an accompanying change in Moss Side's ethnic population, with an estimated marked percentage increase in the Afro-Caribbean, Indian, Somali, Chinese and Eastern European communities between 2007 and 2015.

Drug abuse was described as one of the area's biggest problems, with gun crime rates being so high that there had recently been 400 armed incidents reported within a 12-month period.

[52] These organisations and institutions include The West Indian Sports and Social Club, the African and Caribbean Mental Health Service, and the African-Caribbean Care Group, which serve the Afro-Caribbean community.

Moss Side Community Allotment states its aim as involving volunteers in growing and making available locally produced organic food.

[35] In 2003, Ducie Central High School was replaced by the independently run Manchester Academy, with the aim of overcoming barriers to education and achievement faced by young people in the community.

In April 2009, the Manchester Evening News reported the Academy has met with success in raising educational standards in the area and, by 2010, 81% of pupils achieved A*–C grades at GCSE, compared with 13% at the former Ducie High School.

The Polish church occupies a former Methodist chapel built about 1875 in the Neo-Gothic style and contains stained glass windows commemorating victims of the Holocaust.

Maine Road has since been demolished and a mixed development of two-, three-, and four-bedroom houses, flats, and a primary school has been built on the site.