The area has become a fashionable and popular part of Bournemouth with a unique mix of clothing shops, cafés, restaurants and many other independent businesses.

[2][3] On 13 March 2007 a large M&S Simply Food replaced the Waitrose store which moved to the Upper Parkstone area of Poole.

The group promotes the interests of the traders and aims to raise the profile of Westbourne to tourists and local residents.

While at this rather ordinary house he wrote Kidnapped and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, as well as part of Treasure Island while he was recovering from an illness.

Stevenson pacing his drawing room with his wife sitting nearby in 1885 and a novel of his life while residing in Westbourne (published in 1929 titled 'R.L.S and his Sine Qua Non') was written by Adelaide A. Boodle.

The singer Ray Dorset of Mungo Jerry lives in the area as does British boxer Steve Bendall.