Greenslopes, Queensland

Greenslopes is a suburb of Brisbane, Australia 5 km south-east of the CBD, and is mostly residential with some commercial and light industrial areas.

Toponymy
Greenslopes was named after an early estate in the area. The estate was owned by Frederick Wecker, who purchased the land in 1857 and named it after the area's green pastures.

History
Parts of the current suburb were originally opened for settlement under names such as the Dunellan, Thompson and Mount Pleasant Estates. There is still a Dunellan Street in the suburb, adjacent to the state school.

Greenslopes formed part of Stephens Shire until its amalgamation with over 20 other local shires into Greater Brisbane in 1925. The shire's name can still be seen on a plaque on the bridge where Juliette Street crosses Norman Creek.

The Brisbane City Council operated trams along Logan Road, through Greenslopes until 13 April 1969. Until 1957 a tram line also operated along Chatsworth Road, branching off the Logan Road line at Greenslopes.

Many of the dwellings in the suburb of Greenslopes are 'character homes' of pre-war construction. Brisbane City Council purportedly recognises pre-war homes as being valuable to the identity of the suburb and enforces controls relating to the demolition and renovation of the original homes, whilst also ensuring that any new dwellings built in the suburb are reflective of traditional architecture and maintain and enhance the character of the streetscape. However, two- and three-story walk-up apartment buildings are increasingly the norm.

Before August 2015, Greenslopes was in Holland Park Ward but from August 2015 it is in the new Coorparoo Ward with Annerley, Coorparoo, Camp Hill and Carina Heights.

Geography
Greenslopes lies 5 km south-east of the Brisbane central business district. There is some slight variety in the terrain, with low hills in the east and south sloping down to the flood plain of Norman Creek, which curls around the western and northern edges of the suburb on its way to join the Brisbane River at Norman Park.

The major roads are:


 * Logan Road;
 * the Southeast Freeway. Both Freeway and Logan Road are oriented northwest-southeast and lead from inner Brisbane to the city of Logan and other points south;
 * Chatsworth Road, joining Greenslopes to suburbs further east, including Coorparoo, Camp Hill and Carina;
 * Old Cleveland Road, a major arterial road which also leads eastwards but reaches almost to the shores of Moreton Bay;
 * the South-East Busway, which tends to parallel the course of Norman Creek with Greenslopes busway station providing frequent and rapid services to the city;
 * Henzell Terrace, atop one of Greenslope's highest hills, which probably contains the greatest concentration of the suburb's more expensive homes.

Stephens Mountain
Stephens Mountain is one of Brisbane's largest hills. It is located in Greenslopes, between the Greenslopes Private Hospital located on a ridge leading east from its highest point, and the Greenslopes busway station and the Pacific Motorway to the west. The hill is low and its highest points are still covered in scrub. Norman Creek drains the areas surrounding the mountain.

Climate
Greenslopes shares Brisbane's humid sub-tropical climate, but the hot summer days are often mitigated by cooling afternoon breezes, especially in the higher areas. Winters are usually drier with very mild temperatures.

Demographics
The 2011 Census recorded 8,565 residents in Greenslopes, of whom 50.8% were female and 49.2% were male. The median age of the population was 32; five years younger than the Australian median.

64.1% of people living in Greenslopes were born in Australia, compared to the national average of 69.8%. The other most common countries of birth were India (4.3%), England (3.2%), New Zealand (3.1%), the Philippines (1.1%), and China (0.8%). 74% of people only spoke English at home, while the next most commonly spoken languages were Punjabi (1.2%), Hindi (1.1%), Mandarin (1.1%), Cantonese (0.9%), and Greek (0.9%). The most common religious affiliation was Catholic (25.7%), followed by 'No Religion' (25%), Anglican (12%), Uniting Church (3.8%), and Buddhist (3%).

The suburb's population density was 2,913/km², whereas Brisbane's was 140/km². Most occupied dwellings were apartments (48.7%), followed by separate houses (42.6%).

Landmarks
The local shopping precinct is Greenslopes Mall on Logan Road. The Greenslopes Private Hospital, formerly Repatriation General Hospital (RGH) Greenslopes operated by the Commonwealth Government Dept of Veterans Affairs (DVA) for war veterans is located within the suburb. The hospital, surrounded by quiet streets, lies some distance from the nearest main roads, a factor which has caused friction with local residents over traffic, parking and redevelopment issues in recent years.

Other longstanding local landmarks are the Greenslopes State School and Greenslopes Bowls Club.

Stones Corner
Stones Corner is a former Greenslopes locality (now a separately designated suburb) known for its assortment of ethnic communities, ethnic retail food outlets and several sidewalk restaurants and cafés — Italian, Indian, Turkish and others — located on Logan Road near where it crosses Norman Creek.

The community is notable for its factory outlets and its longstanding large population of Indians, Iraqis and other Middle Easterners, Somali and other Northeast Africans and more recently, Punjabis, particularly of Sikh religious affiliation, who have flowed into the community as a result of recent changes in federal immigration policy.