Balcatta, Western Australia

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Balcatta is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia. Its Local Government Area is the City of Stirling and its post code is 6021. It is a primarily middle-class suburb made up of mainly Italian Catholic, Greek and Macedonian Orthodox families, as well as many families from other European Orthodox religions. It is also one of the largest suburbs in the northern part of the Perth metropolitan area. Much of Balcatta is a commercial and industrial area.

1 History
2 Areas of Interest
3 External links

[edit] History

Balcatta's name was derived from the Aboriginal words "Bal" meaning "his" and "Katta" meaning "hill".

The area became popular with Southern European migrant families as it was one of the few areas that had not been settled and many migrant families wanted to build their own homes in their distinctive style, many complete with plaster figurines of lions and romanesque style columns adorning the front verandah and entry. Similarly, other European immigrant families had already settled in nearby suburbs such as Osborne Park, who made their living as market gardeners.

The area also became popular with families from Macedonia and the former Yugoslavia, leading to the establishment of the Yugoslav Club on Jones Street. The name of this club was later changed to the Adriatic Centre, so as not to offend or alienate members.

As many of the older families pass on and others choose to update by building a newer home further north, the area is becoming increasingly popular with those of Asian cultural background, perhaps attracted by the central location of the suburb and generous block sizes, which has also led to some parts of Balcatta being subdivided into small units or villas.

[edit] Areas of Interest

[edit] Jones Street

The longest street in Balcatta. Winding through a residential area, Jones Street has had repeated work done by the local council to try and smooth it out and make it more safe for both pedestrians and motorists. A number of new round-abouts have been constructed in order to slow down traffic at various points on the road.

[edit] Amelia Street

This hilly street runs east to west through Balcatta. It also goes past one side of Balcatta Senior High School.

[edit] Balcatta Senior High School (BSHS)

This is the only high school in Balcatta and has a great number of cultural and ethnically diverse students. The school has specialist programs in the Arts such as Dance and Drama.

[edit] Jones Paskin Reserve

A large Australian Rules Football oval and in the summer a cricket oval. This is the home ground of Osborne Park Football Club, however the club-house and true homeground are located less than a kilometre away on Delawney Street.