Noble Park, Victoria
Noble Park is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia close to 25 kilometres south-east of the central business district. It has a mixture of residential, commercial and industrial zones and is home to a highly multicultural population, with residents who have immigrated from Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas.
Noble Park has a number of schools, churches, mosques, temples, nunneries and monasteries, as well as a large collection of Vietnamese bakeries. Nazareth College is the suburb's most prominent secondary school (Catholic). While often considered to be a low socio-economic area, certain areas have large and elaborate homes. Due to the relatively low property costs in Noble Park however, it has recently undergone substantial residential redevelopment, which is increasing much of the property quality and value, if not the socio-economic quality, of the suburb.
Formerly market gardens, Noble Park has fertile soil and to this day still has a large number of River Red Gum trees. The streets often flood during storms due to the flat profile and old drains. Noble Park has a postcode of 3174.
It is located in Zone 3 on the Cranbourne/Pakenham railway lines.
To the north lies the Sandown Park Raceway, a motor racing track.
Arguably Melbourne's most notorious street gang during the 1980s originated in Noble Park and took the name 3174, immortalising that postcode in Melbourne's underworld history.
Noble Park's football club which includes cricket, lawn bowls, and legalized gambling makes it one of the EFL's richest football clubs.
In the late 1980's,the notorious gunman known as "Mad Max" caused a state wide manhunt by police to end his rein of terror in Noble Park. For 3 days the suburb was under heavy police presence .