Bourke Street is one of the main streets of Melbourne's Central Business District and a core feature of the Hoddle Grid. It was traditionally the entertainment hub of inner-city Melbourne, and is now also a popular tourist destination and tram thoroughfare.
During the Marvellous Melbourne era, Bourke Street was the location of many of the city's theatres and cinemas. Today it continues as a major retail shopping precinct with the Bourke Street Mall running between Elizabeth and Swanston Streets, numerous offices to the west end and restaurants to the east. Bourke Street's liveliness and activity has often been contrasted with the sobering formality of nearby Collins Street. For this reason, "Busier than Bourke Street" is a popular colloquialism denoting a crowded or busy environment.
Bourke Street is named for Sir Richard Bourke, the Governor of New South Wales in 1837 during the drafting of the Hoddle Grid.