Hoppers Crossing is located 28.8 km south west of Melbourne's CBD.
Until 1963, Hoppers Crossing consisted of a general store. In 1963 the town started to take shape with the first subdivision of residential land taking place. As of 2006 census data, the population of Hoppers Crossing was 39,051.
Growth of Hoppers Crossing followed into the 1970s, with the Post Office opening on 2 June 1975. Hoppers Crossing's first shopping centre was built, called Woodville Park. In 1970, the area's first primary school, Mossfiel Primary School, had its first student intake.
In 1981, Hoppers Crossing Shopping Centre opened. It includes a Target store, a Woolworths supermarket and 10 other stores. Between the years 1980 and 1994, Hoppers Crossing experienced a period of great growth, with the population growing nearly five times in size (from 8,500 to 40,000 people).
Werribee Plaza opened in the late 1980s. It was modernised between 2000 and 2006. Several significant redesigns and extensions have been built. It now includes shops such as Myer, Safeway, Big W, K-Mart, Coles, JB Hi Fi, The AFL Store, Adairs, Regent Cinemas, Best and Less and many more. The Victorian State Government announced plans of a $300 million upgrade, which will more than double the plaza's retail space. Once completed, the plaza will be just a tad smaller than Highpoint, the biggest shopping centre in the Western area of Melbourne.
A smaller shopping centre called Hogans Corner was established in 1997-1998 and is located on the corner of Derrimut Road and Hogans Road. It houses a Woolworths supermarket, McDonalds, Red Rooster, Dan Murphy's, Pulse Pharmacy, 2 Fish and Chip shops, newsagency, chicken shop and a number of other small shops.
Another shopping centre, Wyndham Village, was built on Sayers Road on the border of Hoppers and Tarneit in 2005, and is quickly expanding: it includes numerous shops including Coles, Aldi, Sams Warehouse, Donut King, CT Lane, Video Ezy, Brumbys Bakery, a Medical Centre, Chemist, Hair dressers, ANZ bank, Australia Post, a small deli and several other stores.
There are also a large variety of warehouse and clearance sale shops are on Old Geelong Road, such as furniture shops and hardware stores. These shops include Bunnings Warehouse, The Good Guys, Harvey Norman, Mitre 10, The Big Picture People, Pet Stock, Just Fitness and many other shops. In fact, many of the shops located on Old Geelong Road are found nowhere else in the Western suburbs.
There several parks including playgrounds and recreational areas generally 2-4 blocks of land in residential streets. Recreation reserves mostly exist along Skeleton Creek.
Werribe 10 Cinemas as well as the Volt Nightclub are located at Werribee Plaza in Hoppers Crossing. There is a skate park, 2 sporting ovals, 6 netball courts, tennis courts and a playground located at Mossfiel Reserve. There are numerous offroad bike tracks including a BMX track which is situated near the Fire Station. For younger children there is Wonderland Indoor Play Centre and next to Hoppers indoor-sports where indoor soccer teams play. The Wyndham Leasure And Events Centre with a multi-purpose pool and a lap pool, gym and community function rooms and stage. The youth resource centre frequently operates activities for young children and teenagers.
Hoppers Crossing has many gyms and sports grounds. There are facilities for tennis, soccer, Australian rules football, basketball, netball and more. In 2004, the Federation Trail was opened, which links Werribee with Brooklyn, and soon Yarraville. A new soccer complex was built at The Grange for the Hoppers Crossing Soccer Club. They previously played at Mossfiel Reserve, which is now a rugby football field.
(Information courtesy of Wikipedia and related references)
