Hornsby is a suburb on the Upper North Shore
of Sydney in the Australian state of New South
Wales 25 kilometres (16 mi) north-west of the
Sydney central business district. Hornsby is the
administrative centre of the local government
area of Hornsby Shire.
The Hornsby Shire Council was established in
1906. In 1961, The Westfield Group built a
shopping mall at Hornsby, making it one of the
first suburbs in Sydney with a modern-style
shopping centre. A competing shopping centre,
Northgate, opened in 1979 but was eventually
bought by Westfield. In late 1999, the two sites
were amalgamated when the original Westfield
was demolished and Northgate was renovated
to create the new Westfield Hornsby which
opened in November 2001.Residential areas,
consisting of low-to-medium density housing,
are located on both sides of the railway line.
Many of residential areas on the western side of
the train line enjoy bushy surrounds and
close proximity to Regional and National Parks,
as well as the beautiful Lisgar Gardens.

In recent years, high-rise apartments have
been constructed adjacent to the train line as
part of the NSW state planning policies to
allow medium to high density development
along transport corridors.