Inner suburbs continue to boom as resident numbers grow Toorak is one of Melbourne's few declining suburbs with resident numbers dropping. MELBOURNE'S inner suburbs are continuing to boom with thousands of extra residents streaming in over recent years. Over the past five years, the CBD's population has grown by 7600 while North Melbourne and Southbank have each added about 2800 people, says new ABS data. St Kilda grew by 2500 from 2007 to 2012 as details of a proposed 26-storey apartment tower on St Kilda Rd have been released. The S.T.K project, near Barkly St, will be the suburb's tallest building and feature more than 300 apartments and townhouses. Other inner-city areas with high growth include Richmond (2100 extra people), Footscray (2064) and Docklands (2048). As usual, Melbourne's biggest growth occurred on the city fringe, with South Morang (28,500), Point Cook (19,900) and Tarneit (15,300) leading the charge over the five-year period. But several established suburbs also showed solid growth reflecting substantial infill development. These included Dandenong (4245), Braybrook (2877), Clayton (2467) and Croydon (2198). Despite Melbourne having the biggest growth of any Australian city, several suburbs recorded population declines between 2007 and 2012. Wealthy Toorak lost 61 people, with one explanation being linked to ageing populations. Other suburbs to suffer losses included Eltham (down 419), Mill Park South (down 759), Taylors Lakes (down 401) and Keilor (down 239).