 The road is also a busy bus route, but a tram route which ran along it and a railway branch line which passed through the area by viaduct and tunnel closed in the 20th century.Although surrounded on several sides by other inner suburbs such as Hanover and Round Hill, Elm Grove is close to large areas of open space such as Race Hill, Tenantry Down and Brighton's extensive Victorian cemeteries.Brighton and Hove City Council's "Urban Characterisation Study" of the Hanover and Elm Grove districts describes the Elm Grove area as a "high density Victorian residential area following the contours of the steep valley side".