In the middle of the twentieth century Échirolles was still a farming village south of Grenoble. The first sign of urbanisation dates from 1927, with the building of the Viscose estate: a workers' estate put up about a hundred metres from the artificial silk factory, which ran until 1989. The Viscose museum, on rue du Tremblay on the site of the former factory, keeps the memory of that period alive.
The town was then built very fast during the post-war boom years, and later through the Villeneuve project launched in 1970. The large estates of the east and north-east, around Les Essarts, Surieux and Les Granges, date from that phase. The motorway, the southern ring road and the railway line cut the territory into clearly separated areas. From the 1990s onwards, the town gave itself a centre, around the town hall, the La Rampe venue and the cinema.
That history explains the price map. The south-east, around the Frange Verte park and La Commanderie, where houses dominate, forms the top of the market. The centre, La Viscose and Le Village sit around the average. The large estate areas of the east remain the most affordable in the town.
