Jesus, Walthamstow is bleak.
say what you like about hipsters, but they are systematically rejuvenating shitty parts of London.
Dalston was a dump, and now it's really very nice. They made Shoreditch trendy and this attracted a lot of commercial investment. See also Haggerston, parts of Brixton & Hackney & Deptford.
The process goes: Hipsters look for somewhere cheap & run-down with boarded-up shops to start their laudable but laughable businesses/shops/studios/cafes/venues in.
They find a likely area and start to colonise it. Soon other people/London media notice that XX is now becoming trendified and this accelerates the process and people want to go there to hang out, see/do/buy interesting stuff.
Demand for space increases with the prosperity/trendiness of the area, and after a few years commercial and residential rents increase have risen to the point where up-and-coming hipsters can't afford it, so the cycle begins again.
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feckler https://twitter.com/LeonardEctric1, Fri 15 Feb 2013, 10:59,
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True
You've got to feel a bit sorry for the people who live there already though. Gentrification, even gentrification-via-hipsters, eventually means no one can afford to live there.
(, Fri 15 Feb 2013, 11:04, Share, Reply)
not really, everyone benefits. The place becomes a bit cleaner and there's a lot more activity going on.
And it's not really gentrification, more hipsterisation. It usually sits nicely alongside the old mens boozers etc. Few people complain that we only have 2 pound shops now, and we used to have 6.
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feckler https://twitter.com/LeonardEctric1, Fri 15 Feb 2013, 11:11,
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I don't feel sorry for anyone in Walthamstow
Once they stop stabbing each other, burgling everywhere and setting things on fire, then I might feel sorry for them but until then, they are the perfect match for the hipsters.
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DinivanX Has stinging piss after drinking Pact Coffee, Fri 15 Feb 2013, 11:37,
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There is a nice aspect to walthamstow
there is a genuine community feeling there
Unfortunately you can barely see it underneath a see of stabbings, burglaries, arson, mattresses and filth
I lived there for over 10 years and am so glad to be away from it.
Been back the past two weekends to see mates and do not miss it one bit
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Joe Scaramanga with a G-double-O-D vibration, Fri 15 Feb 2013, 11:57,
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