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While it appears trendy to hate Shoreditch, London because it has become ‘branded’ as a hipster come trendoid area, I frankly don’t buy it.
Shoreditch, London much like Redfern in Sydney, was once a bit of a down and out area, yet .. it was an affordable option for housing in an over inflated market place. People saw an option to buy and or rent in something approaching a degree of realism.
These people in many respects were quite brave, moving into areas that had quite poor reputations. It is the creative types or hipsters, that a journo I read recently called the residents, that show this bravado to breathe life into an area. He claimed that the area was branded now and that it was an instagram nirvana and it is.
It is vibrant, colourful and actually clever, so feel free to see that I have instagrammed some of the amazing street art that I saw.
Shoreditch appears to me, as an outsider, to be an area that is arty, definitely friendly and very creative. The problem being? If it is wearing skin tight jeans .. like for real.
It’s really interesting to me to see how street art is one of the most recognisable differences when a city begins to change, like a flag to signify where the changes will begin. Shoreditch is a working example of this.
My own city of Wollongong in Australia is emerging from being known as a steel city, to hopefully a vibrant cosmopolitan city, and the street art is coming. Whether this is driven by our Council, which may be problematic, or by the citizens, will determine how well this will be achieved.
If creative and interesting people move into Shoreditch and liven the place up as they have done – then where is the issue? I just hope that we also get as many vibrant and diverse people in our home town.
So here is what we saw in Shoreditch, London and why I was impressed with this little enclave.
What do you think?
Shoreditch is pretty cool and has seen a real tidy-up, but at what cost? Residents who have been living in the area for decades have suddenly found their rents have risen beyond what they can afford. They’ve therefore been forced to move out by greedy landlords. There have been some success in fighting the rent rises (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/new-era-housing-estate-saved-by-russell-brand-becomes-first-to-introduce-means-tested-rent-10461178.html), but these are few and far between. It’s a real shame.
I agree, it is a double edged sword. I think by its very nature, gentrification means that there are consequences, and then the next ‘new’ place goes through the same process.
I love London’s east end! It may be hip but it’s still not slick. Room for things to happen and grow. Still room on the walls/hoarding for street art.
We loved it and wherever you turned there was something unique and special to look at.
I used to love Shoreditch – the creativity, the vibe, the street art, great independent places to eat, great nightlife. It’s a fun place. I worked there for 2.5 years.
Right now it’s still got all that but I think it’s on the cusp of losing it. The biggest problem with London right now is that once the creatives have moved in, done their thing, jazzing the place up making it desirable – which I definitely think is a model for regeneration – the money moves in. And in London that means serious money.
So taking Shoreditch as an example, the city types are now moving in fast – driving prices up – pricing out all of the artists. So now there is a lack of creative/arty types there, and it’s starting to feel a bit superficial. People are there because it’s cool.
This is happening to other parts of London too – Brixton’s another. Hackney is going through it big time right now.
But the problem with it all is that it’s pricing the people who do the regeneration out of the market – so they’re now many are moving to places like Bristol. Which is great for the UK but it’s a shame for London, but it’s becoming too expensive for people, especially artists, to live, so the city has changed a lot, even in the 5 years I’ve been here. It’s what happens when the property market grows at more than 10% every year with stagnant wages.
I agree. We see that in Australia also. It is very hard to get your foot into the property market now. A lot of what were less desirable neighbourhoods have now become very desirable and as you say, the prices reflect this. I think however that Shoreditch retains a very desirable edge, but I highly doubt that we could afford to live there. I am going to accept it, for it is, a place of some great street art. It beats drab buildings any day. Really appreciate your response, thank you.
I love Shoreditch! And I love taking pictures of the street art there too – it’s interesting because it’s always changing and evolving. In fact, I’ve never seen any of the street art you’ve featured here. Time to go back!
I love east london, especially shoreditch. I lived in columbia road and brick lane and loved every second of it. The difficulty is the hipsters turn into the yuppies and thats when everything becomes crazy money. Dont get me wrong i still love it but it just costs more to enjoy it.
I understand – places that started off as counter cultures, do get a little absorbed but they do still retain that uniqueness.
I love Shoreditch! I lived for 7 years in East London and it is a great place to be. That being said, I didn’t live for too long actually “in” Shoreditch. Its “hipster” label means that even the hipsters have been priced out of the area.
The creative types have moved even further east, and little pockets of arty going ons and trendy cafes are now found in what were, even more recently that Shoreditch was, even less desirable areas. But that is not a bad thing – regeneration is a good and it has brought a fresh of breath air into the whole of East London, not just one little part of it.
I totally agree, and we are seeing that in Australia also. It seems to be that less desirable can become more desirable and it does take creativity and bravado to do this.