Where in London will be gentrified next?

[Willow1086]

Where in London do you think will be gentrified next?

@Dogoodfeelgood

Luckily the E&C shopping centre is being demolished! Have never been anywhere more awful in London ever. Think it’ll be replaced with nice park restaurants combo. The new line is going around there as well (can’t remember the name).

About bloody time. It is unremittingly grim. But there are some lovely Victorian terraces behind it so if they could make that hideous traffic island into a park with shops dotted around, that would raise it overnight.

@ArcheryAnnie
Thanks for sharing - have signed that petition. I'm surprised there aren't more signatures/donations. Can it be promoted more widely?

I was just going to say that heading towards the Imperial War Museum and up towards Borough, there are some lovely streets of period (late Georgian/early Victorian?) terraces interspersed with social housing. But yes the horrible roundabouts and general 'traffic-central' nature of the E&C area isn't a greatly desirable feature even for urban dwelling.

@Tealightsandd

Plenty more are arriving or staying. There's 9 million people in London. Only a small proportion are leaving.

The novelty of WFH full time permanently will wear off. For employees and for clients and customers. It's absolutely shit for young people just starting out or older career changers. Long term it's a lonely isolating and miserable way of life.

I understand your point buta lot Londoners I know are looking to move out and catch the train in or stay at a hotel when they come to town.

My own company has halved it space in town. A friend works at one major law firm that is looking at 100% home working and just having meeting space for clients. I know people at small companies that are getting rid of their office.

I don't see how you have gentrification if more people leave than move in.

As a catford resident of 5 years it’s definitely changing, although during lockdown half the high street has shut down! It’s still very rough and unsavoury though, hither green is just behind me which is nice or ladywell.

Plenty are also staying put in London. I only know a handful of people who have actually moved out or are planning to soon and they would have done so anyway regardless of the pandemic as they needed more space for growing families etc. I enjoyed being here during the pandemic we have so many wonderful parks and great community where I live in south east London. It made me realise how much I love this city!

@Jonnywishbone
Plenty are also staying put in London. I only know a handful of people who have actually moved out or are planning to soon and they would have done so anyway regardless of the pandemic as they needed more space for growing families etc. I enjoyed being here during the pandemic we have so many wonderful parks and great community where I live in south east London. It made me realise how much I love this city!

The problem with gentrification of areas, is it's fine and dandy if the mix of upmarket and social housing is 'cheek by jowl' but otherwise you run the risk of polarising opportunities (thinking access to education and the best state school options as one example).

Lewisham is this oasis of grimy functionality with gentrification all around.

This is so important! I can think of lots of places where you can get 16 different strains of sourdough but no chance of a Wilko, a Poundland, a Superdrug, an Aldi, a hardware shop or a basic street market. These may not be photogenic, but they are so useful.

I can imagine even if WFH 100% of time - I would choose where I wanted my social life, cultural life etc. and maybe many others would too. Depends how you prefer to spend your down time - in a noisy busy city centre, at the theatre, art galleries etc - or walking rolling hills or along the beach - or immersed in community activities or sports - if the definition of gentrification is as simple as a couple of artisan bakeries, coffee shops and a few independent boutiques - with character housing then that is happening in many many corners of the UK - I think some London people have blind spots as the basics of gentrification are ubiquitous in many towns and villages - if it’s to shove out people and make a profit then I agree with others not sure there is anywhere untouched. I am sure the big fat developers have all of their investment algorithms up and running and are way ahead of everyone.

@HumunaHey I agree shameful tone to this thread.

I agree with this - One of the big dangers of Gentrification is the 'cloning' of the High St.. they all look the same, with useless expensive shops and national chains moving in I.e. Oliver Bonas in London, but also if you go to seaside towns now they will all have a Joules/Seasalt/Fatface

It’s impossible sometimes to have any experience of being in Abersoch or Newquay or St Albans or Winchester or Chester or Harrogate. Yes they have their original geography or architecture but if the only options to eat out are Wagamamas, Prezzo, etc it’s all v poor culturally and experientially - and the the “fake” independent coffee shops like “Harris and Hoole” - run by Tesco....

It will be interesting whether places that have gentrified in the last fifteen/twenty years in zone 2 will increasingly de-gentrify. There are lots of areas where families put up with living in two-bed flats with kids because of the commute and the vibe. Will they really stay? Who will replace them? Will people put up with paying over the odds for family homes in semi-gentrified areas if they no longer both have a five-days-a-week commute?

We live in Zone 4 in a very non descript area but not far from posh areas, I have seen a change here though, lots more yummy mummies and daddies in the playground for instance. I think we'll see a few more nice cafes and stuff opening soon. A gastro pub opened recently and it's very very popular.

@Possiblynotever

Maida Hill? Wierd place between everything expensive - Notting Hill and Queens Park - but flats and houses cost much less. Lots of community centres, social housing (the whole of Chippenham Road sure is) and amazing transport between the Bakerloo and Hammersmith and city line. Also, you can take a good stroll on the canals...

I live in Maida Hill! Not much sign of gentrification so far, unless you count the independent coffee shop on Shirland Road. House prices are still ridiculously high round here though, gentrification or not.

i dont get the maida hill thing........it's sooo expensive and in parts still pretty grotty/unsafe. then again i think parts of ladbroke grove are still fairly sketchy

I've just found a new coffee shop down the road from me. The fact that it isn't a betting shop / kebab shop or chicken shop makes a nice change.

@Forrestcat

i dont get the maida hill thing........it's sooo expensive and in parts still pretty grotty/unsafe. then again i think parts of ladbroke grove are still fairly sketchy

I actually love living here - good transport links, close to several lovely parks, and if you want fancy shops you’re in walking distance of Maida Vale and Queen’s Park.

@bookworm14 am not against the area, just find it odd. having said that i find the whole of that part of london a bit odd and we are also living nearby. in particular, i find the school situation pretty odd .... they are so segregated. we are leaving just because of that. this is where gentrification or london thing is weird - communities live side by side but for example everyone continues to send their kids to different places etc etc

@TheYearOfSmallThings

Lewisham is this oasis of grimy functionality with gentrification all around.

This is so important! I can think of lots of places where you can get 16 different strains of sourdough but no chance of a Wilko, a Poundland, a Superdrug, an Aldi, a hardware shop or a basic street market. These may not be photogenic, but they are so useful.

Brixton still has a lot of the shops you mention above despite gentrification hitting it 15-20 yrs ago.

Also, it's interesting that people see 'masses leaving London' as a negative thing, in terms of what it means for London. Personally, I'd probably enjoy London more if it had fewer people - it is massively overpopulated as it is. I don't think any kind of mass exodus would have a lasting effect as London will always be a big draw, but for me personally it would be a bigger incentive to stay.

God some of the comments on this thread are horrible. It's just an excuse for people to make offensive, disparaging comments about parts of London they know are broken by poverty, where families are stuck in shitty accommodation because it's the only housing they can afford, where queues for food banks get longer by the week. But hey, let's all rub our hands with glee that they can be bulldozed out to make way for the middle classes.

It's already happened in Westminster and Kensington after all – families who lived there for years in social housing were shipped out to bleak, Stalag-style high rise estates on a windy estuary in Barking.

Yes I think that some “communities” live parallel and yet very separate lives even though they are physically cheek by jowl which is deliberately excluding, othering, protective and ultimately polarising. It starts with nurseries, schools and even after school activities. Children are either sent to private nurseries, private schools and costly after school clubs and activities which segregate communities due to accessibility by financial means. Or even when attending state schools money, agency and intel mean the system is played with parents buying or renting to fulfil catchment requirements or exploiting the faith schools route. Segregation also extends to leisure - private gyms, expensive coffee shops and restaurants which exclude poorer members of the community. I often wonder about the Kings Cross / Granary Sq development and how high end exclusive shops like Wolf and Badger and the very expensive restaurants must feel to the locals who were pushed further into Summerstown and the Caledonian Rd. Does it enhance their lives in any way or just draw a sharp and stark contrast ?