by Alastair Pusinelli.
The pop-ups, the hipsters, the micro-brewed ales; an image
that has been sprouting in areas of London over the past decade. It all started
with Notting Hill back in the late 1960s and early ‘70s, which was often
referred to as the British answer to Greenwich Village. W11 was riled with
artists, musicians and community activists. But come the ‘80s, gentrification
was in full effect and Notting Hill, with its stylish architecture and open
setting, was a hotspot for upper middle class families.
So where did these free-spirited arty types turn to next? In
the mid ‘90s the hipsters travelled six miles east to the ‘faceless’ Shoreditch,
an area for light industrial firms which was suffering from a lack of identity.
However, artists such as Tracey Emin and Damien Hirst moved to the area just
before the turn of the century, and a wave of creative types soon followed. Since
then Shoreditch has been transformed into the trendy, arty hipster capital of
London. Over the years the area became more and more popular, with several
technology companies basing their offices around Old Street during the second
‘dot-com’ boom at the start of the current decade.
Well it seems that Shoreditch has now had its day and our
beloved hipsters are on the move again. The current crop of bearded, beanie
wearing folk now believe it is uncool to live in such a popular area, with
house prices on the rise and cereal cafés round every corner.
So where have they taken their ale stained vintage sweaters
to? Well it appears now that the hipster population of London is now splitting
up. The buzz of the Olympics saw many migrate to Hackney and nearby Dalston,
but you will also find ironic cigarette rolling south of the river. Hipster
sightings have been reported in Peckham, Crystal Palace and Streatham, with
others heading to the northern reaches of Walthamstow and Tottenham.
So why these areas? As much I’d like to suggest that these
places have a draw because of a thriving community or effervescent nightlife,
the simple fact is that these places are cheap. If we look at Hackney, between
the consensuses of 2001 and 2011, there was a 65% change in workers to the
sector of culture, media and sport, a notoriously underpaid field for under
40s.
It’s so easy for these media types to commute into the City
for work and there is no doubt that these areas will grow like Shoreditch did,
and at a faster rate. It took over ten years for Shoreditch to emerge from the
shadow of Notting Hill, and it has only taken a couple years for Dalston to
come to the fore, and the hipsters are already on the move again.
So it seems that ‘uncoolness’ is the key to make a place
popular, so the only question that remains is will the hipsters get fed up of
the capital? I hear Devon is lovely at this time of year…
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