I have been following all the jive talk in the media about the pros and cons of gentrification in London, a city where houses are like unicorns - rare and unobtainable for the vast majority of Londoners including those already on the property market and looking to upgrade. I live on the doorsteps of both Clapham and Brixton or what you might call the posh end of suburban Brixton and the arse end of Clapham. Life in these parts have always been one of indifference, i.e. until recently when unhappy house hunters pushed out of prime Clapham and Fulham began hunting for bargains in Brixton with it lines of mostly terraced Victorian houses. Although gentrification is not new to Brixton and Brixton has always had it's own equivalent of gentry, the place has become abuzz with what one might call 'gentrification sickness' or 'gentrifcation blue' Brixton was a fine enough area, a unique place with it's own special identity, until Shoreditichfication kicked in a couple of years ago. Not content with it's fast rising property prices triggered by profiteering and exploitative estate agents bent on milking the area dry of its self-worth, the powers that then decided that Brixton's old and enduring left-field image was no longer attractive and relevant and so Brixton had to be fashioned into something else to make it more attractive to incomers. To put it bluntly Brixton was never Clapham and never pretended to be, it did not have the laid back vibe associated with Clapham with its army of yummy mummies, bankers and privately educated young professionals, neither could you associate Brixton with it's more conservative and wealthier neighbours of Herne Hill and Dulwich but what it had was it's own distinct identity with lots of edge, something close to Notting Hill before it became a bankers trap. Truth is that Brixton with it's edgy and colourful identity is fast disappearing, whether for better or for worse. Incomers keen to assure themselves that they have made the right choice are keen to promote the area's up and coming status as if this great area had only just been discovered yesterday (but perhaps it has by those who wouldn't have thought of living there but are now forced to do so out of the necessity of living close to a tube and getting to work or befuddled by media brainwashing). Estate agents keen to lure desperate house hunters into securing a purchase have been marketing the place as the new 'Shoreditch' with the hope that those desperate house hunters will fall for the illusion and bite the alternative apple and many have. Properties in run down shabby parts of Clapham North and Stockwell are now being marketed as Brixton Central rather than Stockwell or Clapham North purely on the basis that you can command a higher price through association with prime Brixton rather than the arse end of Clapham and Stockwell. How ironic!
In the meantime Gentrifiction continues apace. The nice bits, Windrush square looks great and so are the surrounding streets and the wild no-man's-land Coldharbour Lane has been tamed and contained. The area is much nicer but why does it have to take more affluent people moving into an area for Lambeth to even consider tarting up the place or for business to establish themselves here? We're the working classes, black and minority ethnic folk or affluent Brixtonians not deserving of even the most basic shops before 2010? This is a bafflement but the same could be said of Peckham. It is as if the veil has been lifted and the reality of London's housing market means that you can no longer turn your nose up at the humblest of neighbourhood. A Victorian or Edwardian house is the same whether in Chelsea or Catford and in a situation where only the wealthiest (and poorest) can afford to live in Zone 1, you are not left with much of a choice because those neighbourhoods that were once snubbed by the middle classes are now the most desirable.
Back to Brixton. Truth is that there have always been many affluent people living in Brixton but those were people who chose to live there because they simply loved the area and their homes without all the nouveau-gentry adornments. They have even opened a Shoreditch-esque Boxpark style centre near Brixton market to complement Brixton market. All these developments are great and worthy but come at a price. Loss of identity, becoming a gentrified pastiche that people soon forget about because it has become too expensive, less distinct and too bland. In any case there is always the next big up and coming area for estate agents and their media cohorts to coo about such as Streatham currently being targeted as the new Clapham to attract yummy mummy types who can't afford Clapham or Balham but are too scared to live in Brixton, which they might also not be able to afford.
