Errr, probably best if you
don’t take the ‘Harry Hill’ resolution option, though. We had quite enough of that back in summer….
Unlike Tottenham, Brixton's cultural appeal appears to be untouched by the recent disorders. Middle-class families still want to move to Brixton and the area continues to have an appeal beyond its boundaries.
So says
Symeon Brown, senior researcher on the Guardian's Reading the riots study.
Whereas the Tottenham MP, David Lammy, has pleaded with the British public to remember Tottenham, Jowell was able to boast about Brixton's popularity when stating that "people come from all over London to eat in Brixton and enjoy Brixton".
Perhaps it’s possible that the difference resides in the quality of their elected MPs? Just a thought…
Brixton, in stark contrast to Tottenham, has been able to transform itself into a cultural hotspot by the way it has told its story. Like Brooklyn in the US, the south London district has embraced and commodified its history – even the controversial and radical parts – and this is now central to its cultural appeal. The Brixton pound, a local currency to encourage spending in local stores, features images of the educationalist and historian, Len Garrison, the feminist and Marxist activist, Olive Morris and the radical historian, CLR James: three local figures proudly embraced as central to Brixton's story.
There’s a ‘Brixton pound’..!? Wow, the things you learn on this here internet…
Tottenham is home to a cultural renaissance, but so far it has been a well-kept secret. The changing landscape of urban music, which has moved from the fringes into the mainstream, gives Tottenham contemporary relevance. Chart-topping artists and rising stars, Wretch 32, Adele, Chipmunk, Marvel, Bluey Robinson, Yolanda Adams, JME and Skepta all have roots in Tottenham.
That’s all that Tottenham has to offer? Well, it’s no wonder it isn’t bringing visitors flocking in, then…
This idea – that Tottenham's cultural product could spur local regeneration in the absence of large employers – was one that the former Tottenham MP, Bernie Grant, advocated before his death in 2000.
See, again, we’re back to the quality of Tottenham politicians!
His legend is now seen in the £7.8m Bernie Grant Art Centre, opened in Autumn 2007.
Ahhh, yes. And
what a fitting ‘legend’ it is, too…
Tottenham is not a quiet and leafy residential suburb. Its true appeal is its illustrious story and diverse people. Recognising this selling point and taking a cue from how Brixton's investment in culture has been at the heart of its regeneration must be the foundation of any attempt to refashion Tottenham.
Strange he should mention it’s ‘diverse people’. One is left wondering from this column if there are any
white people in Tottenham...
The "Brixton Pound" .. worth 1/6d, a bowl of goat curry or a spliff of ganja .. ;)
ReplyDeleteComparing Brixton with Tottenham is like saying "what would you rather die of,aids or cancer?".
ReplyDeleteJaded
I have worked in Brixton but not Tottenham.God isn't that cruel.
Tottenham is not a quiet and leafy residential suburb. Its true appeal is its illustrious story and diverse people.
ReplyDeleteIt is a disgusting, dangerous, smelly, third-world jungle.
I know a few contemporaries who've moved to Brixton in the hopes of it becoming gentrified.
They could be right, but until that happens, they'll continue to fear for their safety.
Symeon Brown might be able to ponce around in these shitholes, but the pulchritudinous, blonde Mrs 20 is staying right here with me in W4.
Nothing funnier that the trendy left nouveau rich spending thousands moving into diverse cultural bliss and then moving out quietly after endless burglaries and muggings.
ReplyDeleteThe reason the dahlings moved to Brixton was because they could no longer afford Clapham. And they only went to Clapham because they were driven across the Thames by rising prices.
ReplyDeleteBrixton remains a filthy, dangerous place that spreads its evil influence around it, squeezing the few remaining habitable parts of South London in a pincer movement with that other gangster infested cesspit, Croydon.
Tottenham, on the other hand, ceased to exist as a recognisable part of England thirty or more years ago.
None of this is known to 'liberals' because they don't have to endure life in either of the two swamps.
The ideal 'Brixton Pound' would be about two miles square, enclosed by a barbed wire fence thirty feet high.
ReplyDelete"The "Brixton Pound" .. worth 1/6d, a bowl of goat curry or a spliff of ganja .. ;)"
ReplyDeleteWell, still a better exchange rate than the Euro.. ;)
"Comparing Brixton with Tottenham is like saying "what would you rather die of,aids or cancer?"."
Heh!
"It is a disgusting, dangerous, smelly, third-world jungle."
Agreed! And I've only visited it in daylight...
"Nothing funnier that the trendy left nouveau rich spending thousands moving into diverse cultural bliss and then moving out quietly after endless burglaries and muggings."
Quite!
".. in a pincer movement with that other gangster infested cesspit, Croydon."
I have to say, on reflection, that Croydon is worse.
"The ideal 'Brixton Pound' would be about two miles square, enclosed by a barbed wire fence thirty feet high."
Excellent suggestion!
Unfortunately I live in the London Borough of Haringey (which includes Tottenham) although, fortunately, on the West side of the borough. The problem is that the Labour client vote in the East (benefiterati and other recipients of taxpayers' largesse) outnumber the non-Labour voters in the West giving Labour permanent control. Accordingly Haringey council tax is one of the highest in the UK and is used to pay for the cultural garbage and racial kidology so ably trumpeted by Symeon Brown and friends. Mind you, the only opposition to Labour is Libdem so I don't think things would change radically if Labour (by some miracle) actually lost control.
ReplyDeleteI'm all for "no taxation without representation" but, at a local level - and certainly in Haringey, there should be "no representation without taxation".
Brixton's better than Tottenham for sure.
ReplyDeleteIt's alright to visit during the day but I wouldn't to live in Brixton, too much aggravation.
Tottenham has some not-bad bits but on the whole it's grim.
Twnety_Rothmans: you've obviously never been to Stonebridge Park, Kidbrooke, Leyton etc etc.
Out of interest do Wretch 32, Adele, Chipmunk, Marvel, Bluey Robinson, Yolanda Adams, JME and Skepta ALL still live in Tottenham?
ReplyDeleteI'm sure some do. A quick office poll revealed that at least two on that list no-one had heard of, so they almost certainly do.