Gentrification?

I went to the launch of the Manor Arms. Me and everyone else in Streatham (or, I  secretly suspect, certain people in hunting jackets who may or may not have been imported from Hampstead for the evening.) The lovely assistant manager gave us a friendly greeting at the door. She was enthusiastic about the possibilities for the area. “They say it’s the next Balham or Clapham”. Oh do ‘they’. Well, ‘they’ have been saying that for the last 10 years.  ‘They’ also say we’re next for a tube expansion. ‘They’ are invariably estate agents or new arrivals to the ‘hood. I didn’t want to piss on her bonfire, but one has to correct people sometimes. She wasn’t from round here, you see.

Anyway, this isn’t a review of the Manor Arms. There are many of them and there will be many more to come, I’m sure. Nothing gets Time Out to SW16 like a £21 steak. For the record, the place looks great. Lets see how they get on. My job is simply to rant about gentrification.

Gentrification. It’s a loaded word. There was a time not so long ago when I was well up for it, but now I’m not so sure. I even thought the arrival of Foxtons was a good thing for the area. Before I panicked about house prices. I don’t own a house you see. But I do have frightfully middle class ambitions for life. What does gentrification mean? If it means that places like the White Lion can’t exist, or that independent restaurants and bars can’t start up because Strada and All Bar One are willing to pay higher rents, then we need to resist it with gusto.

What would really be a good thing for Streatham would not be so much gentrification, but bohemisation. Which is a fairly crap word, I admit.  What I mean is that small independent business serving local needs need to be able to thrive. We’ve avoided Starbucks, but for how long? I find it incredibly depressing that Café Nero is often so busy that people can’t get a seat. Coffee shops were one thing we already had. Loads of them. Good ones too, independent ones. Where every pound spent was spent supporting local businesses. And we have some truly lovely independent business. Earl Grey and Rose. Fish Tale. The Hamlet, and many more.

There are several reasons why Streatham will never be the next Clapham or Balham. 1. Streatham already had its hey day. Lightening doesn’t hit the same place twice (maybe). 2. The tube (or lack of it). 3. The shape. Long and thin and choked with traffic. If anyone’s got some bright ideas for sorting that out then speak up and speak loud. And finally, the biggest reason: 4. I don’t think people want it to be. This is quite simply the least pretentious place in London, and it’s all the better for it.

Anyway, I’m in the Manor Arms now, I admit. I’m a complete and utter phoney. I think driving is bad. I drive. I think gentrification is bad. I go to gastropubs. But I don’t think I need to worry about gentrification just yet. I just looked out of the window. Streatham has some way to go yet.

[insert generic St. Reatham joke]