It costs more to see a film at the Ritzy than to buy a glass of champagne.
Its true, and the cost of cinema tickets are another thing that have become prohibitively expensive for many people. PeckhamPlex is probably the last affordable cinema in London.
This is the thing, we have out of control inequality in London and those at the bottom of that inequality are getting priced out of public life, never mind being priced out of being able to feed, warm and house themselves.
Where can you buy cheap food at a market in south london? I can think of Brixton, Peckham, Deptford and I hope East Street still. People travel to Brixton from all around to do their food shopping - I travel in to Peckham, but its not got the transport links that Brixton has. Brixtons cheap food market is feeding a lot of people, many already struggling to make ends meet.
Theres a tipping point, the spending habits of new richer Brixton residents are more than capable of dominating 'the market' of the area - they spend more, on high end products and activities, other retailers move in to get their share of all this money being thrown around, and the margins necessary to make a living selling cheap wares collapse as rents go up. It is not impossible that Brixton will lose all its market stalls over the next decade. 10 more years of articles from Rosamund and it'll get there. There'll be an unaffordable farmers market of course and regular 'foodie fayres'.
The result of that is inequality increases yet further, and public retail space and activities affordable to poorer Londoners disappear, and inequality deepens further still. I know im increasingly feeling priced out of public life, pubs are too expensive, music events are too expensive, transport is too expensive, football is too expensive etc etc etc. Its partly why i spend so much time on the internet! If I had the money id be out enjoying what the city has to offer. A shitty market may not be much but at least its affordable!
