"Young professionals" to infest flats above Iceland

[editor]

I prefer to imagine "a stealthy infiltration by squatters" myself. It's a much more appropriate image.

Talking of squatters, I've been talking to the South London Radical History Group in the hope of filling in the holes of my 121 Centre article, as well as adding more info about other Brixton squats I've missed.

And at the Brixton Cycles party a few weeks ago, I met the two women who cracked the original Cooltan building. Respect was due!

(I won't mention the fate of the Coldharbour Lane Cooltan building as I tend to get rather worked up over that).

 

[zcat]

I don't believe any 'yuppies' live in Brixton. I think their presence is the figment of some highly fertile prejudiced paranoid imaginations.

Q. well then why cant local people who've grown up here afford to buy a fuckin gaff here
A. cause the fucking yuppies and property speculators moved in and pushed all the prices up

up untill the early 90s every one round here was much the same income level (a few exceptions)
now there is a shitload of difference
oh and i suspect if your black and got a brixton postcode you wont land a "young professionals" job
as well as the lack of council houses which were all sold off some whilst they were still squatted (squatted - b4 u start moaning- because the council had left them to rot so not able to put tennants in em ) cause the council it throughly corupt as well as the people who work for it .
a mate used to work in the housing dept in 80s said workers sold off tennancies to their mates or didnt do any work at all, some even had other jobs and got others to sign them in to work

what do yuppies ever do for the local community anyway just moan about the graffiti and the poor people

 

[zcat]

Somebody talking sense at last.

ta 'Stella

II prefer to imagine "a stealthy infiltration by squatters" myself. It's a much more appropriate image.

yup

 

[Orang Utan]

up untill the early 90s every one round here was much the same income level (a few exceptions)
now there is a shitload of difference

Isn't diversity a GOOD thing?

It's difficult for anyone to buy a house anywhere in London, let alone Brixton.

 

[tommers]

Q. well then why cant local people who've grown up here afford to buy a fuckin gaff here

that is a nationwide problem. The housing market is massively overpriced.

if that is the cause of these mythical "yuppies" then I'm purple.

and I'm not.

 

[IntoStella]

*groan*

This whole thing isn't really helping, is it? I mean, is there really anyone here who thinks that whether "young professionals" are lovely or horrible is at all significant compared to the fact that new housing is being specifically targeted for that subsection of society, whilst other people are unable to afford it?

Er yes, you're right. That is the point. But why so many people chose to ignore this and instead leapt on the throwaway and ultimately irrelevant term 'infest' is for them to explain. As I've said before, if someone sees red at the word yuppie, that speaks volumes about how they see themself, not about how I, for example, see them.

Besides, whenever anyone laments the lack of affordable/social housing they get leapt on for oppressing the poor yups. I'm sorry but the buyer is as culpable in this as the property developer. Both are knowingly creating a climate in which hardly anyone can afford to buy a home and a great many people can't even afford to rent.

 

[zcat]

Isn't diversity a GOOD thing?

sure it is but not at the expence of other less fortunate people

 

[IntoStella]

That's what your assumption is. How do you know they won't use the market, shop at the local deli, etc etc etc. I'm thinking they are actually more likely to spend money than poorer people who live here.

Use those smelly shops? never!

Besides, that is YOUR assumption.

 

[zcat]

Who would you rather live next door to, really? Pikeys who have piles of junk outside and kids wrecking your car or a quiet, hardworking Yuppie? I would prefer the Yuppies, any day!

Whats a Pikey
its a racist abusive term thats what

 

[Orang Utan]

I'm sorry but the buyer is as culpable in this as the property developer. Both are knowingly creating a climate in which hardly anyone can afford to buy a home and a great many people can't even afford to rent.

WHAT?
I would like to buy a flat here, but I cannot afford it yet.
Maybe one day I will be able to afford one, but you're saying that I shouldn't buy one.
Where should I live then?

 

[tommers]

Whats a Pikey
its a racist abusive term thats what

wait a minute!

has there been some PREJUDICE shown on this thread?!?

come on. hands up. who was it?

 

[Orang Utan]

Use those smelly shops? never!

Besides, that is YOUR assumption.

You can't turn it around like that!
You were the one who said that 'they' wouldn't use the local amenities, and would use the place as a dormitory. What about drinking at Living too?

 

[IntoStella]

what do you consider a "meaningful sense"?

how do you know all this info about them?

do you follow them around?

I live very near to where they hang out and I see them all the time, day in, day out.

By a meaningful sense I mean interacting socially and economically with a diversity of local businesses, not just handing wads of cash to Lawrence Merrett (RIP. Not).

 

[ViolentPanda]

a mate used to work in the housing dept in 80s said workers sold off tennancies to their mates or didnt do any work at all, some even had other jobs and got others to sign them in to work

After local authorities were forced by Thatch and her shitbag cronies to put CCT (compulsory competitive tendering) in place (with the destruction of a lot of "direct labour" council jobs) Lambeth had a particular sub-contractor that I had this misfortune to know quite a lot about (I "expropriated" copies of a lot of their financial papers for a friend who was building a case against them). I sent recorded delivery and registered letters with proof of the company's fondness for double-invoicing, mis-charging etc to various parts of the Lambeth heirarchy. Did they think twice about using this company? Did they buggery. Result? They found out a few years down the line that, oddly enough, they'd been ripped off something rotten through exactly the same tricks as I'd warned them about.

 

[Stobart Stopper]

Whats a Pikey
its a racist abusive term thats what

Well, that's what THEY called themselves...the ones who rented a house not far fromhere....the ones who set my mate's shed on fire. When she went round there they told her they were "Fucking Pikeys and we will smash yer faces in." Charming! They have fucked off now.

 

[IntoStella]

sure it is but not at the expence of other less fortunate people

Exactly. What diversity means in terms of gentrification is, er, the opposite of diversity. All your local shops, places to eat, markets, pubs, good bars and the like get swept away in favour of an identikit row of yuppie bahs and starbucks. Which offer nothing to people who aren't rich.

 

[Orang Utan]

I live very near to where they hang out and I see them all the time, day in, day out.

I seen 'em. They'll rob you blind. Don't turn your back on them for one second. These [spits on floor] YUPPIES! They look so shifty and their eyes are too close together.

At the risk of repeating myself, who are there YUPPIES you speak of and what do they look like? How will I know if I meet one? Why have I never seen anyone I would describe as a yuppie in Brixton?

 

[IntoStella]

WHAT?
I would like to buy a flat here, but I cannot afford it yet.
Maybe one day I will be able to afford one, but you're saying that I shouldn't buy one.
Where should I live then?

I honestly doubt you'd really want to live in a yuppie dormitory. Not all property on the market is potential social housing stock that has been bought up and redeveloped by property developers.

 

[ViolentPanda]

that is a nationwide problem. The housing market is massively overpriced.

if that is the cause of these mythical "yuppies" then I'm purple.

and I'm not.

You're at least lilac then mate.

Think of it this way; there's around about 160,000 (and rising) 2nd homes in England and Wales (not including chalets and static caravans). How much presure would be taken off the housing market if people hadn't indulged their whim for a second home (although I'll acknowledge that half a dozen of that number do belong to our sainted Prime Minister)?

Lilac Tommers indeed!

 

[Stobart Stopper]

I reckon they should build prefabs again. They were good. Used to have loads of them in Bethnal Green, behind our shop.

 

[tommers]

if people hadn't indulged their whim for a second home

Lilac Tommers indeed!

that is a fair enough point I guess, although I don't know anyone who has a second home.

lilac tommers eh? I can see a new tagline coming on!

 

[tommers]

I reckon they should build prefabs again. They were good. Used to have loads of them in Bethnal Green, behind our shop.

there was something on the news about them last night. looked alright but they said they had only commissioned a thousand. and that's hardly going to change the world...

 

[Orang Utan]

They're IKEA homes....hmmmmm.

 

[IntoStella]

I reckon they should build prefabs again. They were good. Used to have loads of them in Bethnal Green, behind our shop.

As long as they were well designed and planned then I agree. There are still some wartime ones in West Norwood AFAIK.

But then land is at such a premium that it wouldn't help a lot in Lambeth.

 

[IntoStella]

there was something on the news about them last night. looked alright but they said they had only commissioned a thousand. and that's hardly going to change the world...

It's a bloody good start.

 

[lang rabbie]

But why so many people chose to ignore this and instead leapt on the throwaway and ultimately irrelevant term 'infest' is for them to explain.

I haven't previously commented on it, but to me it didn't seem throwaway at all. And using 'infest' to describe a group of urban incomers has some very unfortunate precedents ...

The film [The Eternal Jew] featured particularly disgusting scenes of the rats in the ghettos, and it attempted to liken the Jews to the rats saying that both 'infest the towns of Germany'.

http://www.holocaust-history.org/der-ewige-jude/stills.shtml

 

[FridgeMagnet]

Er yes, you're right. That is the point. But why so many people chose to ignore this and instead leapt on the throwaway and ultimately irrelevant term 'infest' is for them to explain. As I've said before, if someone sees red at the word yuppie, that speaks volumes about how they see themself, not about how I, for example, see them.

I originally got a bit irritated at all the stuff about "young professionals", being (well, relatively) young and (having been) a professional, and more importantly having friends who are youngish professionals who live in Brixton. But it's not going to get anywhere, arguing about all that. I'm more interested in what people can do about the situation.

 

[IntoStella]

I haven't previously commented on it, but to me it didn't seem throwaway at all. And using 'infest' to describe a group of urban incomers has some very unfortunate precedents ...


http://www.holocaust-history.org/der-ewige-jude/stills.shtml

Oh come on rabbie. We have already been over this. What a totally out of order and Godwin's law busting comparison to make. Only a total moron would draw a comparison between rich tory cunts and asylum seekers or, indeed, the victims of the holocaust. You ought to be thoroughly ashamed of yourself. I didn't think you were that low. Clearly I massively overestimated you.

What a fucking tosser. Yuppies=holocaust victims? You ARSEHOLE.

 

[Orang Utan]

You are making assumption about people from their backgrounds though

 

[tommers]

I originally got a bit irritated at all the stuff about "young professionals", being (well, relatively) young and (having been) a professional, and more importantly having friends who are youngish professionals who live in Brixton. But it's not going to get anywhere, arguing about all that. I'm more interested in what people can do about the situation.

anyway. lambeth council released a statement today to say that they are providing more "affordable housing".