| Topic: | Re:provocative article in Telegraph re Acton | |
| Posted by: | David Lawes | |
| Date/Time: | 05/02/13 20:51:00 |
| Sarah you’re absolutely right about white flight into Acton. It’s quite logical if you think about it. House prices in neighbouring mainly white Chiswick W4 are reaching such stratospheric levels now that would-be buyers are being forced to look at other neighbourhoods that they might not otherwise have considered. And that’s when Acton comes into play. Anyway, White flight as we traditionally know it has been going on for years ; there was certainly a White Flight from Notting Hill in the ‘50s, when it was a poor and mainly black Caribbean neighbourhood. Today you can’t buy a box room there for under £1million. The things that are happening right now in Acton – e.g. good quality eating places like Creperies opening up, an art gallery set up in the High Street, the regeneration of South Acton, house prices reaching all-time highs, point to a neighbourhood on the rise. OK, there’s still loads to be done ; as Jo says, the High Street is underwhelming and needs some sensitive development. The only people who’ve ever made me feel uncomfortable about living in my very multi-ethnic (mainly Ugandan Asian, Polish, Sri Lankan, Jewish and Sikh) neighbourhood of Kenton, only 7 miles and one borough away from Acton, are fellow white Anglo-Saxon British C of E people who try to make me feel guilty about living there ; they think I should move out, that I’m almost “fraternising with the enemy” by remaining there. But they’ve been doing that since 1989 when I first moved there. Don’t old dogmas die a hard death? I came here then, and remain here now, for good transport links and decent open spaces, features which Kenton shares in large measure with Acton. They more than compensate for any perceived disadvantage of being in a minority, demographically speaking. Not that that’s a problem for me. |