Friday 8 May 2009

Dalston cited as the 'coolest' place in Britain to live?


OK, so I'm probably a little slow off the mark on this one, seeing as the Guardian article went live at the end of April, however, I was trawling the internet for a piece in Italian Vogue, in which The Haggerston Pub is cited as one the top 5 bars in London. Instead, I discovered a G2 (Guardian supplement) write up naming Dalston, in particular, E8, as the 'coolest' place to live in not London but the WHOLE of Britain, really? I mean who decides these things, what a ridiculous statement to make. Needless to say I was slightly chuffed at the shear nonchalance of the piece, but seriously, if cool is measured in prostitutes and crack dealers hanging out just beneath your window, your house shaking every time a bus goes past and being woken up by the East London line construction at 6.30am weekdays, then boy are we 'cool' not to mention the drunkards that commune to discuss the aforementioned construction "ooh I can see 7 cranes, how many can you see John?, er 14?" I guess the point I'm trying to make is that who really gives a fuck how 'cool' a place is. What's important is the sense of community, being able to walk round and bump into people you know and seeing friendly local faces, such as Keith from the workshop or the guys from the bicycle shop (for the record my bike always seems to be playing up). And people who just let you be, more often than not, treating each other with respect. Dalston is a good place to live because of the relaxed melting pot and encouraging atmosphere that suggests, most of us are struggling, but it doesn't matter, everything is cool.... sorry I meant, safe, yeah? haha.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I don't think Dalston is that cool, west London is way cooler.