I have some questions about Brixton that I hope can be answered here :)

[Mrs Magpie]

I take it you've looked here;
www.urban75.org/brixton/index.html
Brixton does seem to be known around the world in a way that say, Harlesden isn't. For one thing it's not that far from Westminster so it's a handy place for politicians to visit for photo-ops etc. It has become a journalistic shorthand for 'inner-city' which is annoying. I've brought up 3 children to adulthood here and I love being here. There are horrible things about it and lovely things about it. The best thing is the heart of Brixton which is the market.

 

[netbob]

You could just type a postcode into UpMyStreet.com. All your questions answered.

 

[newbie]

Brixton does seem to be known around the world in a way that say, Harlesden isn't.

It seems to be but I was hoping our friend from across the pond would tell us how it's known- I mean does Brixton get frequent mentions in newspapers or on TV in Louisiana, is what happens outside the tube a regular topic of conversation in their bars or at their busstops? I know it's a lazy icon in the British media, but I'm rather astonished it's still noteworthy so far away, in a place with (seemingly) far greater social problems.

 

[Gixxer1000]

but I'm rather astonished it's still noteworthy so far away, in a place with (seemingly) far greater social problems.

Thank Richard Reid et al for raising the profile of Brixton to the Merkins.

 

[NOLA_504]

It seems to be but I was hoping our friend from across the pond would tell us how it's known- I mean does Brixton get frequent mentions in newspapers or on TV in Louisiana, is what happens outside the tube a regular topic of conversation in their bars or at their busstops? I know it's a lazy icon in the British media, but I'm rather astonished it's still noteworthy so far away, in a place with (seemingly) far greater social problems.

The reason I have heard about brixton is because I have been reading about London. Brixton is not something you hear in Louisiana, and I have never heard of it before I started reading up on London.

 

[quimcunx]

T Merkins.

raising the profile of brixton to pubic wigs?

 

[bluestreak]

The reason I have heard about brixton is because I have been reading about London. Brixton is not something you hear in Louisiana, and I have never heard of it before I started reading up on London.

so you thought that it sounded cool but might actually be really scary and decided to ask people who live there? that makes sense to me. you're not a cunt are yo? we've got a few of them around here and don't want any more but if you like a lively, friendly, noisy kinda place and you're alright you're welcome to join us.

 

[NOLA_504]

so you thought that it sounded cool but might actually be really scary and decided to ask people who live there? that makes sense to me. you're not a cunt are yo? we've got a few of them around here and don't want any more but if you like a lively, friendly, noisy kinda place and you're alright you're welcome to join us.

No.. my interest in it was that when I think of england, crime doesn't come to mind.. and gangs don't come to mind. Where I'm from gunshots were a daily occourance. So when I read about some place in london with gun crime and gangs, it intrigued me. I know brixton is not the only place in london like that, but I was confused on how brixton really is from what I have read.

I don't find any city or section anywhere 'scary'. I grew up in one of the most dangerous sections of one of the most dangerous cities in the western world. It's nicknames are murder capital, chopper city, cut throat city, etc. So it wasn't it being "scary".. it's just I didn't know london had any kind of crime problem, so I came to see if it was compared to the rest of london, or just in general. Brixton just intrigued me becuase the views on it were so varied.

 

[bluestreak]

don't believe the hype, that's all i'm gonna say

 

[Paulie Tandoori]

No.. my interest in it was that when I think of england, crime doesn't come to mind.. and gangs don't come to mind. Where I'm from gunshots were a daily occourance. So when I read about some place in london with gun crime and gangs, it intrigued me. I know brixton is not the only place in london like that, but I was confused on how brixton really is from what I have read.

I don't find any city or section anywhere 'scary'. I grew up in one of the most dangerous sections of one of the most dangerous cities in the western world. It's nicknames are murder capital, chopper city, cut throat city, etc. So it wasn't it being "scary".. it's just I didn't know london had any kind of crime problem, so I came to see if it was compared to the rest of london, or just in general. Brixton just intrigued me becuase the views on it were so varied.

hackney E8 pawns brixton innit way past cool sonny, way past cool

 

[behemoth]

I figured the locals had some idea.

So ask them. The people posting on an anonymous website do not necessarily represent a cross section of the population as a whole. Many may not even be from Brixton at all. The average age, income and ethnicity may be very different to the image you have created for yourself.

 

[newbie]

No.. my interest in it was that when I think of england, crime doesn't come to mind.. and gangs don't come to mind. Where I'm from gunshots were a daily occourance.

That sounds horrible. If that's your expectation then you're right not to think of England in that light. I've lived in Brixton for thirty-odd years and have never once heard a gunshot or seen a gun here (I saw one during an armed robbery in Balham once, years ago). That's why I asked, right back at the start of this thread, what definition of 'crime' you wanted to use. If it's just about guns then they're so rare that I'd anticipate 99.9% of the local population will never have seen or heard one either.

 

[quimcunx]

it's just I didn't know london had any kind of crime problem, so I came to see if it was compared to the rest of london, or just in general. Brixton just intrigued me becuase the views on it were so varied.

I think possibly the problem then is that you have a rather naive view of London and maybe the rest of the world too.