The Null Device

The Londonist reveals a list of places equivalent to Notting Hill around the world. (That's Notting Hill as in the part of West London, not as in the Working Title romcom.) These places include The Marais in Paris, Paddington in Sydney (though wouldn't Glebe be more Notting Hill?) and Christianshavn in Copenhagen; Manchester and Glasgow get two Notting Hill equivalents each: The Cliff and West Didsbury and Strathbungo and Garnethill respectively.

This research was carried out by the simple expedient of doing a Google search for "answer to notting hill". This technique can, of course, be extended to finding equivalents for other iconic districts: for example, Camden Town apparently has equivalents in Tokyo's Harajuku, San Francisco's Haight Ashbury (so that's full of brightly-coloured teenagers and mohician punks with "PUNK" in big letters on their clothing?), Stockholm's Hornstull and Buenos Aires' San Telmo. Running it for Melbourne locales was less fruitful; there are apparently no Brunswick Street equivalents anywhere, though there is one Chapel Street equivalent (Geelong's Packington Street).

Incidentally, there is no Melbourne equivalent of Notting Hill listed. Melbourne does have a locale named Notting Hill, but it is a rather desolate stretch of urban sprawl north of Monash University, where there are enough industrial estates to keep the student-infested 1970s bungalows spread out. Perhaps Carlton or Williamstown would be a more accurate equivalent?

(via londonist) ¶ camden town london notting hill psychogeography punk 2

The controversial redevelopment of Camden Town station, which would have replaced the station buildings, as well as the Buck St. Market (that's the Doc-Martens-and-T-shirts one) and the Electric Ballroom (considered a sacred site by many who were teens in the 1980s) with a wedge of glass and chrome containing shops and offices, has been scrapped, after the Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, rejected the plans. Opposition to the plans attracted prominent supporters, including Dame Judi Dench, Bob Geldof and Nick Cave, who described the Electric Ballroom as "part of the lifeblood of Camden Town".

(via reddragdiva) ¶ camden town culture heritage history london rock'n'roll urban planning 0

alwaystouchout.com is a comprehensive and detailed database tracking transport works projects in London, and there certainly is a lot there; from details of well-known projects like the East London Line extension, Heathrow Terminal 5, the Channel Tunnel Rail Link and the vastly expanded King's Cross/St. Pancras station that its shinkansen-style trains will terminate at, to air-conditioning the Tube (which desperately needs it, though it cannot be done by conventional means due to the size (and often the depth) of the tunnels). Not to mention numerous tram systems; within a decade or so, there could be trams going through central London and up and down Camden High Street and Upper Street, Islington; who would have thought?

Another thing that's planned (and likely to take place) is a redevelopment of Camden Town station. Perhaps worryingly, Transport for London's official proposal involves demolishing the entire block with the station, including the nearby market and the Electric Ballroom, and building on the site a shiny glass building, which could well hasten the gentrification and sterilisation of the area. As such, a group has formed to fight this proposal, instead putting forward an alternative redevelopment idea that, it says, meets all standards, preserves the architecture of the area and, additionally, would be cheaper and faster to construct.

And while we're on transport in London, an amusing song about the London Underground (1.8Mb MP3; strong language warning).

¶ camden town london mp3s public transport uk 3