Mark Peel's piece in today's Sunday Age was right on the money in terms of the ways in which 'outer suburban' areas are so often typified as conservative, racist, homophobic, cultural wasteland, blah blah - Howard's heartland and so on. Mark Peel is talking about Berwick, which is more often seen as aspirational McMansion territory than where we live, but still the bottom line of his argument holds true - and I never thought I'd raise my voice in anger against the latte quoffing elites - but I wish I had a dollar for every time I heard some stupid cliche about the area in which we live, which I am now (3 years in) ready to say are all demonstrably untrue. Most recently I noted a livability table (OK, in itself a crock) which had our area down as registering 0 on crime rate, which is what it is best known for (that and Turkishness, but there was no category for that on this list).
The fear of anywhere 5 km from the GPO that comes up so often in so many different forums is so stupid it's one of those things that would be funny if it wasn't so prevalent/ 'known'. The really funny thing is that 30 years ago it was the inner city that was perceived as the evil wasteland.
I realise I am mixing up my objections but I am really just registering an inchoate yowl of general irritation. Because there's nothing to be done until everyone changes their mind and then they will deny ever having had the former opinion anyway.
By the way, I do have a dollar for every stupid cliche, as mentioned above. It's the quarter of a million dollars we saved by buying a house in an area generally perceived as irredeemable.
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4 comments:
Far from being an "inchoate yowl", this is an excellent post.
Are you going to the Craigieburn rail service opening on Sunday? 10.30am. Be there.
Jim Betts
i agree with jim; excellent post. still, I do wonder why you are so scared of traveling to leafy Hawthorn david? The middle class aren't as bad as they're painted. They're just like you, they get excited by real estate.
your friend
stephen
I lived in leafy Hawthorn for ten years. I know what to be scared of.
david you can't escape that piece of hawthorn inside you. See how early I wake up these days. I guess its not that early. now that I don't smoke, there's so much time to fill, because i admire Andy Warhol's work ethic, I try and write 15 songs every day. I'm flu-ridden and have a jolly sore throat. I too went to the show; but I got paid! Which was one for the books, as we wrinklies are prone to say. I was doing a gig with my new best friend daryl braithwaite. he still rocks. i'm getting scared liberals will get back in, nations instinctive conservatism will kick in. they'll start getting upset and worried about house prices.
stephen
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