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Cargo bikes and gentrification

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  1. SRD
    Moderator

    Really interesting Open Access paper here on cargo bikes, class, gender and gentrification. Lots of cites of Liz Bondi (of UoE Geography).

    https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14649365.2018.1489975

    This describes many Bruntsfield and Sciennes families, I suspect (although a minority of them do have houses and gardens and parking spaces, even within catchment):

    "This process of highly educated parents staying in specific parts of the city to raise their children has been coined family gentrification. A range of studies have investigated this tendency of highly educated family households to prioritise location over other aspects of housing such as having a garden, more rooms and having access to parking space"..."In studies on urban families, balancing work and care through reducing or optimising work-home commuting have been forwarded as essential. Urban families thus prioritise locational advantages and may (depending on opportunities and constraints) have to sacrifice some other residential preferences."

    Posted 5 years ago #
  2. gembo
    Member

    Flats in Marchmont/bruntsfield originally for lower middle classes when built in late nineteenth century. Now it takes several combined incomes with all concerned likely to be overly educated professionals to get anywhere near a three bedroom flat. Plus likely some wealthy parents chipping in? Pretty much upper middle classes? Some spots maybe Polwarth or viewforth or maybe rankeillor very slightly more achievable but basically families starting out these days can't live where old codgers like me could live when we were younger.

    Possible rental scenarios to be in catchment areas and a handful of bogus addresses each year.

    When I worked with the underclasses in Glasgow in the last century I was always trying to persuade them to hang out in west end to avoid the full force of the constabulary. My advice for Edinburgh underclasses not dissimilar, try hanging out meadows or Harrison Park but be chilled and FFS put the instant barbecue on some bricks.

    Posted 5 years ago #
  3. SRD
    Moderator

    all true gumbo, but fact remains they could live further out and have longer commute times, nice gardens etc. and some do!

    Posted 5 years ago #
  4. gembo
    Member

    Agree an interesting article. I like Michael Billig and the linking of Dutch cycling to his concept of banal nationalism is good.

    Less keen on the method of using newspapers as source material as the information in a newspaper has already been distorted, however if acknowledged as a possible flaw in the analysis, I remain cool with it.

    There is maybe also a paper in the Dutch use of electric bikes to move further out into the country, self build on big plot etc.

    Each city is different.mwhen Edinburgh city centre slums were cleared, e.g where the Gyratory is going, the peripheral estates were on the edges of the city. But now the green belt is being built on and we yuppies live beyond the periphery, in the countryside but also still in the city.

    Whereas Glasgow knocked slums down eg gorbals and displaced locals to new towns such as East Kilbride but interestingly also to Livingston, Haddington, maybe even Galashiels. As well as to peripheral estates, approx 1 to1.5 million people shifted.?

    Posted 5 years ago #
  5. chdot
    Admin

    Haddington

    Yeah, I was surprised when I first heard that.

    No idea if more people from Glasgow or Edinburgh moved to Livingston.

    As to the initial post, I suspect the whole idea is represented/understood by many people here.

    Some of it is accidental - as in happening (or choosing) to live in places where other people do these sort of things and doing similar. (Having new/young children is also a factor - especially as it leads to decisions about moving to the suburbs/other places or not. Clearly Edinburgh, unlike many other ‘inner’ cities has additional options).

    To some extent this is a variation on the discussion about ‘should we build cycle infrastructure where people already cycle or where they don’t?’

    Normally ‘where they cycle’ wins - no idea if this actually increases the number of cycling people/trips more than the other approach.

    It will reinforce a reality that (in general) ‘cycling is predominately middle class’ (these days).

    Posted 5 years ago #
  6. LaidBack
    Member

    bakfietsmoeders & bakfietsvaders!
    You know who you are ;-)

    Good article - skim read first part. Will continue later.

    To be a counter culture cyclist in the Nederlands you have to be a "ligfietser"!

    Posted 5 years ago #
  7. sallyhinch
    Member

    I always tell the council they should start by building cycle infrastructure wherever they see people cycling on the pavement. Those are the journeys people have to make but where they clearly don't fancy riding on the road. Naturally, they don't listen to me

    Posted 5 years ago #
  8. gembo
    Member

    @sallyhinch, that is a sensible plan

    @chdot, I had a conversation with a social work colleague once, she has broad weegie accent.

    Gembo: whereabouts in Glasgow you from Dana?
    SW: Livingston

    Posted 5 years ago #

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