More bizarre Janet Daley
The terrible murder of a man in Chelsea yesterday has attracted more than it's fair share of uninformed press coverage.Leading the pack, of course, is Janet Daley, who I was horrified to learn lives in the same part of London as myself. Daley's argument is that London, or more accurately Kensington and Chelsea, is the new New York, or 'Murderous London is like old New York' as the title of her article puts it.
She notes that in the 1980s in New York, "property values, even in this fabulously prosperous city, were in free-fall" then the usual blah-blah about 'broken windows' and zero-tolerance policing. She ends with the stirring, 'New York residents have been freed from fear...when is it our turn'
Is that the situation in Kensington and Chelsea today?
Well frankly, no. Quote the Halifax, "In the UK property is most expensive in Kensington and Chelsea, central London, where it averages 734,756 pounds".
In fact Daley is clearly knows nothing about the history of crime in Notting Hill. In 1987 it was classified by the Metropolitan Police as one of the three worse crime areas, with parts an (unofficial) 'no-go area'. All Saints Road was notorious for drug-dealing. It kind of reminds of you 1980s New York.
Subsquently things are rather different now. House prices have risen 27 times (times, not percent) since 1980. All Saints Road is full of poncy restaurants. Crime is markedly lower.
I'd sooner buy a used car off Arthur Daley than take seriously a column by Janet Daley.
posted by Matthew @ 12/01/2004 09:51:00 AM
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