Gentrification in East London

They say hindsight is a wonderful thing, but that rather presupposes that the insight that it gives you is beneficial. If all it reveals is how you missed out by the narrowest of margins, then it’s just a drag, isn’t it? I occasionally drive past the area of east London where my aunt had a four-storey house. She got old and the house was a bit run-down. It seemed that the best option was to sell it. Who knew then that within just a few years, money would flow in to the vicinity. Bankers, monied types who work in the City, love big houses and don’t want a vile commute, turned up and tuned in. The Windrush generation, who bought those houses in the 1960s and 70s by scrimping and saving, sold up to them and moved out. Then the artist cavalcade stopped by. An area for so long seen as urban and edgy became desirable and trendy, and increasingly expensive. Such is gentrification. (http://www.theguardian.com)