The area of London where I live is called "Old South", and it includes a particularly charming neighbourhood called Wortley Village. It's everything good that you'd picture a quintessential little village to be: well preserved old architecture, lots of services (grocery store, bank, restaurants, drug store, library, bakery, coffee shops, florist, etc) all within two easy-to-walk blocks, several green spaces, and neighbours who all seem to know each other's names. It's reputation is one of friendliness, it's vibe is artsy and welcoming, and easy access to it is one of the reasons we live where we do. The neighbourhood's in an uproar at the moment though, because a developer has purchased an empty lot and is planning to build the large, box-like modern condo development shown above. It's four stories tall (higher than local zoning actually allows), modern in design, and doesn't blend with the style of the neighbourhood at all - see below for an example of the typical "look" of Wortley Village. So, meetings have been called, letters have been written, and citizens are going door-to-door handing out flyers about the development - it will be interesting to see whether the voice of the public or the all-mighty-dollar have a louder voice in the decisions that will be made about the development from this point forward.
No comments:
Post a Comment