III.5.7. GENTRIFICATION WITH BRAKES

MENU: 3.5.7. Gentrification with brakes

GENTRIFICATION USUALLY WIPES OUT LOCAL CULTURE. HERE CREATIVE NEWCOMERS BRING A (MOSTLY) HAPPY MIX 

Bank ad next to the Barbès metro

Bikes: an inescapable sign of gentrification 

Perry Féerique

32 rue Laghouat

www.perryfeerique.fr

A workshop for bikes' upkeep, repair, and upkeep education, plus creating personalized bikes.

Evolution

• Empty lots and new building

• A Moroccan restaurant changes hands 

• Fast-food replaces a convivial bar

• Traditional and gourmet shops intertwine

• Social services, key to the mix 

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Next,

Empty lots and new building

EMPTY LOTS AND NEW BUILDING

    

STREET SCENES

Corner rues Cavé / Myrha

Uprooting, anonymous, 2014                        Youth center, 2020  

Rue Stephenson

2020

Rue Cavé

2021

 

Rue Myrha

2025

        Entrée to Black Paris

Renewed buildings across the street

# # #

A new real estate agency...

And a gentrified neighbor.

    On rue Doudeauville (Main Street)

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A Moroccan restaurant changes hands 

A MOROCCAN RESTAURANT CHANGES HANDS

SIMPLE DECOR AND MUSLIM TV MEANT AN AUTHENTIC AMBIANCE, WHERE HABITUÉS CHATTED AND THE PATRONNE WAS GLAD TO BE PHOTOGRAPHED

(AT 20 RUE MYRHA UNTIL 2016)

Now the decor is imaginative but people don't talk. The owner agreed to be photographed, but from afar:

The original cuisine was simply served and succulent. Now it is elaborately presented and ordinary. 

There is no noticeable rapport between clients or between clients and staff.

Money is what counts.  

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Fast-food replaces a convivial bar

FAST-FOOD REPLACES A CONVIVIAL BAR

UNTIL 2022: ART, MUSIC, TELEVISED SOCCER AND POLITICAL DISCUSSION IN AN ALGERIAN'S BAR

(FOUNDED IN 1995)

L'Omadis

43 rue Doudeauville

 

# # #

Watching a soccer match is the Haitian poet Charles Sadrac.

# # #

"We don't have to agree on everything," Hamid Goudjil would cheerfully say, and we'd go on discussing:

Libre circulation des idées ("Free circulation of ideas")

# # #

But he sold the site and retired to Algeria. This is its replacement.

On  the other hand...

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Traditional food and gourmet shops intertwine

TRADITIONAL AND GOURMET SHOPS INTERTWINE

THERE IS ONLY ONE SUPERMARKET AND SUPERETTES ARE AFRICAN GROCERIES

Rue Doudeauville

Rue des Poissonniers

Stores overflowing with African produce are even more prevalent than barber shops, while new gourmet shops serve a mainly European clientele: Here alone can one discover the spontaneous, man-faceted mix. 

At Koyaka Market, 47 rue Myhra (left) one hears African music and smells African spices. The shop on the right is one of a series on rue de Panama, on the way to the Dejean market. For many more photos, please click back.

# # #

Across the street from the fast food with which the last page ends: "There was no way we could find the 40,000 euros the real estate agency asked, but we could afford this corner." 

-- Sonia, the cordial co-founder and owner of the shop below

Vivre(s)

39 bis rue de Doudeauville

Immediately around the corner:

The name was not announced.

# # #

Upscale shops have sprung up. They are personal creations that have nothing to do with brands: 

                       Hassan

    

Brûlerie Barbès

14 rue des Poissonniers

 

Jessica

La Laiterie parisienne

   74 rue des Poissonniers

   Notice the recommendations on the window.

Brie of raw cow's milk with abricot, pistachios, basil;  dates, almonds. I tried it and now buy it as a gift.

"I'm surprised to see such a shop in this neighborhood. How do you get on?" 

"Fine! At Ramadan women come to borrow the pails we use for milk to present the (excellent) cooking they sell on the sidewalk.

A restaurant from which to watch the street:

  

              Marie

Haïtian Mama 

20 rue Labat

# # #

On your way back to the Barbès métro...

• Mothers and grandmothers sit next to the railings of the Square Léon park, selling products that they have prepared themselves:

"How much?" "One euro." -- "That's very little." --"But we don't pay taxes!" (They laugh.) They didn't want their pictures taken.

•  A block away from Barbès's frightening young men, a bar for artisanal beer suggests that co-existence is taken for granted.

Brasserie de la Goutte d'Or

28 rue de la Goutte d'Or

• Across the street a grocery too has flair...

Amiprimeur

10 rue Caplat

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Next,

Social services, key to the mix