My Old Neighbourhood

If you squint at this and imagine it in black and white, you could almost bring yourself back in time to when the alley was paved with cobble stones and the rank and vile smell of poor sanitation permeated this neighbourhood. A working class area, where the original Chinatown used to be, with the head of the legendary dragon at one of the streets and even today you still see headquarters for the Australian Chinese newspapers and a few other Chinese associations still stand, where poor immigrants lived in squalor, and sickness and poverty was rampant.

Now a hundred plus years fast forward, this area is hip and happening, you can feel its vibe when you walk down the same streets. Gentrification is everywhere. Expensive apartments and refurbished Victorian terrace houses co-exist with the houses that time has forgotten. In time, these forgotten houses will be taken over by the monied.

How I miss this area.