GOOD NEWS

[leenewham]

It seems a bit depressing in here of late. So perhaps it's time to share some good news.

But I see today that it looks as if the old blind factory is about to be transformed as the builders look like they are starting.

The Greyhound seems to be underway which is exciting.

The Roadworks are coming (touch wood) to an end.

Trade in the high street hasn't been as bad as it has been apparently over the last week.

It looks like Bell Green is finally happening with two new developments which will hopefully transform the area.

I hope this is a turning point. I think Sydenham had just reached it's lowest point recently. From now on the only way is up.

Tonight we are off to enjoy Meatballs & Music at Trattoria.

Have a good weekend everyone!

[jonekt]

Isn't the blind shop being changed into a money shop, or is this a different shop your talking about?

Sydenham station is also getting a revamp over the next couple of months too as there where flyers in the station this morning.

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

[Wispy Wonder]

I hope the station revamp doesn't take as long as it has just to paint the fences. Since last week, there have been six men painting with three to supervise. It's a comical sight - the wage bill must be ridiculous. It's a step in the right direction though.

[leenewham]

It's the old blind factory, not house of curtains that looks like it's about to be worked on. It's the gap a few doors down from Kente.

I think the improvements to the station are minor cosmetic changes like painting the fences cream, changing some tiles and fixing the roof of the platform shelter (correct me if I'm wrong).

But it's all a step in the right direction. Lets hope they continue...

[Eagle]

Wispy W . I assume the overmanned painting you refered to is probably community payback and I would have thought they would need some supervision.
If it is not I wonder why not as seems waste of money to pay people when the courts are ordering thousands to pay back the community.

[Wispy Wonder]

Community pay-back - I guess it could be, it's a satisfying thought.

[jonekt]

Does anyone know what the blind shop is going to be turned into? It would be great if it was something that would compliment Kente..

Also saw the shop next to the PFC is also being worked on - is this where the costcutters will be going?

[leenewham]

Yes, the old peppermint shop.

But lets focus on the good stuff!

[G-Man]

Yes, the old peppermint shop

Sweepstake on how long they last? Poor buggers.

G-Man

[Dot]

I think such comments only serve to illustrate that this forum tends to represent the views of the pro-gentrification lobby, the sort of Sydenham residents who have been priced out of Dulwich but still wish that the High St catered a bit more for their needs. There's nothing wrong with wanting Sydenham to be more upmarket, especially if you are a home owner obsessed with house prices, but one has to be realistic about how far this can go. The fact is that their is a silent majority of Sydenhamites who do not post their view on this forum but nevertheless frequent the dazzling array of pound shops, fast food outlets and nail bars that the town has to offer in an abundance barely matched by Penge. This is to the obvious chagrin of the middle classes for whom Sydenham is somewhere convenient to commute from. Nevertheless, we all share the same High St. and residents should not feel they are being forced out of the area due to differing tastes. Fostering a sense of community spirit has to involve acceptance of other's views and needs. Is speculating on whether a shop which hasn't even opened yet will fail just because it isn't going to sell organic butternut squash, free-range kudu or fair-trade caramel machiattos actually inthe best interests of the town?

[Tim Lund]

Nice first post, Dot. Sadly the butternut squashes I grow in my garden will not be on sale, and nor are they organic - I'm not the sort of person who will forego slug pellets for the sake of being holier than thou. It is amazing, nonetheless, how my unashamed middle-classness means people think my gardening must be organic. Just shows how misleading stereotypes can be.

Re the offer of shops on Sydenham Road, may I quote something I wrote which appeared on the front page of the Sydenham Society newsletter while I was its chair:

Sydenham Road will be a more attractive place to visit, and will give those of us who use it a stronger feeling of community. We will also still be able to pick up good value for money items at the (sometimes scorned) pound shops - let's not forget this is how Marks and Spencers and Tescos started out!

Sorry I can't give you a link to it - it's not made it to the new site.

As to

the middle classes for whom Sydenham is somewhere convenient to commute from

- well, if it was just that, we'd hardly be likely to be posting on this Forum.

Funnily enough, at the time you made your post, I was in a greasy spoon on Lordship Lane, which to the slight chagrin of my equally middle-class school friend who I was having lunch with, had been a little bit smartened up. But clearly not in a way which meant that a group of six black kids at the next table could not enjoy the food and ambience just as much as us.

[leenewham]

Welcome to the forum Dot.

Just out of interest, what's kudu?

I'd too would hate Sydenham Road to be gentrified so it caters for just one type of customer. Variety is good.

But a dozen places to get your hair cut is a bit of overkill in any area. 3 Costcutters? Too many I'd say. We need a high street to cater for everyone don't we?

[Tim Lund]

Kudu? Well, Lee, I won't be inviting you to join my next pub quiz team!

For your further education ...

[Wispy Wonder]

As someone who shops in the £1 shops regularly, eats occasionally in the greasy spoons, and buys many of my groceries in the High St, I'd hate for Sydenham to become a Dulwich clone, but I'd also hate to see it slipping further towards Catford levels of grottiness, which it was until lately.

PFC could be a good thing, and Costcutter is better than a derelict shop, but what's wrong with wanting more shops on a par with Billings? I've never quite understood how Crystal Palace attracts such an array of interesting, independent shops that Sydenham never does.

W. Wonder

[digime2007]

I've never quite understood how Crystal Palace attracts such an array of interesting, independent shops that Sydenham never does.

W. Wonder

I think you need a 'critical mass' of decent places to shop, eat and drink before you can start to get enough people through the door and make business investment attractive.

We have a few gems but they are still few and far between. There's not quite enough to motivate people to make a trip to the high street instead of another area where they can visit, for example, a couple of clothes shops, a gift shop and a delli, with a rest stop somewhere for coffee.

I have a lot of time for places like Billings that take the risk of setting up shop without a proven customer base. Assuming other similar businesses do open they should do well in the long run - if they make it through that is.

I sometime wonder if start-ups should coordinate their openings. If a couple of places opened up together near, say, the book shop and Blue Mountain that area would immediately be worth a visit. I guess that’s easier said than done though.

[leenewham]

Exactly digime...EXACTLY!

[Wispy Wonder]

and all we have here at the moment is a critical mess.........

[jonekt]

Does anyone know if the shop lettings in the Greyhound are being targetted in this way?
I guess I mean are the owners/ Sydenham Society/ Town Mgr (?) getting businesses lined up so when it opens the shops wouldn't be left empty ,and also get this 'critical mass' of all opening at the same time.

it would be great if that happened..

[Dot]

It would be a shame if reaching critical mass led to ghettos of "good" shops springing up in close proximity such as at the Greyhound development. Already the establishments favoured by the apparently more discerning Sydenhamites - shops like Kente, Sugahill, Blue Mountain, Kirkdale bookshop, Billings - gravitate towards the upper Sydenham end of the High St and its environs. The Dolphin is the notable exception as the clientele savour their pan-fried guinea fowl whilst looking out onto Lidl (but then I guess it's hard to relocate a building like a pub.) The new Greyhound may inadvertently create a critical mass of similar shops such that the pound emporiums are literally on the other side of the tracks. This may appeal to upper Sydenhamites who, if they commute to work by using the PHG entrance to the station, may soon be claiming to live in "South Dulwich".

[leenewham]

Don't forget Trattoria Dot. And Ghurkas. And JH Skincare. And Alambra.

So if you take all of those into account, they are pretty much spread out along the whole of Sydenham Road AND Kirkdale.

LOL, I don't think Sydenham is in danger of being overun with Franklins delis within the next 20 years at least. But it is already overun with hairdressers and various places all selling pretty much exactly the same thing.

Good news Dot?