There was recently an article in the New York Times declaring hipsters had ruined Paris. It has created quite a stir over here and people have approached me about it all week. Like many, the article made me angry. Not because the “journalist” was bashing hipsters, name calling is an art of playgrounds, I rather like that it denounced the author as a fool immediately.
What made me angry was that a serious paper like the New York Times was promoting such dribble. Where were the fact checkers? The editors? If you substitute the word (insert nationality here) for the word Hipster in the piece, it would have been thrown out as hateful slop. And is the NYTimes really implying that a handful of 20 somethings could do what the Romans, British and Hitler could not? Are the French really so simple and child-like that they don’t know what’s good for them? Because lets be clear about this. The French are thrilled with the gentrification. The author was too, when he chose to live in a neighborhood that has been gentrifying since most hipsters were still in diapers and was called SoPi when I moved here over a decade ago.
The cocktail bars he laments are filled with affluent young FRENCH people who order burrata, sample kale and would probably be thrilled to find steel cut oats. These are smart, educated kids who had to study philosophy and “general culture” to get their high school diplomas. Most of them have a passport and travel the world exploring all kinds of different cultures, American included. They know what they want in their lives and they’re dead on with the cocktails. Until very recently getting a decent cocktail in Paris was an exercise in frustration and now its an absolute delight!
The French have been managing this city with more or less success for millennia, they don’t need the NY Times, or some pedantic American who has been in town for 24 months telling them what is good for their city and what’s ruining it.
Skimming along the NYTimes a few days later, I got even angrier because you see all the more important stuff going on in the world and you ask yourself… who cares??? Thousands are dead, homeless and missing loved ones in the Philippines. Entire families have been wiped out. 10s of 1000s have been displaced. That’s a tragedy. And it is thanks to the very same NYTimes that I looked to for ideas on how I could help. They suggested giving to Doctors without Borders, who is over there on the ground and doing what they can. I have been a big fan of Doctors without Borders ever since I backpacked through East Africa 20 years ago. They make a difference in people’s lives. They’ll even help hipsters! I blogged about them last year suggesting a donation to them would make a great holiday gift and this year I agreed to run the Semi Marathon de Paris on their behalf. They are in the Philippines doing what they can and I am here in Paris doing what I can, which is to ask for your support. Its easy, simply click on the link below. They suggested a minimum donation of 20€, but even 5€ makes a difference. Already through Facebook and Twitter you have been a fantastic crowd, helping me raise 285€, well past the 100€ they asked of me. But goals are meant to be surpassed, so don’t be shy. Merci!
http://www.alvarum.com/sylviasabes
Well said sister! ……being British, and 60 something, although a frequent visitor to Paris, this stuff goes way above my head. As you say, who cares? Oh the arrogance of the young,. … as if their portion of the world is the only bit that matters! If his only problem is not getting a decent cocktail, well he should think himself lucky! Love Denise
Yes, he’s luck indeed, although the bars he misses didn’t serve cocktails, they served the hostesses!!!
As a current NYC resident, I think the NYT is a joke more often that not and boy do they lovvveeee their hipsters.
I would never quote them unless it was to take the mickey out of some incredulous article they consider a piece of “journalism”
Who do you go to for your news sources? I’m shopping….
Rich Parisians are happy with gentrification. Are you so certain that the people being displaced by it are? The people who are now commuting an hour by train because their old neighborhood is no longer anywhere near affordable, even working two jobs? I agree, it makes no sense to blame “hipsters,” not unless they are wealthy developers, which used to be a contradiction in terms.
I have already contributed to Doctors Without Borders and several other charities I give to regularly, stipulating the money go to the relief effort in the Philippines..
The article is talking about commercial gentrification; businesses changing, not neighbors. And there are no wealth developers involved. These are young people renting the cheapest store fronts they can find to try and start a business. Most of the places they rent have been vacant for ages.
So happy you support MSF, they’re such a great organization!!!
Sylvie, I was glad to read your remarks about no wealthy developers. There are parts of San Francisco and Pasadena, California, that lost all their character some time ago. Now they resemble top-end malls. By “character,” I mean individually owned stores, restaurants and boutiques. I believe that property values increased and so did their rents and they couldn’t afford to stay.
Hi Martha,
Yes, these are small independantly run businesses. No chainstores, and still plenty of local color!
Cheers. S