|
Post by lagatta on Nov 16, 2013 12:30:25 GMT
Well, often people don't manage to get up to Montmartre (zero reason to be paranoid about there, except a surfeit of tourists, and there wouldn't be so many in November) and beyond simply for reasons of time and energy, but there are absolutely no "dodgy" areas left within Paris proper. Just taking the tram - or local trains - are a great means of exploring.
Most people in the metropolitan area live in the suburbs, and there are all kinds of suburbs, as you have seen. The only places I'd find scary are isolated "brownfields" that are sort of abandoned, or under construction (outside working hours). Tourists are easy marks for petty theft - which is not so petty if they steal your i.d. and access to your funds - but in general Paris is one of the safer major cities.
I also really liked the housing complex in reply #30 after the cemetery. It is hard to get those places right, with a sense of being a place to live.
One of the most essential aspects of ending "intractable" cultures of poverty (dependency) is making sure that the children are properly educated, whether in an academic stream or a skilled trade. But there is so much unemployment now, even among the skilled and educated, that it is very difficult to resolve.
|
|
|
Post by fgrsk8r1970 on Nov 18, 2013 20:41:38 GMT
Kerouac - you earned beating your own drum with this report and many others times over !!!
|
|
|
Post by Uche on Mar 13, 2014 0:00:38 GMT
Basically, I was googled Is Bobigny safe at night when I ran into a TripAdvisor post that led me here. Thank you for this perfectly curated visuals of the Parisian surburb and how it isn't all scary where you'll get robbed and such. What a delight! Thanks!
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 29, 2015 21:10:42 GMT
I have just perused this entire report again, and I can announce that I plan to do the entire report again, 3 years later, to see what has evolved. And also it probably won't be so damned cold as it was doing it in December!
|
|
|
Post by lagatta on May 7, 2015 23:15:31 GMT
I suspect a lot of brownfields have been redeveloped - that it will be very different. And a far more pleasant walk in the springtime.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on May 10, 2015 9:31:12 GMT
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on May 10, 2015 9:42:18 GMT
I should also mention that all of the Roma camps that I showed back at the end of reply #7 appear to be completely gone. Also, most of the shops along the road at "La Ferme" near the Hindu temple have now become Indian shops, which was sort of to be expected.
|
|
|
Post by lagatta on May 10, 2015 23:53:37 GMT
It looks fine to me, except that being Montréalaise and all, I'd mandate balconies in the blocks of flats. I have a friend in Bobigny and have been there; where he lives in central Bobigny is older row housing or something similar (I was there many years ago so my memory is foggy). I love the rehabilitation of the old printing plant - bravo! I'm sure the Cité de l'abreuvoir must have been magic at first to people arriving in a place with modern plumbing and lighting, and room for kids to play (though obviously the trees would have been sticks 60 years ago), then crap when it degenerated; it seems to have been rehabilitated nicely in the early 21st century. I like the gently curved buildings, though none are spectacularly beautiful.. lapetitecouronne.tv/bobigny-cite-de-l-abreuvoir/More on post WW2 Bobigny development: lapetitecouronne.tv/portrait-de-ville-ici-cest-bobigny/ My friend lives in the older sector one sees at the outset. Of course nowadays we would like the historic architecture to have been rehabilitated, with proper plumbing! There was a lot of the same destruction at the same time here in Montréal... I do find a lot of the postwar stuff very ugly, but not all.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on May 11, 2015 6:48:29 GMT
Thanks for the extra information, Lagatta. I moved on to La Courneuve, which was going to be my last stop of the morning. The tramway meets the metro terminus at Place du 8 Mai 1945, and since I was there on May 9th (Europe Day), the area was still in full commemoration of bygone days from 70 years ago.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on May 19, 2015 21:19:26 GMT
Out in the suburbs, you can see pastries that you would never see in Paris. It must be admitted that this is a South Asian area. Even out here, care has been taken to create some pedestrian streets. Otherwise, the topography is exactly what makes Parisian shudder in horror count their blessings about living in the big city. But it's really not so bad. It just isn't the same as Paris. There is at least space for huge sports fields. Nevertheless, there are some panoramas that comfort us Parisians in our decision to live in a more historic core. But we do lack such museums as the one for vegetable cultivation, which is certainly fascinating.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on May 20, 2015 17:07:16 GMT
As I entered La Courneuve, I was happy to see that I was wrong about the buildings that seemed to be on the verge of being demolished (reply #17). They have been totally rehabilitated and are now reoccupied.
|
|
|
Post by lagatta on May 20, 2015 21:16:36 GMT
The renovated basilica is spectacular!
That pointy grey building in your first St-Denis city centre post in #70 looks rather ghastly. When would that have been built? I love markets, but they must get repetitive after a while, in a given area.
I'm very happy that the nice brick ensemble in La Courneuve has been restored!
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on May 21, 2015 3:55:35 GMT
I would say that the pointy angular building would date from the early 1970's and is probably by the same architect who rebuilt the core of downtown Ivry-sur-Seine in the southern suburbs. Ivry looks so retro-futuristically inhuman that part of one of the Hunger Games movies was filmed there.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 17, 2015 10:33:13 GMT
Back to this after a slight pause...
|
|
|
Post by mickthecactus on Jul 17, 2015 11:50:31 GMT
Another very good report.
I'm quite taken with the name of that Sushi restaurant........
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 17, 2015 12:17:37 GMT
Over the bridge to the tiny town of l'Ile Saint Denis is as quick as ever. There is only one tram stop on the island, across from the little Hôtel de Ville (already photographed way back when) and the new médiathèque. There are also a few commissioned painted walls on the island. Then you cross the next bridge, leaving the town behind.
|
|
|
Post by htmb on Jul 18, 2015 4:14:36 GMT
This thread is outstanding and is a wonderful conglomeration of architecture, culture, history and many other pertinent topics. I reread through all the posts during my plane ride and, since I traveled on that tramway just a few days ago, I have an even greater appreciation for all the work put into making the thread. I recognized many of the landmarks featured, but now realize I didn't get to see the narrow hotel.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 18, 2015 11:09:58 GMT
|
|
|
Post by htmb on Jul 18, 2015 11:14:53 GMT
That park would be interesting to explore and it certainly would be appealing as a place to look for birds, I did get very tired of seeing pigeons, occasional crows, and seagulls in Paris.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 18, 2015 11:31:47 GMT
This completes my reporting on the T1 for the foreseeable future, although I'm sure I will have some reports of some areas along it.
|
|
|
Post by Ross on Jul 15, 2018 9:22:30 GMT
Hi - went through all your pages on Paris- are you aware of Learning from Las Vegas by Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown which has some reference to the city development issues you cover - discovered your blog after reading an article in the UK Guardian and the impact Mbappe is having as a positive representative of the Bondy district of Paris, cheers.
|
|