Australia: Authorities want to give Kings Cross a new image
Plans to gentrify the famous Sydney suburb of Kings Cross have been met with a mixture of delight and horror.
The famous area of Sydney once enjoyed a bohemian reputation, with famous visitors patronising its jazz bars, cafes and hairdressers, but now, according to a report by The Independent’s Kathy Marks, much of the area has been taken over by drug dealers, brothels, strip shows and cheap souvenir shops.
Now the city authorities are planning a massive clean-up operation with wider pavements, more trees, better lighting and flowers in window boxes, along with a new community centre.
While many appreciate the effects a good clean-up will have, others say attempts to sanitise the suburb will effectively sweep Kings Cross’s colourful past under the carpet.
Even the Bourbon and Beefsteak, a 24-hour bar and restaurant that has long been the haunt of young travellers in search of cheap beer and food, is up for sale and reportedly will be converted into a block of flats.
