>>4018688Eh... socio-cultural evolution i guess. The gentrification/urban blight blender. Same as it was before, but ever-changing.The more I age the more alienated i feel by variants of what used to be comfy. Pretty standard for humans I imagine.
Plus of course, stupid cunts (the general population) have evolved into a different kind of stupid cunty.
A decade ago i used to walk 5-10km a day, and a few times i went via the valley or w'end, and yeah... what you said. I imagine at some point there was an eclectic mix of people that lent itself to civilisation with a dash of avante garde and low tier criminal/highwayman attitudes such as an ex-convict country evolves with in relative safety. But I doubt it's improving. Mostly people are just more tolerant of a socio-political environment which is the legacy of 2 decades of liberal leadership and left wing value-chaos. Versus the previous worker based labour version of the same.
The couple of times I went to westend it was difficult to avoid being hassled by the aboriginal locals, and the few times i went through the valley pretty much the same, with at least one instance of being followed home by two wirey caucasian assholes probably looking to rob me.
The prevalence of socially hostile mental health issues and drugs was far more apparent in the valley back then.
I'm sure its most often just an edgy background that people enjoying the local attractions just learn to deal with, but as an outsider - and therefore a more appealing target - it is percievably and actually more intimidating.
Also: fuck that. Not getting killed a zillion times having 'fun' in environments like that when i was growing up is enough for me. I'm too old for that shit.
So I don't bother now. The city is familiar, easy to get to, and the police seem to finally have a less confrontational approach, and understanding of the law re: photography. Unlike 10 years ago when I started shooting there.
