Neighbourgoods market reviewed.

I've decided to review my original post of the Neighbourgoods market because I think last week I was possibly irritable because of the blazing sun and didnt really get the full impact of Neighbourgoods.
I still think its pretentious and over-priced but it really is so ultra cool. I love the fact that you'll end up randomly seeing five people you know on the rooftop. I love the fact that people are so friendly and talkative in the middle of the city.

I totally understand what they're trying to do with Neighbourgoods and similar set-ups like Arts on Main. The target market are hipsters but if you ask these hipsters where they live they'll all probably say the Northern suburbs or Randburg (the same as the north but with slightly better street cred). Hardly any of us ever go into the city. It was really different when I lived in London because all people ever wanted to do was get to the centre of the city. That's where everything happened and the closer you were to the centre, the better your cred. In Joburg its different, most areas in the CBD are badly deteriorated and have a reputation for being inhabited by illegal immigrants whom South Africans are deathly afraid of. The urban regeneration project is on/off but with places like Neighbourgoods and the surrounds you can see that they are trying to get people back into the city.

There are so many worries when you decide to make a trip into town. 'Will I get lost with all the one-ways that arent picked up by the gps?', 'Will I find parking?', 'Will I get mugged by a crack addict?'. Luckily none of those things happened to us. It seemed really safe, I parallel parked like a boss!(although not everyone can be like me) so we were literally across the road from Neighbourgoods and we were also really suprised at how close it was! So the Joburg CBD isnt really like Mordor to us anymore.

Also I felt really bad about what I wrote last time about the paint tin pot plants. I actually spoke to the stall owner this time round and she told us that she lost her job and formed a sustainable development NGO. When she discovered that some company had been dumping hundreds of paint cans she decided to do something with them. So I feel kind of ashamed for judging her so harshly her invention isnt half as over-priced as some of the things inside Neighbourgoods and she really is doing a good thing.