Streatham. What comes into your mind – convenient? Grotty? Shopping? I personally never really think about it as I’ve lived here my whole life. I go to school in Streatham, go out with friends to Streatham, get takeaways from Streatham, go shopping in Streatham and when my family go out to eat it’s always to Streatham. So I’m a Streatham girl.
But recently I’ve started hearing about the decline of high streets everywhere. I looked into it and discovered that Streatham High Road was once London’s busiest shopping street. I must admit I was surprised and so I decided to ask other girls and some teachers at school what they thought of the high road.
Most were shocked at Streatham’s past. Miss James, Biology teacher, said “I’d be very surprised because it doesn’t feel like the shops are old or prestigious or of a high quality – it’s full of Iceland and Poundland!”, Laetitia Kirby said, “I’d laugh” and Zahra Koroma added “Is that even true? Look how dead Streatham is now”. Zophia Sunderland agreed “I don’t believe it because it's so dead.” Miss Kennedy, Geography teacher commented “I am very shocked that people actually went there and enjoyed it!” Another said that it was “pretty amazing” and that she “could never imagine it to be that busy”.
Several girls feel it isn’t a very nice area. Julia Elkouby was the clearest “I think Streatham High road is a very dangerous place because there are lots of gangs and other things and my Mum doesn’t ever let me go there”. Becky Watson says “I find it quite scary and quite dodgy when I go to the Odeon and I don’t like being on my own in the area”. A couple of people felt it was getting a bit better. Ms Elton, D.T. teacher, thought “It has improved; its not as bad as it used to be.” Maddy Burgess agreed “ I think Streatham High Road has really got better and now you don’t feel as scared”. Zophia Sunderland felt “the busy bits are alright but the rest of it’s a bit dodgy”. Zafira Scipioni- Qureshi and Jade Gordon agreed “Its dodgy”. Only one girl, Maisha Zaman, was really positive about it “Its quite nice and the people are kind of friendly”. So anyone who wants to attract female shoppers to Streatham High Road will have to work hard to make them feel safe.
Although everyone I talked to works or goes to school or lives in Streatham, very few people said they use it more than occasionally. As Florence put it,” Who would go to Streatham High Road when you could go to Oxford Street instead”. A common view was Ruth’s “Apart from Odeon cinema and using Sainsbury's to get sweets – I don’t go there very often” As Maisha Zaman put it “I use Sainsbury’s but that’s about it.”. Julia Pankevych added “All there is is a New Look, charity shops and Superdrug”.
However, Streatham High Road has one strong defender and she doesn’t even live in the area. Aidan Bungey was enthusiastic “ It’s very convenient though I live in central London it’s very easy to get to by bus or by train and it has great transport links. The shops are quite varied – a good source of entertainment, cafes, cinemas, clothes shops, everything.” Maybe sometimes people can't see what's under their noses!
