White hipsters, not black looters, are now threatening post-riots London...

[HipChick]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/11014543/White-hipsters-not-black-looters-are-now-threatening-post-riots-London.html

Three years ago, I shouted down young men as they burnt cars on the streets of Hackney, where I live. Now they come in beards and bobble hats instead.

Places such as Kingsland Road and Mare Street have become the trendiest places to be, but that has bought unrest of a different sort. The people who live here are not happy.

There are a lot of issues with the social cleansing that is becoming increasingly evident around here.

I try to keep away from the word 'hipster', and call them trendies instead. But it all means the same: gentrification. This means cleaning an area up and saying if you can’t afford to be here then you have to leave.
Basically, the smart bits of Hackney are getting bigger, but sadly a lot of locals are being shifted out. All of a sudden, we've got lots of new bars, which is good for progression and moving with the times. But those who were born and bred here simply can’t afford to live here anymore.

It has caused real problems for the youngsters. A lot of them don’t know where they should go now, or where their real communities are. Many of the venues they would have enjoyed in the past have shut down. Instead, we’ve been left with these trendy places that nobody can afford to go to.
The riots began because people felt marginalised. They were unhappy and thought things were just always getting worse for them. The shooting of Mark Duggan was the spark that lit the tinderbox. Could it happen again? Never say never.