Northbridge

I live on the border between Northbridge and Perth – right on the main road that splits them, Newcastle Street. Northbridge is bounded by the freeway + Roe, William, Newcastle streets. People that don’t know it, think it’s a violent + booze-addled place but this prejudice is changing. It’s still fuelled by alcohol after 10pm on Friday + Saturday nights but every other time, it is uber tame. Sure, you see deadbeats + weirdos + homeless people, but these days there’s more pretentious  rockabilly types, beardos + hipsters > they’re the ones you really have to worry about, haha. 

> Northbridge is literally that, north o’ the bridge [being the Horseshoe Bridge] > like I said, some people think it’s the wrong side of the tracks – please! They obviously haven’t travelled outside of Perth. A major redevelopment program – The Perth City Link project – is currently underway to sink the rail lines + ‘reconnect the CBD with Northbridge for the first time in 100 years’. To me, this is cool as I hate having to walk into the CBD via two main access points.

> Whatever Northbridge is, it’s now my home + I feel lucky to live here. It’s the place that I feel like I’m in Perth the least… the irony is not lost on me.

These shots are a mix of various days and various cameras from 2007 ’til now. I’ll keep adding to this album + despite thinking I’ve seen everything, I always see something new. It’s not the most exciting place in the world > but like my mum always said: “Only boring people are bored.”

Northbridge was really gritty + real > until 2008, when the footpaths were widened, the buildings cleaned up or frontages completely changed. You could say it’s become a ‘vibrant’ place > tho I detest that word; it’s bureau-speak for letting the rich get richer by gentrifying the strip so that landlords can charge heaps more rent + councils can charge more rates. But, this is reality + the street is much more pleasant. I just hope they don’t go too overboard + get rid of all the character, a.k.a unpolished streets + built form.