Stokes Croft: We visited Bristol's "coolest neighbourhood" but locals say there are still problems

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Locals share their thoughts on Bristol’s “coolest neighbourhood.”

The global magazine Time Out revealed Stokes Croft and St Paul’s as one of the “coolest neighbourhoods” in the world.

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We visited the vibrant cultural quarter to see if locals agreed.

Susannah shared how she really like the area. “I particularly like the diverse food community. Both in terms of supermarkets and actual places to get food. And everyone is so friendly.”

BIMM student Lulu said “It’s a really welcoming place. I’ve lived in Bristol my whole life and I always really liked it down here. I feel like it kind of brings high street shopping back because a lot of that has died out, and there’s so many cool shops up here. It’s really nice to have real shops and people together.”

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Sam added: “ It’s quite a unique atmosphere, it’s very wild, expressive, creative... And there’s a lot of cool markets, shops, bars and stuff like that. There is a big homelessness problem as well. “

BIMM student May commented: “The centre always just feels like there’s only people there that are like out on a day shopping, whereas when you’re in Stokes Croft it feels like everyone walking up here are people that live in Bristol, that work in Bristol, that study in Bristol, so it feels a little bit more homely.

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“But, especially at night, it can be really dodgy, especially walking up here by yourself. [There’s] a lot of litter, a lot of broken glass, but I think that’s just Bristol as a whole, that’s kind of a problem.”

Tini, who has lived in Bristol for seven years and has been coming for about 25 years, commented: “I think it kind of represents a side of Bristol that should be cherished. It’s really rough around the edges. It’s slightly anarchic. It kind of has its own law a little bit.

“And the council keeps trying to pave it over, and they keep trying to change and develop St Paul’s, without consideration of what the locals want. And Bristol doesn’t buckle to councils and power above. So, I love the area because it has its spirit. And you never know what you’re gonna find or what you’re gonna walk past.”

Check out the video above to find out what locals think about Stokes Croft and St Paul’s.

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