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How Gritty Is Too Gritty When You Travel?

Something of a travel journalism brouhaha erupted a few weeks ago, when Guardian UK travel writer Benji Lanyado penned an article for the NY Times entitled "In London, New Cross and Deptford Attract the Hip." This was taken in some quarters as risible, since in addition to attracting hipsters Deptford is also known for attracting criminals, junkies, and all manner of people who rob and kill other people.

The British media being what it is, newspapers and tabloids immediately began to pile on:

The New York Times dubbed the deprived districts of Deptford and New Cross as "London's Wild West" and urged Americans to visit the area's gritty attractions. Readers of the respected newspaper are told that Deptford has "that most heady of urban ingredients: an edge". That edge includes being the tenth most violent place in the country,... But the article praises the area's indie club scene where "rude boys and art students with asymmetric haircuts party side by side to raucous live acts""... Barmaid Sandra White, 41, said: "... I hope they like hoodies, muggers and junkies - there are enough of them here."

We don't know what a hoodie is, but fair enough. Most tourists go out of their way to avoid the bad neighborhoods of the cities they travel to. We certainly can't think of many people who would pay to fly to London specifically with the intent of visiting a slum. Targeting the article towards the NYT's demo was probably not the best of editorial decisions.

That said, there's probably a flavor of hipster travel that Deptford fits into comfortably.

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