Carissa’s North Paddington Impressions

By Carissa Leong, intern

At first sight, North Paddington was devoid of the glamorous architecture stereotyped of London by Westminster, though it still resembled what a majority of London was actually like–a persistent, diverse community nurturing authenticity in a world that disadvantaged them. It reminded me of Camden Town if it was less commercial, a quiet birthplace for art in the shifting suburbs all the way across the city, though still bordering the same canal.

I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and could see both similarities and differences to the area of North Paddington. The differences were the most salient because so much of the Bay Area was sleek and modern tech buildings, a characteristic that I’d always disliked. Here, the buildings were similarly more practical than they were beautiful, but they were also more worn down with art able to show its face. Bright blue railings lined the bridge over the canal and the graffitied skatepark was a pop of color among the greenery of Meanwhile Gardens. Parts of San Francisco, the city itself, seemed like this–it had quieter, artsier neighborhoods despite being a center for technological development. It was a combination that the majority of the rest of the Bay was unable to achieve.

I could see it resembling the Pacific Northwest cities in the United States. Parts of Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington seemed similar. There was a greater emphasis on nurturing art and nature alongside advancing development, though these cities in the States were bustling with more activity than North Paddington neighborhood appeared to have.

From my limited time here, I managed to gather that the community was kinder to one another, presumably because there was less of a draw for the tourists who were devoid of intent to build lasting relationships in their cursory time in London. I stepped out from work the other day and went to Crispies on the high street to get cheese fries for lunch, and I noticed immediately that the environment was different from what I was used to. Those eating in made sure to clean up after themselves and thank the worker at the till–which may seem like the bare minimum but I had seen the garbage and dishes piling up in my local Ole & Steen cafes and knew that it most definitely wasn’t.

 And just the week before, the cashier at Costa took time out of her day to playfully indulge a customer’s toddler. While leaving, I helped a friendly worker with a cart exit through the closed doors. North Paddington was a place abundantly driven by its small, supportive interactions and sincerity in a way that my area in South Kensington was less so, with its transactional hospitality between tourists who could pay to be there and workers who helped them by obligation of their job.

Despite historically rapid changes, North Paddington has impressively remained the same at its core, boiling down to its resilient and close-knit residents. I appreciate the opportunity to have immersed myself in it at least for a little while and during the rest of my internship, I look forward to participating in more of these small interactions as a part of its community.