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brento1138
Joined: 17 Nov 2004
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 Posted: Sun Dec 07, 2008 7:47 am Post subject: Itaewon Re-design |
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I'm sure lots of you have noticed the current construction along Itaewon's main street... Long overdue, I'm pretty happy to see that they are removing the "third world" sidewalk which had bricks sticking out... and upgrading it. I think it's already looking much nicer, much better today than when I first saw it over 3 years ago.
Anyhow... here's a quote from the PR book I picked up today in Itaewon.
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...this construction is only the tip of the iceberg. It started with a new law, which came into effect about a year ago, making it mandatory for street vendors to sell their goods only out of a designated cart. This puts order and consistency in the landscape without putting the small vendors out of business and also makes it safer for tourists and shoppers to know they are buying from a licensed vendor. These carts, by the way, are provided for a subsidized fee by the Seoul government together with Hi Seoul......
The basic idea of the plan for Itaewon is to maintain the international theme and redesign its parts based on the styles of various countries, for example: a Dutch street, an Italian street a French Street, and so on. Currently construction has begun on the Hamilton side of the street down to Noksapyeong subway station. The entire sidewalk is being leveled and reconstructed with new stone bricks.
Some trees are being cut down to make the walkway wider and new trees should be planted to give the street a nice boulevard effect. All the streetlights and traffic lights will also be upgraded with more efficient, space-saving and electricity-saving systems along with directional and informative signboards, and interspersed with computerized multi-language kiosks for information.
All this is expected to happen in the next couple of months... |
So, it seems like Itaewon is getting a face-lift. Long overdue, but I think the area has already improved immensely since when I first visited it... |
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bassexpander
Joined: 13 Sep 2007
Location: Someplace you'd rather be.
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| Posted: Sun Dec 07, 2008 8:05 am Post subject: |
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| Yeah, Hooker Hill's street will become the American street, and the gay hill will become the Canadian street! |
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NoExplode
Joined: 15 Oct 2008
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| Posted: Sun Dec 07, 2008 9:05 am Post subject: |
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| bassexpander wrote: |
| Yeah, Hooker Hill's street will become the American street, and the gay hill will become the Canadian street! |
LMAO! |
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VanIslander
Joined: 18 Aug 2003
Location: Geoje, Hadong, Tongyeong,... now in a small coastal island town outside Gyeongsangnamdo!
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| Posted: Sun Dec 07, 2008 11:32 am Post subject: |
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| ... a new law... making it mandatory for street vendors to sell their goods only out of a designated cart.... licensed... |
The market culture has been dying, gone are the days of the pirated DVDs and watches sold curbside, the hustle and bustle being sanitized for Koreans' sake, making it more like an outside co-ex mall.
A more orderly, less chaotic Itaewon is seen as a good thing? It undermines its raison d'etre imo. I don't frequent there after dark but on my shopping trip there just this weekend I again noticed the decline and fall of what made Itaewon a destination.
(There are more Middle Eastern eats, I'll give it that.)
More restaurants and coffee shops, less retail deals, the post-military Itaewon is becoming a shell of its former self. Hard to pinpoint when the lack of stink stank but the Hard Rock Cafe and Kraze Burger are aptly named posterchildren of the new neighbourhood, one devoid of distinctiveness.
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| Some trees are being cut down to make the walkway wider and new trees should be planted to give the street a nice boulevard effect. |
Koreans sure do like their cosmetic surgery. Dress up the corpse. The kingdom of Itaewon is dead, long live Itaewon!
Last edited by VanIslander on Sun Dec 07, 2008 11:37 am; edited 1 time in total |
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PRagic
Joined: 24 Feb 2006
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| Posted: Sun Dec 07, 2008 11:37 am Post subject: |
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| Itaewon is bland and subdued now. 15-20 years ago, it was a good time. Then again, 15-20 years ago, I was still in my 20s! |
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xpat
Joined: 13 Mar 2008
Location: Kangnam baby
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| Posted: Sun Dec 07, 2008 3:02 pm Post subject: |
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| VanIslander, there will still be guys hustling DVDs and other things, but yeah, I know what you mean and the Itaewon of old will be missed. |
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seosan08
Joined: 10 Oct 2008
Location: Korea
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| Posted: Sun Dec 07, 2008 9:05 pm Post subject: |
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The same thing happened in Pusan. Texas Street used to be fun 10 or more years ago. Was a great place to get leather jackets cheap, too. Now it's nothing but crappy Chinese restaurants and equally crappy shops all hawking the same crappy merchandise.
Sometimes, I miss the old Korea. |
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Xuanzang
Joined: 10 Apr 2007
Location: Sadang
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| Posted: Sun Dec 07, 2008 9:09 pm Post subject: |
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| That`s what happens when gentrification occurs. |
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