Hoxton isn't so pukka
It is the spiritual home of Brit Art, one of the most fashionable areas of London and an essential destination for the capital's hippest clubbers.
But Hoxton, which Tracey Emin and her fellow artists helped make so cool that Jamie Oliver opened his Fifteen restaurant there, is a failure - officially.
The creative types who bought £300,000 flats in this corner of N1 might find their postcode has lost some of its allure today.
The Government has singled it out as an example of unsuccessful culturally-led regeneration.
A consultation paper published by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport recognises that this once-rundown quarter has become "colonised and slowly regenerated".
But the wave of upmarket venues has squeezed out the locals and left unemployment levels unchanged.
"Hoxton's success has led to soaring land values, often forcing locals who work there to move out," the ministry said.
"The impoverished artists credited with leading Hoxton's regeneration have also moved on as squats and low-cost accommodation have been replaced. In this climate, questions are being asked as to whether Hoxton can sustain its reputation as London's 'art hotspot'."
Property prices are as high as in Fulham. Land Registry figures reveal prices increased 141 per cent in the past five years, compared to a London average of 104 per cent.
Stephen Ludlow, of estate agent Ludlow Thompson, says the years of fast house-price growth have gone.
"An influx of creative types drives up interest but it is already out of the reach of the very people who put it on the map," he said.
Hoxton lies in Hackney, one of the most deprived boroughs in the country. Not far from the stylish bars are council estates and schools considered among the most troubled.
But the locals are fighting back. Shoreditch Our Way, a property corporation run as a charity and controlled by residents, has bought buildings before commercial developers moved in and reclaimed them for the community.
The corporation has also helped provide local bus services; small but significant steps in an area where rich and poor are thrown together.
