Re the pubs thing, I'm guessing the licensing system in Brussels allows pubs to exist in the sizes and locations that the drinkers want them. In Dublin they exist where they were in 1902, minus the ones where the licences were sold off to become supermarkets. The owners of those bars where customers stand three-deep are the same people campaigning for VAT reduction and berating their suppliers for price gouging because their industry is allegedly on its knees. Like with the housing problem, the pub industry has been shaped by powerful vested interests with the ear of a succession of right-wing governments. Frequently, the landlords, publicans and politicians are literally the same people.
I hadn't thought of that angle alright - we do have lots more small places (though also a lot fewer than previously) and far fewer big barns than Dublin would have
Another great piece Eoghan, well done. I think the problems in both cities boil back to inequality (again and always). I used to think that Brussels has a better safety net and still do but it seems to be fraying. Having many workers living and paying their taxes outside the Brussels region does not help either. Bring on the congestion charge I say! Otherwise I still love living in Brussels but a river and a coast line would be nice (the canal is coming along well though!).
Christ I do miss the sea though, and a river is such a good waymarker - I think that's a part of what makes Brussels so confusing, no central point of reference around which to orient yourself.
And on the fraying social safety net, I think that's definitely true, and I'm worried it's only going to get worse in the coming years.
A Dublin city centre bar that’s not jammed at the weekend won’t be long for the world these days. Got to recoup the investment in the license. A book reading pint nurser would have more luck heading out on a Monday or Tuesday, or during the afternoon. Wierdly, since regular bars are jammed when the tourists are in town, hotel bars have become rare spots of calm, and unlikely to have music or tv on over the conversation, and I’ve found myself heading there for a break from the hubbub.
The Gramsci quote, “The crisis consists precisely in the fact that the old is dying and the new cannot be born; in this interregnum a great variety of morbid symptoms appear” got me wondering: are the hegemonic class of rulers comparable in their cultural powers in both cities? Or, is Brussels’ diasporic population more difficult to corral?
A really interesting read, as ever. I've developed a really strange relationship/attitude towards Brussels over the frequent visits of the last 10-15 years. I neither like nor dislike it but I've always struggled to put my finger on why. There are bars/pockets of the city that I do really like but there are aspects of the city - brilliantly covered over the last couple of newsletters - that I really really dislike.
It's still a place we stop off at if going on a mini tour of Belgium/Flanders but I feel much more at ease in the likes of Bruges, Oudenaarde, Ghent et al.
Thanks for reading, Andrew - and I get what you're saying. There is something about Brussels that it almost takes living here to work out why it's worth spending tiem in. It's not an immediately welcoming place!
My experience of London is also that the city has become generally less pleasant to be in. I can't discount the fact that I'm a lot closer to middle age than when I first started coming in from the suburbs. But the crime stats, housing costs and similar stories from other cities suggest the rot is real.
I obviously don't know either city as well as you do, I was nodding along. I am a person who LOVES a city, but I'm unmoved by both Brussels and Dublin. I studied abroad in Wallonia, later did PhD fieldwork in Flanders, and always felt decidedly meh about Brussels, not helped by stupid things happening to me every time I'm there - having to rescue a friend, falling in a literal hole in the pavement, etc. It's an interesting city, but not a massively appealing one. I was living in Edinburgh the first time I visited Dublin and declared it "A more expensive, less attractive Edinburgh". It's grown on me in subsequent visits but I'd always prefer Belfast after 2 years of splitting my time between Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The most uncomfortable thing I noticed in Brussels: a group of refugees (and I use the term broadly to describe people who are neither Flemish or Walloon) tend to ride the trams all day out of boredom. I was seeing them over and over as I rode between tourist spots.
Re the pubs thing, I'm guessing the licensing system in Brussels allows pubs to exist in the sizes and locations that the drinkers want them. In Dublin they exist where they were in 1902, minus the ones where the licences were sold off to become supermarkets. The owners of those bars where customers stand three-deep are the same people campaigning for VAT reduction and berating their suppliers for price gouging because their industry is allegedly on its knees. Like with the housing problem, the pub industry has been shaped by powerful vested interests with the ear of a succession of right-wing governments. Frequently, the landlords, publicans and politicians are literally the same people.
I hadn't thought of that angle alright - we do have lots more small places (though also a lot fewer than previously) and far fewer big barns than Dublin would have
Another great piece Eoghan, well done. I think the problems in both cities boil back to inequality (again and always). I used to think that Brussels has a better safety net and still do but it seems to be fraying. Having many workers living and paying their taxes outside the Brussels region does not help either. Bring on the congestion charge I say! Otherwise I still love living in Brussels but a river and a coast line would be nice (the canal is coming along well though!).
Christ I do miss the sea though, and a river is such a good waymarker - I think that's a part of what makes Brussels so confusing, no central point of reference around which to orient yourself.
And on the fraying social safety net, I think that's definitely true, and I'm worried it's only going to get worse in the coming years.
A Dublin city centre bar that’s not jammed at the weekend won’t be long for the world these days. Got to recoup the investment in the license. A book reading pint nurser would have more luck heading out on a Monday or Tuesday, or during the afternoon. Wierdly, since regular bars are jammed when the tourists are in town, hotel bars have become rare spots of calm, and unlikely to have music or tv on over the conversation, and I’ve found myself heading there for a break from the hubbub.
The Gramsci quote, “The crisis consists precisely in the fact that the old is dying and the new cannot be born; in this interregnum a great variety of morbid symptoms appear” got me wondering: are the hegemonic class of rulers comparable in their cultural powers in both cities? Or, is Brussels’ diasporic population more difficult to corral?
A really interesting read, as ever. I've developed a really strange relationship/attitude towards Brussels over the frequent visits of the last 10-15 years. I neither like nor dislike it but I've always struggled to put my finger on why. There are bars/pockets of the city that I do really like but there are aspects of the city - brilliantly covered over the last couple of newsletters - that I really really dislike.
It's still a place we stop off at if going on a mini tour of Belgium/Flanders but I feel much more at ease in the likes of Bruges, Oudenaarde, Ghent et al.
Thanks for reading, Andrew - and I get what you're saying. There is something about Brussels that it almost takes living here to work out why it's worth spending tiem in. It's not an immediately welcoming place!
My experience of London is also that the city has become generally less pleasant to be in. I can't discount the fact that I'm a lot closer to middle age than when I first started coming in from the suburbs. But the crime stats, housing costs and similar stories from other cities suggest the rot is real.
I obviously don't know either city as well as you do, I was nodding along. I am a person who LOVES a city, but I'm unmoved by both Brussels and Dublin. I studied abroad in Wallonia, later did PhD fieldwork in Flanders, and always felt decidedly meh about Brussels, not helped by stupid things happening to me every time I'm there - having to rescue a friend, falling in a literal hole in the pavement, etc. It's an interesting city, but not a massively appealing one. I was living in Edinburgh the first time I visited Dublin and declared it "A more expensive, less attractive Edinburgh". It's grown on me in subsequent visits but I'd always prefer Belfast after 2 years of splitting my time between Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The most uncomfortable thing I noticed in Brussels: a group of refugees (and I use the term broadly to describe people who are neither Flemish or Walloon) tend to ride the trams all day out of boredom. I was seeing them over and over as I rode between tourist spots.