Live data from Hacker News

Why are there so many colourful houses in Bristol?

secretbristol.com

51–60 of 102 posts

Re: Why are there so many colourful houses in Bristol?

#51
post #48

This is the second Bristol post I’ve seen on HN in as many days. And quite right too! It’s a fab little city that I always enjoy visiting. It’s big enough to have lots going on, without being oppressively Big like London or Birmingham. For more Bristol, I highly recommend the BBC comedy-drama series The Outlaws.

if you want something set where the colourful houses are, the original Being Human series too

Re: Why are there so many colourful houses in Bristol?

#52
post #50
post #10

I really wish they'd do this everywhere. In the town I live in there are a lot of houses and shops that are just exceptionally grim to look at. Everything is dilapidated, rotting, grey and pebbledashed. I can't help but think that, even if it's not fixing the root causes of why everything is shit, it would at least make things a bit less miserable and maybe give people a bit of joy and pride again for a pretty low co…

Just wait until the area gentrifies a little more and all of the houses get rendered, painted pure white, black UPVC windows put in and the whole front garden turned into an asphalt car park.

In Bristol the gentrification ends up with murals on houses... http://gagegraphics.co.uk/portfolio/page/2/

Re: Why are there so many colourful houses in Bristol?

#53
post #29

Some of these photos are just around the corner from my house. Weird to see them in Hacker News. Some of the people who own houses in my area have started hacking off the painted cement and brought the houses back to plain brick. Even some of the ones who had murals painted on them for Upfest (mentioned in the article), it seems a more conservative feel has started taking over. I think it’s sad to see the colours dis…

Is this due to the stage Bristol has reached in the gentrification cycle? It's been a vibrant alternative town, but from what I understand, this made it desirable to more and more people moved in, especially as London (and I guess Brighton) became completely out of reach for most people on normal incomes. What follows is probably a more conservative, less colourful mindset...

I suspect a lot of the back to brick is actually more phase one of dealing with damp. Once its dried out a lot of houses in my area then go and get coloured insulating render. So it's not even paint anymore but the actual material is coloured.

Re: Why are there so many colourful houses in Bristol?

#54
post #48

This is the second Bristol post I’ve seen on HN in as many days. And quite right too! It’s a fab little city that I always enjoy visiting. It’s big enough to have lots going on, without being oppressively Big like London or Birmingham. For more Bristol, I highly recommend the BBC comedy-drama series The Outlaws.

I moved out of the UK almost 20 years ago. If I was ever to move back (not right now...) Bristol would be top of the list for potential homes for exactly those reasons. And of course it was the birth place of trip-hop.

Re: Why are there so many colourful houses in Bristol?

#55
Bristolian here (nice to see others here too!)

Painting houses like this is quite common in Wales, near the sea particularly. See places like Tenby. Bristol being very close to Wales means it does have more cultural crossover than the rest of the UK, I wonder if that has anything to do with it.

Re: Why are there so many colourful houses in Bristol?

#56
post #48

This is the second Bristol post I’ve seen on HN in as many days. And quite right too! It’s a fab little city that I always enjoy visiting. It’s big enough to have lots going on, without being oppressively Big like London or Birmingham. For more Bristol, I highly recommend the BBC comedy-drama series The Outlaws.

A House Through Time, series 3, is one of the best portraits of Bristol I think I've ever seen. Astonishing television.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000jjn8/a-house-throu...

Re: Why are there so many colourful houses in Bristol?

#57
post #10

I really wish they'd do this everywhere. In the town I live in there are a lot of houses and shops that are just exceptionally grim to look at. Everything is dilapidated, rotting, grey and pebbledashed. I can't help but think that, even if it's not fixing the root causes of why everything is shit, it would at least make things a bit less miserable and maybe give people a bit of joy and pride again for a pretty low co…

I live in Japan and over here pretty much every small city and town is like you describe. But the saddest thing is that even brand new houses are incredibly ugly. Like seriously, who in their sane mind paints a house in black?

As you say, a bit of color would not fix the underlying problems, but it would make life a bit more enjoyable.

Re: Why are there so many colourful houses in Bristol?

#58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My god, it isn't even a gaudy pink, that's incredibly mild.

The final one is, and was approved. If you scroll down you'll see the original pink and green she tried, both of which were more gaudy in nature.

That green one looks like it was a duck you to the complainant.

Re: Why are there so many colourful houses in Bristol?

#59
post #10

I really wish they'd do this everywhere. In the town I live in there are a lot of houses and shops that are just exceptionally grim to look at. Everything is dilapidated, rotting, grey and pebbledashed. I can't help but think that, even if it's not fixing the root causes of why everything is shit, it would at least make things a bit less miserable and maybe give people a bit of joy and pride again for a pretty low co…

Meanwhile in Edinburgh there was a lot of drama because one of the residents painted their door - and apparently that didn't suit the conservative area! She finally managed to keep a pink door though: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-662...

*conservation area

Re: Why are there so many colourful houses in Bristol?

#60
post #10

I really wish they'd do this everywhere. In the town I live in there are a lot of houses and shops that are just exceptionally grim to look at. Everything is dilapidated, rotting, grey and pebbledashed. I can't help but think that, even if it's not fixing the root causes of why everything is shit, it would at least make things a bit less miserable and maybe give people a bit of joy and pride again for a pretty low co…

I wish we would get rid of all the horrible, depressing brutalist architecture that blights London such as the Barbican, South Bank Centre etc.
Post reply on HN