Seocho-gu is apparently ponying up a lot of cash to make Sorae Maeul a more attractive place to foreign residents, but there are questions over whether the efforts will actually draw more foreigners to the neighborhood:
Comparing the expenses for the reconstructed French road to other district offices’ costs on foreigner community development, Lim said that she believes Seocho-gu has invested the most time and effort.
She believes Seocho-gu has been the most proactive in reaching out to foreigners and making the area attractive to newcomers, but the number of foreigners remains fairly constant.
“More can come, but it’s almost always the same,” she said.
The entire village holds 792 residents, compared with Itaewon’s foreigner population of 2,182, last recorded two years ago. Yongsan-gu currently has no concrete development plans for the expat community areas.
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When I was last in Seoul in 2007/2008, Sorae-maeul was one of my favorite haunts for dining out, so I’m glad to hear that the neighborhood is undergoing a facelift. But the notion that the centerpiece of the project –wider pedestrian walkways, a narrower road and more street lights — should be seen as special infrastructure spending designed to attract and benefit only foreign residents and visiters is ludicrous.
Unless the bureaucrats in Seocho-ku plan on ghettoizing the neighborhood, these kinds of infrastructure improvements improve neighborhoods for everyone, and, as with what’s happened in Itaewon, are just as likely to attract new Korean visiters as new foreign ones.
Given the shoddy feel of a lot of Korean neighborhoods, this kind of spending needs to increase across the board.
DLB
Does someone at city hall have friends and/or relatives who own property there?
So I guess I’m the only one who after reading the title thought this was going to be a discussion about porn.
Speaking of which, how about some baguettes in 파리바게트?
Funnily enough I thought it was about infants in freezers.
The only thing French in Sorae Maeul is the transient French-speaking expat community that cycles through there during their 1-2 year stints at the embassy or the Seoul branch office of the multinational they work for, and that Lycée they built for their children. The restaurants, the cafés, the bakeries, are all decidedly Korean takes on a French/Italian theme that remind me more of Gangnam than Paris — 파리바게트 notwithstanding. That being said, I loved hanging out there in 2006-07 when it was still rather unknown and off the beaten path, with very little traffic, and hardly any loudmouthed foreigners of the Anglo variety. I guess Seochu-gu’s multi-million dollar plan to create just another faceless and soulless foreigner ghetto, a’la “French Specialized Street” is proof once again, that you can’t have too much of a good thing.
My correction to #6: The international school in Sorae Maeul is considered an “école primaire” (elementary school) — not a lycée.
8675309,
There’s at least one good bakery in that neighborhood. It uses real whipped cream in its confections, not that non-dairy topping with a shelf life of 2 years that everybody else uses in Korea. Sorry, I don’t remember the name of the shop.
I went to Sorae Maeul, about a month ago. With the exception of the French flags, the blue white red sidewalk, and the Lycee, there was nothing French about this neighborhood.
Makes you wonder why the district office spends so much time and money trying to promote the “Frenchness” of this particular neighborhood.
theotherkorean,
It doesn’t look like the French Quarter in New Orleans!?
Well, I’ve never been to New Orleans, so I wouldn’t know, would I?
The French live in Gloucester Rd and South Kensington in London. The only thing French there is exactly the same, the lycee, some book shops, a couple of cafes, and the French that live there. It’s not meant to be a theme park (i.e.Akaroa of NZ) The less obviously French the better. The French just tend to pick the most chic places and turn it more chic, with their froufrou ness
The only thing French there is exactly the same, the lycee, some book shops, a couple of cafes, and the French that live there.
OK, if there were cafes, maybe a French restaurant or two, a French store or so, I would be willing to accept the fact Sorae Maul has a bit of “Frenchness” in it. But the only thing French is the Lycee and the district office’s loud attempts to make it obvious that this is little France or something.
Anyway my point is Sorae Maul is just your typical Seoul neighborhood, nothing special about it. So I wish that the district office won’t spend all that time and money trying to “Frenchize” the place.
Agreeeed.We Koreans should learn the concept of “less is more”…or the beauty of understatement. Although, I do remember going to a cool wine bar type place there (damn expensive wines though, 10만원 a bottle) ..Are you sure there aren’t more tucked away?
Hate to think a Korean family’s excursion to Paris on the Han would be spoiled by mistaking a random Canucki doing his errands for a bona fide frog. The horror!
If that much money is being invested I expect the gov’t to compel the frogs to wear berets and Breton shirts and carry baguettes so that the gawkers can readily identify them for photo ops.
And as Tommy Tutone has observed, is there anyway we can keep the loudmouthed Anglophones out of the neighborhood altogether?
BTW, is there a plan to establish a quasi Thai Soi Cowboy in town?
“That being said, I loved hanging out there in 2006-07 when it was still rather unknown and off the beaten path, with very little traffic, and hardly any loudmouthed foreigners of the Anglo variety.”
Eh, “rather unknown” “off the beaten path” “very little traffic” were you in a different place? Whats changed?
And why all these fond Paris Baguette references when the renowned one in Seorae Maeul is Paris Croissant.
“there was nothing French about this neighborhood.”
you missed the quaint multilingual signage…
nice little italian restaurant down the side street from Paris Croissant
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