What Locals Really Think of Britain’s ‘Coolest Neighbourhood

Govanhill has recently been celebrated as Britain’s “coolest neighbourhood”, recognised for its lively community, independent businesses and welcoming atmosphere.

The accolade from Time Out came just weeks after a Reform UK politician controversially described the Glasgow suburb as a “ghetto” affected by crime and drug dealing.

More than 60 languages are spoken in Govanhill, where independent shops and cafes line Victoria Road and Allison Street, giving the area a character all its own.

Situated south of the River Clyde and around a ten-minute drive from Glasgow city centre, the suburb has been regarded as the city’s most diverse neighbourhood for the past century.

Some older residents remain puzzled by the latest recognition, pointing to problems including fly-tipping and street gangs. One went as far as describing Govanhill as a “sh**hole” and claimed that house prices were falling.

However, younger residents and local business owners who spoke to the Daily Mail this week said the title was deserved, arguing that the area’s diversity and energy are central to its appeal.

They accepted that rubbish and fly-tipping remain concerns, while one visitor said gangs could sometimes be seen gathering on street corners after dark.

Even so, most younger locals and business owners believe Govanhill has earned its new accolade, with some saying the busy atmosphere after dark only adds to the neighbourhood’s distinctive buzz.

Graham Fulton, 61, has run Fulton’s cafe on Victoria Road for ten years, after spending 14 years at a nearby premises on Allison Street. His husband, who is also called Graham, works in the kitchen.

He said: “It’s cool here because of the mix of age groups, cultures and nationalities. It’s a complete blend of everything, so it’s a really diverse neighbourhood. It’s diverse and inclusive, and I’ve never had any trouble.

“The only thing I dislike is that people still have a small-minded attitude towards the area because it used to be a bit rough. That annoys me. They’ve done a lot to clean it up.

“The Glasgow Housing Association took on many of the slumland buildings and improved them. That has brought younger people and students back, giving the whole area a new feel. It’s only going to keep improving.”

One customer said: “I live just around the corner, so obviously I love it. I spend all my time here. I heard Reform UK called it the ‘ghetto’ and thought, ‘Oh, I live in the ghetto,’ but then you walk around and think, it’s awesome.”

Among Govanhill’s standout businesses is Transylvania Shop and Coffee, known for its quirky Dracula-themed products and food from Romania and elsewhere, including salty cheese, sauerkraut and strudel.

Owner Daniel Radu, who has run the shop since 2010, said: “It is diverse here and brilliant. It’s very interesting. Most of the products come from Transylvania and Romania, with others from Hungary and Germany, while the coffee comes from Italy.

“We get many vampire lovers coming in, and at Halloween we celebrate the Saturday of the Dead because we are Christian Orthodox. In Romania, we go to the cemetery at midnight with candles and make a special cake called Colivă.

“In Govanhill, we have neighbours from every community and many students too. The only things we are lacking are more Christmas lights on the streets—we are speaking with the council about that—and more cleaning.”

Hungarian-born comedian Sylas Shaw, 32, said he was initially sceptical about the area.

He said: ‘I can tell you this specifically. When I moved to Glasgow, I did the basic research to see where it was safe. The Glasgow knife crime map came up and I didn’t move to Govanhill because of the reputation.

‘Then I was walking around here a couple of years back, and I saw they had a Yiddish lesbian pay-what-you-want anarchical communist cafe open there. I was like, maybe Govanhill has changed.

‘If they can function in Govanhill I think we are going to be fine. That place shut down because the owners moved to America but there is a lot of culture here. You can visit the Transylvania shop and then you go down the street and there is Kebabish.

‘There’s all sorts of food, you’ve got desserts, you’ve got Locavore Scottish foods. There’s an entire mix of local cuisine, different cuisines. So it’s not just like all these immigrants taken over. There’s very much a Scottish presence so that’s the beauty of it. I like walking around.’

He added: ‘You may have to be careful what alley you go down but then you go into the middle of town and I had friends who were mugged there.’

Nic Munogee, 31, works in the Zine library in Govanhill, a community arts space and charity with a ‘zine’ collection, archive and library space which attracts over 9,000 people each year.

Mr Munogee said: ‘Zines are self-published booklets and magazines and we have zines from the 1970s and riot girl scene and pop culture and music and a public reading room that has the collection out on display for people to read, and it covers all sorts of different topics.

‘This place started as a festival in 2013, and then from there got a physical space and has got bigger. We have a programme of events, and are open Fridays and Saturdays to the public for people to just come in, make stuff, have tea, biscuits and read the zines.’

He continued: ‘It’s just a funny thing to see the place where you go every day, be on a list of the coolest places. It didn’t really surprise me because it is really popular.

‘People love to come here and have a nice coffee and come to cool places like this that don’t exist in other places in the city.

‘I love how diverse it is, and I just feel very welcome here and I think a lot of people do. The only thing I dislike is it is becoming gentrified but you can’t do anything about that.’

Lewis McCrudden, 35, who is the chargehand at corner bar The Rose Reilly, has seen the place evolve from being an old man’s pub to welcoming in a younger hipper crowd who now mix with the older generation.

The bar on Albert Road used to be called The Hampden Bar because of its proximity to the football stadium, but changed its name in 2022 to reflect its updated clientele and celebrate the Scottish women’s footballer who won a World Cup medal for Italy.

Mr McCrudden said: ‘Govanhill is a multicultural area and is relatively cheap compared to the rest of Glasgow, especially the West End. There is a big community vibe here as well.

‘There’s Radio Buena Vida around the corner, there’s Glad Cafe, there’s the Rumshack, there’s also live music venues and stuff like that. They support local bands and artists. It’s definitely changed.

‘There’s lots more students, young professionals, artists, musicians, and graphic designers, but there is still a very strong working-class contingent of people who live here. So it’s a real mix.

‘The older generations and the younger generations get on well and this place is a good example of that. We still get the old boys coming in and everyone hangs out together. There’s some stories. It’s a really nice neighbourhood.’

He also spoke enthusiastically about the immigrant population in the neighbourhood adding: ‘There’s a large Romany contingent in the neighbourhood. Our boss’s partner is Czech. We have got a lot of eastern European beers here.

‘So initially they came in because he spoke a little bit, of Czech and they were like, oh, my God, there’s this Scottish guy that speaks Czech and they start coming in. We have Scandinavian and Swedish here too.

‘On Victoria Road there’s a lot of Pakistani shops on the street, and a lot of good food there and the sauces are cheap too. You can get street food and wraps freshly made. It’s all super cheap as well. There is the mosque just over there too.’

But Mr McCrudden added: ‘The only thing I dislike about here is the rubbish. There’s a lot of rubbish left. We have to speak to the council to come and pick it up. There’s a big bunch of bins down there that’s never got collected, but it was piling up and piling up.

‘There’s a lot of fly tipping on places like Calder Street and sometimes it gets really bad and then they come along clear all the way and it starts building up again.’

Emily Howie, 29, originally from Newcastle, works in Scottish produce shop and cafe Locavore and says she feels safe in Govanhill.

She said: ‘My sister lives here and I visited there quite a lot and I thought it seemed like kind of cool area. I used to live in the West End for six years when I was at uni and I felt there was a lot more of a sense of community here because the West End is quite transient.

‘There’s so much diversity here too. You notice it when you go into public spaces like pubs and stuff, there’s always like a big mix of different people that all just seem to get along.

‘We’ve got so many different businesses and different food places and I like all of the events spaces and the park here.’

Ms Howie added: ‘I guess there’s problems with litter and stuff like that, but that’s a problem with the council. Calder Street is quite bad where I live. It actually doesn’t seem to be that bad at the moment, but sometimes it gets really bad.’

She also talked about the recent ‘ghetto’ comments, saying: ‘When I moved, I was researching Govanhill, because I didn’t know that much about it, and it said it was the most dangerous area of Glasgow, and the specific street I was on was the most dangerous street. I feel more safe here than I do in the West End.

‘I think there’s so many communities that are out at night just hanging about, which for me, I feel like that’s like really nice. I like it. It feels like the area is really busy and there’s a lot of people around as opposed to an intimidating thing.

‘I’ve never felt intimidated. In the West End, it’s just quite empty and I would always feel quite unsafe because it’s just me on my own. Whereas here I walk back at like midnight and like, there’s just loads of people about.’

Govanhill’s mix of cultures received criticism from Reform UK councillor Thomas Kerr in a recent speech at Holyrood.

He criticised multiculturalism and claimed integration had failed in Govanhill.

Mr Kerr alleged that the area suffered from ‘daytime drug dealing, child exploitation, mass illegal migration, and street gangs’, contrasting it with its historical past as the heart of Glasgow’s Jewish community.

During the Daily Mail’s visit, one worker in the area said they could see where the councillor was coming from but the situation was not as clear cut.

He explained: ‘You’ve got nice restaurants here and the area used to be one of the top five most sought-after areas in Britain but some people are running away from it now.

‘Big houses at the back used to be valued at £390,000 but now you’d be lucky if you got £200,000 for it. It’s just because it’s a decline.

‘It’s not the people’s fault that come here. If I were having a bad life and I got offered a better life somewhere like Bucharest I’d jump at it.’

‘It’s true, when I see grown men standing at corners, doing nothing, and getting paid for it, I am envious. I could be annoyed but I also take my hat off to the foreigners for working hard in the shops here. I can see both sides.

‘As long as the people who are coming here work hard and integrate I have no problem with it. I like integration.’

Another longstanding local shopkeeper said: ‘I’ve been here 27 years and it’s not as good as people say. There’s too much violence at night by Queen’s Park.

‘The Slovakians don’t get on with the Romanians so there are fights constantly.

He added: ‘It’s a shame for the young people. They are opening shops for the illegal immigrants and giving them pool tables, and our kind get nothing. It’s unfair. There’s never anything for them to do.’

However local union worker Derek John Mackenzie could not speak highly enough of the area, saying: ‘It’s very multicultural, a very community place. And I think it’s great.’