"The market is out of my price range but it is brilliant. Hackney had become run down, but now there’s less violence and more money in the area. I’ve used the market for a loaf of bread, yeah. I try to support my local high street. The butcher knows me personally, he knows the cuts of meat I like, that’s much nicer than Tesco service. It’s important to accept the changes. The East End has always been a place that changes a lot – immigrants come and go – the Asians, the Turks, the Jewish, and so on. All my life Hackney has been changing. This is just another change in a string of changes. It’s being revitalised." Photograph: Sophia Evans/the Observer
"The market has made the area much better. This is right by Murder Mile, but it feels safer now. You can’t have it both ways though. You can’t have a good area and affordable housing. The market is supposed to be targeting the whole community, but I don’t see any products that reflect that. Where are the fish stalls? Where’s the West Indian food? If Chatsworth Road had the kind of bustling market with traders weighing up veg, shouting out prices, and all that sort of thing, I’d be down there like a shot, getting the kids involved. I might pass through Chatsworth Road market for a loaf of bread at the end of market day when the prices have halved. But £3.50 full price is an extortionate amount, especially for a family." Photograph: Sophia Evans/the Observer
"I feel there’s an insidious engineering about gentrification round here. If the ethos behind regeneration was originally with some disgruntled middle-class people who needed to make savings and could align themselves with the plight of the lower classes, now it’s large-scale, sudden and surgical change. Mass migration changes the landscape so that those who have been here the longest are the last to benefit. It pisses me off that London is being sold as a product now and that markets like this are seen as leverage in that. I’m sitting in the middle of these divisions – I’m lower class but profiting from the middle class. The market adds value to the area so my rent goes up. The middle class has no conscience because they are in the 'middle' – they are in transition. They don’t see how their actions affect others." Photograph: Sophia Evans/the Observer
"I really like that they’re making it better, but it’s not my kind of market. I look after lots of middle-class families. Everyone says it’s such a great area, but they’re papering over the cracks. I like it because my mum’s here – my roots. I like the familiarity, I suppose. But lots of my friends have moved out to Epping and other parts of Essex. I come up here some Sundays. I might buy the odd thing but I think there could be more variety. It’s all food and what they call 'vintage clothing' – which is just secondhand clothing to me. And the prices? They are on another planet. We’re in the East End, but there’s none of the traditional stuff I grew up with. We badly need a good fish shop and we haven’t even got a Chinese no more. This is all catering to new people, to the Broadway Market sort." Photograph: Sophia Evans/the Observer
"We moved here last August because it is close to Dalston, where we used to live, and more affordable. It’s a good place to be a young mum and close enough to the City and Shoreditch to be able to cycle, but not in the thick of it all. We love the variety of Clapton. It’s so much less polished than other parts of London. This rawness sparks creativity. I do wonder about resentment from other social groups in the area. The difference is quite obvious at the weekend. The area is definitely being gentrified. It’s improving it for the moment and there is a community feel. Although it’s only a matter of time until Tesco comes here… The riots happened on our doorstep last year – it was very shocking. But there are risks you have to accept living in this area.” Photograph: Sophia Evans/the Observer
"I think the market’s a good project, although I don’t come often and I’ve never tasted their food. I usually go for the West Indian takeaway or to Percy Ingle [the traditional bakery on the corner]. On the one hand we’re excited about it bringing us new business, but on the other hand rent has gone up a lot round here. It is catering for the white middle class now. You go to some of the new bars and cafes and there’s not a black face in sight. You’re not going to get everything you want at this market. I go for Tesco or Asda – it’s much cheaper and everything’s in one place." Photograph: Sophia Evans/the Observer
“All this is a double-edged sword. You can lift Hackney out of poverty – but at what cost to the original people? They get moved into overcrowded homes, often with extended family, or forced to pay more for worse-quality housing. They are staying in Hackney but suffering. There’s a stark divide between those who have and those who have not here. When I go knocking on doors canvassing, it’s completely surreal. One house will be inhabited by a business owner, and next door will be split into seven flats where all the residents are unemployed. Their needs and wants are totally different and they are neighbours.” Photograph: Sophia Evans/the Observer
“Chatsworth Road used to be a proper working market where people did their weekly shop – all 'C’mon girls, come and get your greens!' Then it deteriorated. This market has brought some life back to the street. It’s designed for Broadway [market] sorts – it is deliberately for trendier customers. I don’t think they want any bric-a-brac or tat. In my opinion, you need a balance. It would be good to see some more everyday items. I bring sandwiches to work from home, but if I have to buy lunch out I’ll go to Percy Ingle or the working men’s caff down the other end, where you can get a big dinner with chips and beans for £4.50. The new places are fine if you’re treating yourself, but not as a regular thing. I’m a working-class boy.” Photograph: Sophia Evans/the Observer
“I’ve lived off Chatsworth Road for five years and I love the village feel. Hackney Marshes are behind us, so it’s a dead end. People don’t come in from that direction, which limits the number of randoms. The prices were too high in Dalston and I got pushed out. I came to Clapton and now I prefer it. In the last year it has changed a lot. It’s full of more people, particularly trendy young people. Before, no one wandered around in the evening, for example. The night-time economy still needs to develop a bit – we need more evening spots – but they will come. Chatsworth Road market is great and involves local people. But I’d like to see a bit more integration between locals and trendies. The guys who organise the market are thinking of an internship scheme whereby local estate kids come and help us on the stalls. It’s a very inclusive project.” Photograph: Sophia Evans/the Observer
“I’ve lived in this area all my life and it’s 100% improved. Years ago there was a big, staid market – but this new one is terrific because it’s trendy! It’s young, cosmopolitan, colourful and swinging. I live in a block with neighbours of all ages and backgrounds. Life was tough here 40-50 years ago. This gentrification is a good thing and it’s also inevitable. I don’t think the Olympics has had any impact – this would have happened anyway.” Photograph: Sophia Evans/the Observer
“When we moved to Homerton there were lots of bulletproof vest jokes. But there’s a real sense of community here. In the three years we’ve been here, the demographic has changed. Where there used to be squatters next door, there are now two converted flats with a freelance film editor in one and a music producer in the other. I like the market but I’m not qualified to say whether it’s good for the area. But I do really like first-press olive oil and courgette cake!” Photograph: Sophia Evans/the Observer
