July 12, 2010 16:29

Ice Queer said...

I totally agree with first anonymous, and it has nothing to do with class before u all go bashing us!

July 12, 2010 16:29

Ice Queer said...

lol so it's all about Israel now? =D
All what u've said is beautiful but before we can do something like that, people should get educated, civilized and self-loving first!

A small example for you, there was a really nice experiment in Alexandria, where car horns were banned in many streets and you pay a huge fine if you violated the rule, also the early beginnings of Foreign Garbage collection company...all people in the beginning were obeying the rules and everything for just few months wa ba3dain yerga3 akhook 3and abook as they say!

Another example, look at how the metro became after the Egyptian government put its hand on after the French/Japan company?

Bottom line; you can't give something nice to someone who won't appreciate it! =)

July 12, 2010 16:29

Anonymous said...

"ensa ya amr", look at the people walking down DOWNTOWN streets..... look at the garbage thrown on sidewalks, the only obstacle will be the residents in Downtown buildings who cannot live anywhere else, who are used to pay 2 pounds a month for rent, in a big high-ceiling apartments "men fo2 ma2lab zebala we men ta7t maskh"???????????.......anyways, i really hope that this massive project sees the light and gets accomplished, cause i really feel jealous when i go to Beirut and i c how people are fascinated with their solidere-downtown which is a miniature one if compared to our beloved authentic one, what we really lack its CLEANLINESS and NEATNESS specially for citizens....who will then turn the streets, thus the whole country back to its "Paris" reputation......

July 12, 2010 16:29

Anonymous said...

Who said we don't like the project, kan el mafrood asslan mesh ne7tag me mashroo3 , it should have been the same people of old times, it should have been same cleanliness of that beautiful old  Cairo......but lel2saf " erfa3 ra2asak ya akhi" waddenta fine dahya....and by the way those people that u say can't afford this new project including restos, stores,....still u can't ban them from walking down the streets..... They may even sit on sidewalks ....look at sharm and the kind of people u notice in ne3ma or even in pacha....unfortunately I'm so sad that our beloved downtown has become a place of group harrasement especially in eids....with all girls supposedly wearing scarves shaking their asses, wearing condusing mulricolors and dying to get an eager eye contact with any guy.....really zaman el maskh :-(

July 12, 2010 16:29

Anonymous said...

once they are done with the project el nass eli ento bet2oolo 3alihom dol mesh hayb2o mawgodeen aslan fel shware3 cuz they wont be able to afford sitting in fancy restaurants or cafes or buying expensive clothes..homa mesh haygadedo el buildings bass they will completely transform the downtown area el ma7alaaat w kol 7aga hatetghayar..ana mesh shayfa enaha bad idea AT ALL mesh 7aram el buildings eli malyana zebala di? e7na 3andena shwayet buildings a7la men eli f paris eh el moshkila lama n7afez 3al tareekh bta3na???? ento koloko bet2oolo eno mesh 3agabekom el project bas once its done koloko hategro 3ala henak to be "scene & heard"

July 12, 2010 16:29

Anonymous said...

Well yaaai begad shofo shakl el nas ele fel share3 well first anon this is how the majority look.

Why do they need to turn it into a high-priced condos area? Why cant they spend money to clean it, readjust parking areas, paint all the buildings, take out the trash hidden inside these buildings because God knows someone can make millions of dollars from that trash, replace some of the shops in their rental agreements and bring better shops, or more organized shops, rearrange shops to have for example all the amazing bookstores there in one street? why cant they ask young ppl to volunteer their time and creativity and lend a hand in renovating the area and use this as a lunch pad for further efforts where businesses and citizens work together to make several areas around Egypt (not only Cairo) better places to live?

I for one had enough with the building luxury apartments frenzy kefaia. I also find it unfair that ppl living there are made to leave bec well they wont make the newly refurbished down town look cool enough, imagine if u lived there and was one of those asked to leave how would u feel then? and where will they go, since well we are made to pay millions of pounds for an apartment that would be way smaller than where they live now and in the middle of the desert? how can they afford new places? or will they get dumped into one of those ewwy areas we have, waiting for another big block of rocks to take their lives away? and what will be the criteria for who gets to stay and who gets to leave? A friend of mine lives their with her family and they happen to be very wealthy, would they get to stay?
what needs to be done for sure is a legislative action to readjust the rents in that area to fair levels, my grandma inherited a building there w her bros and sisters and she gets 5 pounds each month and on top of that they are asked to pay thousands to fix lifts, etc, that wont make sense in any other country but Egypt.

As for the Beirut comparison, you do realize that their downtown has been built fairly in recent times, no comparison what so ever from the historical point of view between the 2 downtowns.

Finally, I do remember reading several months ago something about a private development company trying to buy buildings in downtown and it turns out the company has ties with Israeli partners. Dnt recall the exact details but I remember several ppl opposing their plans and the info turning out to be correct and their plans coming to a halt.

July 12, 2010 16:29

Pax Machina said...

*all together is one word---altogether.

gentrification is a double edged sword! we've all seen prices sky rocket in east berlin, london and poor old new york. where the mayor has officially turned the whole city into a 'luxury condo.'

there is a certain 'rough'/edgy charm that is lost once the buildings are resurfaced, the interiors gutted and the gentry move in.

dunno just call me a purist...i hope the don't go overboard.