# Jo'burg's REBIRTH



## Diggerdog (Sep 24, 2008)

Give it time, people browse...the photos are great and the whole vibe is awesome there - I think most people will be impressed when they see this...I know I want to go there!


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## Diggerdog (Sep 24, 2008)

Dont forget Randlords - total hotspot in Braamies - 22nd floor South Point Towers.

The world's cities cannot have enough rooftop bars!
















































Photos courtesy of randlords.co.za


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## musiccity (Jan 5, 2011)

^^

 I didn't even know about that place, looks awesome!!


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## musiccity (Jan 5, 2011)

This thread has been changed to include all the urban renewal projects and gentrification of the Joburg CBD. 

Tomorrow will be the Maboneng Precinct, stay tuned.


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## Linguine (Aug 10, 2009)

nice thread musiccity, and awesome photos...:cheers:


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## musiccity (Jan 5, 2011)

Linguine said:


> nice thread musiccity, and awesome photos...:cheers:


Thank you Linguine!


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## briker (Aug 21, 2008)

great pics. Very colourful and vibrant. PLease post more


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## nelly_the_elephant (Jun 20, 2007)

musiccity said:


> Only 2 comments and one of them was from a forumer who lives in Jo'burg.
> 
> 
> I guess no one's interested, how discouraging.


Well, here is a comment from a forumer living in Belgium. It looks great and I am really impressed. From a tourist point of view (because that is what I have allways been in your country, albeit 7 times already), Johannesburg is turning slowly but surely from a no go zone into a must visit zone. Things like this don't happen overnight of course but what you are posting here is convincing me that it WILL happen. By the way, very recently we had an article in a travel section of a respected newspaper here in Belgium, encouraging people visiting SA to spend at least a couple of days in Joburg and for the first time, it was about so much more than only township visits.

So Joburg: keep up the good work! kay:


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## musiccity (Jan 5, 2011)

^^

Thanks for the comment! Yes, Jo'burg is improving fairly rapidly and the crime rate in the city has dropped exponentially. (murder rate dropped from 95/100,000 in the 90's to 29/100,000 now) 

Joburg is truly a fascinating city and I encourage people to spend more than a day here.


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## jbkayaker12 (Nov 8, 2004)

Interesting! Many years ago in Vegas, I've met a nice guy from South Africa , South African of Dutch descent.:cheers:


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## musiccity (Jan 5, 2011)

^^

That's an Afrikaner lol

Anyways, more pics coming soon!


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## musiccity (Jan 5, 2011)

Alright, the next couple of posts will be of the Maboneng Precinct, which is an area in the eastern part of the Joburg CBD around Fox Street that's under heavy rejuvination.



___________________________________________________________









bottom buildings part of Maboneng










Rooftop Bar at 12 Decades Hotel



















Source: Facebook - Gabi Hill


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## musiccity (Jan 5, 2011)

More photos of the Maboneng Precinct to come


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## musiccity (Jan 5, 2011)

*Market on Main*

-Renovated Buildings


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## Köbtke (Jun 29, 2005)

Very interesting pictures.

I'm embarrassed to confess that my image of Johannesburg is something a long the lines of "you will get mugged/stabbed/car jacked at any minute and peril wait just around the next corner". So good to be shown wrong looking at your images (way wrong by the looks of it).

Seems like any other big, western city with a nice laid back lifestyle  And some of those buildings and studios look simply awesome.


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## musiccity (Jan 5, 2011)

Köbtke said:


> Very interesting pictures.
> 
> I'm embarrassed to confess that my image of Johannesburg is something a long the lines of "you will get mugged/stabbed/car jacked at any minute and peril wait just around the next corner". So good to be shown wrong looking at your images (way wrong by the looks of it).
> 
> Seems like any other big, western city with a nice laid back lifestyle  And some of those buildings and studios look simply awesome.


You think this is nice? You should see Sandton, in Joburg's Northern Suburbs. It's called the richest square mile in Africa.

But onto the point you said, Joburg's crime stats aren't great but it's no worse that a rougher American city and the crime rate has dropped exponentially since Joburg gained it's poor reputation in the 90's. That said, there are still parts of Joburg that are no-go zones including parts of the CBD. There has been vast improvement in the CBD in the last couple of years (this thread's purpose is to show the improvement) but there are still decrepit and dangerous parts of the CBD. But in general Joburg is a very well developed city with an infrastructure that easily rivals 1st world countries.


Here's a thread for Sandton link. The last couple of pages have the most recent photos.


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## Köbtke (Jun 29, 2005)

musiccity said:


> You think this is nice? You should see Sandton, in Joburg's Northern Suburbs. It's called the richest square mile in Africa.
> 
> But onto the point you said, Joburg's crime stats aren't great but it's no worse that a rougher American city and the crime rate has dropped exponentially since Joburg gained it's poor reputation in the 90's. That said, there are still parts of Joburg that are no-go zones including parts of the CBD. There has been vast improvement in the CBD in the last couple of years (this thread's purpose is to show the improvement) but there are still decrepit and dangerous parts of the CBD. But in general Joburg is a very well developed city with an infrastructure that easily rivals 1st world countries.
> 
> ...


Well Sandton looks nice indeed but I personally prefer the area in the first page of this thread. As a graphic designer it looks like the perfect place to have a studio with lots of cool renovated/converted spaces 

How come some areas of the CBD are so bad BTW? I mean how did it decline (since I'm guessing the buildings there wasn't built as low income housing)? Would guess it mainly happened after Apartheid?


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## musiccity (Jan 5, 2011)

Köbtke said:


> Well Sandton looks nice indeed but I personally prefer the area in the first page of this thread. As a graphic designer it looks like the perfect place to have a studio with lots of cool renovated/converted spaces
> 
> How come some areas of the CBD are so bad BTW? I mean how did it decline (since I'm guessing the buildings there wasn't built as low income housing)? *Would guess it mainly happened after Apartheid?*


:yes: 

When the Group Areas Act was abolished in 1991, blacks from the townships flooded the CBD leaving the whites running out to the suburbs abandoning their apartments and offices. The new black residents who were disenfrachised under the Apartheid system now occupied the abandoned buildings. Since the new residents of the CBD were desperately poor, the CBD became very run down and dangerous.

Now, the Whites who abondoned the CBD moved their offices to Sandton which to this day is Johannesburg's functioning Central Business District. But things are starting to turn around.

Around 2006, 15 years later, there was a massive initiative to restore the now hellish CBD, there was also a motive drive by the Joburg City Government to encourage residents to clean up the city and gain pride in their city. Since then (and sped up by the World Cup) there has been gradual but extensive rehabilitation and renewal in hopes that one day, the CBD will restore to it's former glory.

Kind of a feel good story isn't it. 



Also, I agree with you. Sandton is extremely modern but the renovated parts of the CBD have a much better vibe.


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## aquablue (Mar 18, 2006)

musiccity said:


> :yes:
> 
> When the Group Areas Act was abolished in 1991, blacks from the townships flooded the CBD leaving the whites running out to the suburbs abandoning their apartments and offices. The new black residents who were disenfrachised under the Apartheid system now occupied the abandoned buildings. Since the new residents of the CBD were desperately poor, the CBD became very run down and dangerous.
> 
> ...


So are you saying that the poor blacks moving out and the wealthier blacks and whites moving in?

I was in Joburg in the 1990's and stayed in Midrand. Sandton was impressive at that time but it lacks street life, no? Nice malls though. The CBD was rather empty and desolate on my last visit but I'm sure things have now changed. A little scary especially in the area near the large communications tower. Glad to see things turn around slowly.


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## musiccity (Jan 5, 2011)

aquablue said:


> So are you saying that the poor blacks moving out and the wealthier blacks and whites moving in?
> 
> I was in Joburg in the 1990's and stayed in Midrand. Sandton was impressive at that time but it lacks street life, no? Nice malls though. The CBD was rather scary on my last visit especially in the area near the large communications tower. Glad to see things turn around slowly.


The CBD was definitely a no-go zone in the 90's. That area your talking about is Hillbrow, one of the most dangerous places in South Africa. (still is) 

But even Hillbrow is improving.

And to answer your first question, very few whites are really moving back into the CBD with the exception of a few renovated buildings-turned lofts in Braamfontein. But these gentrified areas are attracting Joburgers of all races as a trendy place to enjoy the weekend.

Your second question, Sandton lacked street life up until the completion of the Gautrain in August of 2011, now it's bustling with street life.


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