East versus West It used to be easy to locate the chic neighborhoods of Paris they were all in the west. With urban redevelopment now reshaping the city, such snap judgments aren't so easy, says L'Express magazine. Visitors typically cleave Paris into its two historical halves: the Left Bank and the Right Bank of the Seine. These days though, the city is dividing along different fault lines, east and west. The western arrondissements have long harbored Paris' affluent classes. But urban redevelopment in the traditionally working-class neighborhoods of the east is changing the makeup of the city, says L'Express. In a cover story on "le match Est-Ouest,"the weekly newsmagazine examines the trendy fashions, culture, restaurants, gardens and real estate properties peculiar to each region. For the "in" crowd, the magazine concludes, the new epicenter of Paris is in the east, on the rue Oberkampf in the 11th arrondissement. With its mushrooming cafés, restaurants and music bars, the street has become the place to be seen. Paris' chattering classes are lured east by the new spaces opened up by such developments as the Bibliothèque François Mitterrand, the Météor Métro line and the Bercy residential and commercial complex. Young families especially are attracted by the lower rents on the east side, as are artists, whose ateliers lend a certain cachet to any neighborhood. However, author Jean-Pierre Garnier says the real division is between Paris' 20 arrondissements and the much poorer banlieues(suburbs) that surround the city. The great movement to the east only represents the conquest of the other half of Paris by the bourgeoisie, he says. Bad Cop of the Planet? After its bombing offensive against Iraq, widely criticized in France, and foreign affairs setbacks elsewhere, the US is perceived to be faltering on the world stage, says Courrier International. The image on the cover is arresting. A cartoon of President Bill Clinton dressed in a superman cape, clutching a globe in his right hand. The illustration accompanied the top story in last month's Courrier International magazine about the United States role as the worlds mauvais gendarme.Despite some successes, the American record in Iraq, Asia, Central Africa, Latin America and Russia raises questions, the magazine says. The world is too big to be policed by a single power, even if it is relatively benign, writes Alexandre Adler, editor of Courrier, which gathers articles from the press around the world for its monthly issues. Ironically, the critical articles collected for its cover story on the US are predominantly American, including translated extracts from The New York Times, The International Herald Tribune, The Nation and Time. Pessimism Clouds Future Technological wizardry is expected to transform our way of living in 20 years, but L'Evènement says the French public has grave doubts life will be any better. Forget the millennium; what is life going to be like in the year 2020? L'Evènement magazine recently gathered experts to gaze into the crystal ball. The clairvoyants predict such wonders as robots capable of surgery, cars that can drive automatically on the highway, high-speed ferries using magnetic levitation and other technical marvels. But most French residents do not believe the scientific advances will help resolve the looming problems of society, according to a poll commissioned by L'Evènement. A majority believe the gap between rich and poor will continue to grow, that unemployment will remain high and that pensions will be threatened as the population ages. More people believe they will be less happy in 2020 (39 percent) than happier (27 percent), while 21 percent say their happiness would not change. On a brighter note, 57 percent say they expect to have more leisure time, while 66 percent believe cures will be found for cancer and AIDS. Government Battles Adolescent Crime France's government promises swift action to combat insecurity felt across the country in the wake of increasing youth violence in urban areas, Le Point reports. The socialist government of Lionel Jospin has made fighting crime its number-two priority (after unemployment) with a focus on young people. The number of minors involved in violent crime increased to 155,456 last year from 138,582 in 1997, while adult crime dropped, Le Point says. In an interview with the magazine, interior minister Jean-Pierre Chevènement, vows to dismantle bands of youths trafficking in drugs and involved in other illegalities in certain quartiers of the country's major cities. Chevènement recently returned to government from a four-month absence after a miraculous recovery from illnesss. He emerged from a coma caused by complications from the anaesthetic procedure he underwent for minor surgery last year. Doggy Debate Correspondents to a city magazine disagree about whether man's best friend should be allowed in Paris parks. Should dogs be allowed in parks? Readers of Paris: Le Journal, a magazine published by the city, have carried out a lively debate over the past few months in the letters to the editor section. Dogs are banned from most city parks, squares and gardens, to the chagrin of some readers who note the pets are indispensable companions for many seniors. This drew a heated response from one woman who argues dogs should only be allowed in parks if their owners are required by law to pick up after them, as in the United States and Canada. Currently, she writes, the city of Paris is paying a fortune for staff, riding on motorbikes and armed with vacuum cleaner-type pooper-scoopers, to remove the tons of doggy do deposited on Paris' sidewalks daily. Yet dog owners pay no tax for their pets, she says. |
