Kids In The Hall

In an attempt to discourage urban youth from hanging out in the foyers of apartment buildings, French authorities in Le Havre built them their own faux foyer -- with mixed results.

1 minute read

October 18, 2007, 8:00 AM PDT

By Michael Dudley


"Authorities in the French port of Le Havre have found a bizarre way to solve the problem of urban delinquents hanging about in the entry halls of apartment blocks: an entry hall with no apartments.

For several weeks, a "false lobby" has been erected on a stretch of grass in Graville la Vallée, a poor neighbourhood nicknamed "Chicago" in the northern city that houses about 1,500 people, mainly of immigrant extraction.

A red 12-metre-long metal shipping container has been furbished to create the illusion that it is the foyer of an apartment building, with a door and windows, an intercom, a wall of mail boxes, a false elevator and a staircase leading to the roof.

The idea - according to the city's social housing department - is for youths to use it as their recreation area rather than real-life entry halls, where many local people find them an intimidating presence.

Some locals praise the "false lobby" initiative as an imaginative answer to a pressing social need, but the response of most of its intended beneficiaries has been caustic.

Le Figaro newspaper reported yesterday that the buildingless entry hall this weekend attained a new level of verisimilitude: It was vandalized."

Wednesday, October 17, 2007 in The Globe & Mail

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