Easterhouse is the most geographically isolated suburb of Glasgow. It’s seven miles from the city centre; literally the furthest point at which you are still in Glasgow. It’s wedged between the M8 to the south and the countryside to the north. It feels like it should be a separate town and not part of Glasgow, ‘cause many people here don’t identify with the city. I’d say I’m from Easterhouse rather than Glasgow.
My family were amongst the first people to be moved into this area. I was born in the old Easterhouse, when the gangs were still a major power. Violence and drugs were much more prominent then. If you say Easterhouse to someone, the first thing they think of is normally gangs, violence and drugs. At one point that was the reality, but it’s never been predominant. You’re looking at roughly 120 people at any given time who were involved in that. There are 5,000 people that live here. When you tell people you come from Easterhouse – and they think you’re possibly going to stab them – that’s an immediate misunderstanding.
It’s easy to say that Easterhouse is a better place now than it was in 1999 when I was born. Drug use has stagnated a wee bit recently and the gangs have disappeared completely. Houses have been knocked down and rebuilt. Most of the schools have been knocked down and rebuilt. I’ve seen the area change from a new town to what now resembles a traditional suburb. You could argue that this transformation is responsible for the decline in culture. It’s responsible for the decline in drug use, but most of the issues that were in Easterhouse before the gangs are the issues that caused the gangs, and are still present: sectarianism, child poverty, unemployment, health…
There’s the view that progression is a good thing, and then there’s a sentimental attachment to the past. In many respects, progression in the housing developments has been for the best. Most of the houses that were pulled down here didn’t have central heating or indoor toilets. But it feels like a backhanded attempt to raise property prices. Easterhouse was built for 40,000 to 50,000 people and there’s now less than 5,000 here.