London Guide
Brixton
Victorian railway viaducts still dominate the landscape of central Brixton, with shops and arcades hidden under their arches, but it's the West Indian community, who arrived here in the 1950s and 1960s, who still define the character of the place. Brixton is also saddled with the reputation for violence it earned during the 1981, 1985 and 1995 riots, when tensions between the police and locals came to a head. Various government initiatives have attempted to get to the root of local discontent, racism and unemployment with limited success, though the visual fabric of the place has definitely improved.