The two faces of Longstreet

Longstreet could be the weirdest street in Cape Town. Everybody knows about it, but no one really knows the whereabouts of the two totally different faces of the street. Come2capetown.com walked from the business to the party side, and back.

Not a lot of people start walking on Longstreet from the Hans Strijdom Avenue side. That’s the business part of town, and you don’t want to go there unless you have a damn good reason to. The buildings are high and modern, and to be honest: it’s just boring down there. But the people on that side don’t really go to the party side of Longstreet either. It gives this street two totally different faces. Denzil Jacobs and Riedewaan Hendricks work for a trust company and are having a smoke brake. “I’ve only been to 169 once”, Riedewaan admits. “That was cool and all, but we’re not really clubbers you know, so I actually never go to that side of the street.”

Once you start walking from that side, everything changes. Skyscrapers slowly transform into old Cape Dutch houses. Businessmen become backpackers and hippies. Lunch café Directions, owned by Cedric Klein and his wife, is practically on the boarder of the two faces. When we where there for a cup of coffee, a tourist was sitting on one side of the café, and a businessman on the other. The tourist was got some information from one of the waitresses; the businessman read his paper and minded his own business. “Yeah, we’re right in the middle”, Cedric says. “Most of our customers are working people, but we get our average man from the streets and tourists as well.” Cedric knows his café is still on the ‘boring’ side of Longstreet, but he’s trying to change that. “The entertainment is all in the top side of the street, that’s where you’ll get your backpackers and party people, but we want to bring those people away from that part, and into our café. We’ll have live jazz every Friday from now on!”

The real party atmosphere starts on the corner of Longstreet and Dorpstreet. That’s where the club 169 is. A little bit further down is Cool Runnings, and on the other side of the street Joburg and Stones. Carmen Moukarzel moved from George to Cape Town a week ago, and has been working behind the bar in Stones. “I think this street is really beautiful”, she says. “The people and styles are really divers and I love the architecture. It has character and history which makes me want to know more about it.” But has she ever been to the other side? “Hmm… Maybe once or twice, but I rather stick to this side.”

“I’m not sure if that side is actually still Longstreet”, Mark Charnes says. He’s one of the owners of the African Music Store. “No, seriously, no one ever goes to that side. Why would you want to do that?” Mark works on Longstreet for four years, and he’s seen the street change. “It used to be really dangerous over here. People got mugged or stabbed and stuff. But because a lot of tourists came here it was in the city’s interest to provide safety. So I’ve seen it been transferred and fixed.”

Although you might expect it, Longstreet is not the place to be for dancing and clubbing. “This street is very trendy and all that, but there’s just no real clubs here”, Mark says. “You can go to 169 or Joburg and listen to DJ’s, but it’s a more chilling vibe. ”