Rising levels of crime along with a soaring cost of living are said to be some of the reasons hipsters are fleeing Paris.
Known as “Bobos” in France — short for bourgeois-bohemian — young hipsters are finding it increasingly more difficult to maintain their lifestyles in the French capital and, as a result, many are packing up their bags and heading elsewhere, Paris Zigzag reports.
Between 2009 and 2014, the city saw 14,000 Parisians leave the city and head into the provinces for a different lifestyle, with more and more Parisians saying they would rather live in the countryside.
In March, a study by L’observatoire société et consommation (L’OBSOCO/Society and Consumption Observatory), found that 72 per cent of residents in the French capital thought a lot about living somewhere else, while 82 per cent said they would like to live in a small village in the countryside.
Part of the reason for the Bobos wanting to leave, according to Paris Zigzag, is the incredibly high costs of living in Paris, where some apartments can cost up to 10,000 euros per square metre.
Previously, Bobos were seen as members of the “elite” with solid educations and well-paying jobs, but now the new term “Paubo” — short for pauvre-bourgeois or poor-bourgeois — has become common as new graduates struggle to find affordable housing within the city.
Security is also a major issue, with around 48 per cent of Parisians saying they have been the victim of a robbery or assault in the last three years.
The situation is particularly bad for women, who are targetted for sexual assaults on French capital’s Metro subway and on the street. A report released in March highlighted a 30 per cent increase in sexual assaults on the Metro in 2018 alone, with over 1,000 cases reported.
In 2018, mobile phone app developer Fabien Boyaval went as far as designing an app to help chaperone women travelling around the city, to lessen the risk of them being victims of robberies or sex attacks.
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