Geography

Easton is an inner city area of the city of Bristol in the United Kingdom

Informally the area is considered to stretch east of Bristol City Centre from Lawrence hill in the South to the M32 motorway, although its western and eastern borders are less defined.

Formally Easton is administratively made up of the electoral wards of Easton and part of Lawrence Hill. It is located within the Bristol East United Kingdom Parliamentary Constituency.

Demographics

The 2001 England and Wales Census reports Easton has a younger average age than the English and Welsh Average and that around 35% of the population are of Black or Asian origin. This figure rises towards Lawrence Hill.

Easton is one of the most deprived areas in the South West of England, with the Lawrence Hill ward the most deprived ward in the region and one of the most deprived in Britain. This has resulted in the area being granted European Union objective 2 status and '[New Deal for Communities]' status by the UK government which is only granted to the very worst performing urban wards.

British crime statistics do not go to ward level but the perception in Bristol is that Easton has a high crime rate, especially in relation to knife, violent crime and robberies.

Despite these problems, or perhaps because of them, Easton is a vibrant community with many local community and pressure groups, local bands, political groups and some anarchist communes. It also has three seperate Mosques, a Synagogue, a Sikh Temple and several churches of different denominations. In the northern part of Easton market research information also confirms perceptions of higher than average current affairs interests, high rates of those educated to degree level and higher rates than average of those working in the public sector.

St Marks Road in northern Easton includes one of Britain’s highest rated Vegetarian restaurants (by the British Vegetarian Society 2004) as well as Moroccan and Indian sub continent restaurants and shops specialising in organic and ethnic foods, further reinforcing the areas reputation as 'alternative'.

Transport

Easton has two local rail stations, Lawrence Hill and Stapleton road which are serviced by trains on the Severn Beach line but lie on the main line to Wales the Midlands, Scotland and London. The M32 motorway marks the border of Easton to the north. The A4320 dual carriageway also cuts the area in two.

Sources

Census information can be veiwed at www.statistics.gov.uk. - Transport information can be veiwed at www.wessextrains.co.uk or www.multimap.com. - Regeneration information is available on the www.bristol-city.gov.uk. - Data relating to the South West of England is available at www.southwest-ra.gov.uk. - Market research and more 'qualatitive' information taken from ACORN area analysis (c) CACI UK Ltd and can be veiwed at www.upmystreet.co.uk (a postcode is required for specific information).