Kings Cross Guide
April 23rd 2007 05:08
Category: Guides
Located 10 minutes walking distance from the Sydney CBD, the Cross is a volatile mix of rampaging party denizens and thoughtful intellectuals, and as far as youÂll find grime and dirt, youÂll also find prose and poetry in abundance.
Several prominent writers have made Kings Cross their home, such as Kenneth Slessor, Bobbi Sykes and Barry Humphries, who were attracted to the area because of cheap rent, affordable cafes and bistros and a never-ending supply of inspiration and memorable characters. Many of these authors came to critical acclaim, and their work is a recognized example of Australian literature but every writer who made it, there must be one hundred forgotten stories about authors that failed, poets that drank themselves ragged, screenwriters that chased skirts overseas, or any number of subplots.
While fortunes can come and gone in Kings Cross, the nighttime fever may always be a part of the area  packed with easy-going pubs, thumping clubs and tempting exotic entertainment, the Cross is never short of things to do on a weekend.
The current reincarnation of Kings Cross disappoints some of the older partygoers, who may have fond memories of seedy parties with an unruly mix of musicians, artists and professional carousers, all brought together by their common desire to satisfy their hedonistic urges. The revitalisation and subsequent cleansing of Kings Cross has purged too much, some claim; chic restaurants and fancy hotels are moving into the Cross, bringing a definite upper class crowd with them.
Kings Cross in the 1950s
During the Vietnam War, American soldiers would arrive in Sydney for their vacations, and they picked Kings Cross as the place to work out their inner demons. Anything could be had for a price, and the proximity to the surf was only a bus ride away. Drug rings started forming around this time, with some servicemen smuggling heroin into the Cross, and organized crime grew to fill the demand. At this time, Kings Cross was at its worst, or best, depending on your point of view, with crime and drugs on a twisting, upwards spiral, and prostitution out in the open. Until very recently, Kings Cross was considered a wild night out, but one lined with the seedy taste of dangerous company.
Oscar Wilde, in the Portrait of Dorian Gray, remarked:
"The only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it".
Fitting words, taken to the fullest extent in Kings Cross, but even though temptation was yielded to, no one would step into heresy by suggesting that Kings Cross is currently vice-free. No, with the increase of strip-clubs and bars, with drug dealers and prostitutes walking the street, one could almost argue that the Cross has fallen deeper into sin. Others would counter by saying that the area only reflects the desires of a society that chooses to satisfy those base urges, and yet others might shout out that Kings Cross is a rollicking good time.
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