Spirit of place: Moseley so-called 'village'

In my first post about the River Rea I mentioned my distaste for referring to a random area of Britain's second city as a village. Today I intended to go to King's Norton & follow the Rea's route out away from the city. Unfortunately on the bus towards Cotteridge I was going through my Marseille tarot cards (I'm going to learn to read those bad boys if it kills me) & when I next looked up the bus was approaching King's Heath. So I got off, did the charity shops in King's Heath then got on the 50 to Moseley.
Let's get the good things about Moseley out of the way before I begin my bitch-fest: it is home to some of Birmingham's most gorgeous & endangered buildings, such as the baths & the former art school. The latter is now in the private hands of an Islamic educational charity who do their best to maintain the fabric of their listed building but don't have the available resources for fancy restorations. Still they are doing the right thing by the building by keeping the water out & 'holding' the fabric, which is more than can be said for the council-managed baths.
Moseley is the most ridiculous example of the city's 'villages': King's Norton at least has its Green, but Moseley is just a dive. I have never understood why such a dump attracts rich earth mother types who think living in Moseley is wonderful. Perhaps it's the boho thing; while it certainly has an arty crowd it also has lots of homeless hostels, & just generally seems to attract the homeless, clueless, brainless, & just plain feckless. I popped into the Zen shop to look at the tarot cards: I didn't buy anything and rarely ever would because the only thing I would ever buy there is the hoodoo stuff they sell; it is literally impossible to buy a candle in the shape of a penis elsewhere locally. Unfortunately they've gone into selling legal highs: the fact they are legal is a loophole, it does not mean they are safe. The upshot is half the population of Moseley are trying to maintain its posh image & the other half are off their heads. I'm sure there's also some crossover in the middle, but I feel the neighbourhood may be going even more downhill from the dump it already is, because an area- rather than person-specific injunction has been taken out to curb drinking & antisocial behaviour in Moseley 'village'.
This is how West Midlands Police's website reports the injunction:
Priorities and Issues
Your neighbourhood team are currently working with the community and partners to address the following:
S222 injunction in Moseley village.
A long term problem in Moseley village and the surrounding roads has been street drinking and associated problems such as begging. A Section 222 Injunction was granted which covers a defined area in the village until June 2013. A map is displayed throughout the village with details of both the defined area and restrictions on certain types of behaviour.
Feedback
S222 injunction in Moseley village.: There continues to be positive feedback from both community members, business owners and partners alike. We are actively pursuing at this time banning orders against a prolific individual regarding begging. A court case is impending regarding a previously prolific street drinker whom has been recently arrested for being in the village area thereby breaching his current ban. It is our joint intention with our partners to apply to extend the s222 injunction for a further year.
Source: http://m.west-midlands.police.uk/np/birminghameast/nh.asp?ID=2
The illustration is of the notices which have been posted in the injunction area, & which shows what you can expect on a normal night in Moseley: riotous drinking, threatening begging, genital waving, & public sex. Village? I think not.
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