Kennedy Town was a near-paradise to me in 2009. It had the right mixture of Western-style shops, restaurants, pubs and traditional Chinese shops.
A local dim-sum restaurant with a 20-year history was opposite a tapas restaurant; a Chinese butcher's shop with fresh pork hanging on racks was neighbour to a French cafe; next to a pub was a fascinating shop selling Chinese incense, candles and everything needed for the Ching Ming Festival.
All this reflected the most interesting and perhaps treasurable aspect of Hong Kong culture. However, the speed of change in little communities like this over the past three years has amazed me enormously.
One after another, the local, independent Chinese shops and restaurants have closed down, replaced either by modern, Western-style chain stores and restaurants, or left empty, awaiting new, higher-paying tenants.
Most of the smaller leaseholders could not afford rental increases as property values rose, and were forced to close up or move away.
This was the inevitable outcome as property prices have more than doubled over the past three years.