BRADDON has changed significantly since Angelo Rodriguez started his mechanic apprenticeship on Mort Street more than 45 years ago.
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For the past 32 years, the owner of Braddon Mechanical Repairs has watched the progress from his nook behind a strip of shops at the north end of Lonsdale Street but now there is less than 18 months left before his old workshop is demolished for a new building.
''We knew it was coming,'' he said. ''But now it's in top gear and we all eventually get pushed out.''
Mr Rodriguez hopes to find another workshop nearby to keep serving the city crowd.
''You can't stop progress,'' he said. ''You can't stop the landlords from getting rid of the dirty industry, like we've been called, and put in big high rises and maximise their profits. You can't stop that and you can't argue with that either.
''We'll try and stay here because there are so many people working in Civic, offices, all these new buildings popping up in the suburbs around here and all the suburbs' [service stations] around Braddon have all shut down.
''As it is at the moment, it's a mixture of the old and the new, and it's kind of attractive.
''I'm not sure that when it all turns into everything new … obviously people will flock to all the cafes, but I think it's got a certain charm as it is at the moment."
Over the other side of the fence, in the back of an old tyre warehouse, a new crowd has gathered in Lonsdale Street Traders, where Sweet Bones organic bakery has found a different clientele.
Bakery owner Russell Brindley said the industrial history played a ''huge part'' in the location's appeal but he was confident the funk factor would last after the building was knocked down and replaced - due to happen by the end of next year.
''It's not going to be the same but I think it will hold on to the same niche, as long we're creative,'' he said. HAMISH BOLAND-RUDDER
