Editing Hebden Bridge (section)

==Demography==
[[File:Bridge Gate, Hebden Bridge.JPG|thumb|Bridge Gate in the town centre.]]
Hebden Bridge is a popular place to live. However, space is limited due to the steep valleys and lack of flat land. In the past, this led to "upstairs-downstairs" houses known as "over and under dwellings" (cf the [[back-to-back houses]] in nearby industrial cities). These were houses built in terraces with 4–5 storeys. The upper storeys face uphill while the lower ones face downhill with their back wall against the hillside. The bottom 2 storeys would be one house while the upper 2–3 storeys would be another. This also led to unusual legal arrangements such as the "[[flying freehold]]", where the shared floor/ceiling is wholly owned by the underdwelling.

Population changes in the 1990s led to a demand for more houses. This has proved to be extremely controversial for a number of reasons. The limited availability of houses has meant that prices have risen sharply (for example, a house valued at £54,000 in 1998 was valued at nearly £150,000 in 2004). Demand for new houses is also a contentious issue as many of the sites for proposed development are areas such as fields or woodland that some local residents feel should be left as they are.

Hebden Bridge has attracted artists, and has developed a small [[New Age]] community. In the 1980s and 1990s, a prominent [[lesbian]] [[intentional community]] grew up in nearby [[Todmorden]], and subsequently<ref name="QMUL Golding">{{cite web |url=https://www.qmul.ac.uk/history/people/postdoctoral-researchers-/profiles/goldingvictoria.html |title=Dr Victoria Golding |publisher=[[Queen Mary University of London]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221115182046/https://www.qmul.ac.uk/history/people/postdoctoral-researchers-/profiles/goldingvictoria.html |date= |archive-date=15 November 2022 |access-date=15 November 2022 }}</ref> Hebden Bridge,<ref name="Yorkshire Post 2017-07-26">{{cite news |url=https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/hebden-bridge-the-gay-friendly-town-where-everyone-feels-welcome-1096168 |title=Hebden Bridge: The gay-friendly town where everyone feels welcome |author= |work=[[The Yorkshire Post]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221115183047/https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/hebden-bridge-the-gay-friendly-town-where-everyone-feels-welcome-1096168 |date=26 July 2017 |archive-date=15 November 2022 |access-date=15 November 2022 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://wyqs.co.uk/stories/todmorden-and-hebden-bridge/ |title=Todmorden and Hebden Bridge |first=Dominic |last=Bilton |work=[[West Yorkshire Queer Stories]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221115185055/https://wyqs.co.uk/stories/todmorden-and-hebden-bridge/ |date=11 November 2018 |archive-date=15 November 2022 |access-date=15 November 2022 }}</ref> "promot[ing] forms of queer intimacy outside of the [[nuclear family]] unit", with "a close-knit community of care" and mutual support, sharing [[childcare]]<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2001/jul/29/theobserver.uknews2 |title=Lesbians the toast of the Two Ferrets |first=Amelia |last=Hil |date=29 July 2001 |newspaper=[[The Observer]] |access-date=17 November 2016}}</ref> and community events,<ref name="IHR 2022-11-15">{{cite web |url=https://www.history.ac.uk/events/using-oral-history-trace-lgbtq-intimacies-and-politics-late-twentieth-century-northern |title=Using Oral History to Trace LGBTQ Intimacies and Politics in late Twentieth Century Northern England |publisher=[[Institute of Historical Research]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221115175842/https://www.history.ac.uk/events/using-oral-history-trace-lgbtq-intimacies-and-politics-late-twentieth-century-northern |date=2022 |archive-date=15 November 2022 |access-date=15 November 2022 }}</ref> such as a "famous Todmorden Women’s Disco" held monthly.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel/2022/03/the-inside-guide-to-hebden-bridge-west-yorkshires-inclusive-hotspot |title=The inside guide to Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire's inclusive hotspot |first=Ella |last=Braidwood |work=[[National Geographic]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221115184326/https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel/2022/03/the-inside-guide-to-hebden-bridge-west-yorkshires-inclusive-hotspot |date=29 March 2022 |archive-date=15 November 2022 |access-date=15 November 2022 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.visitcalderdale.com/love-revolution-5-reasons-why-calderdale-is-the-best-lgbt-friendly-destination-in-the-uk/ |title=Love Revolution: 5 reasons why Calderdale is the best LGBT-friendly destination in the UK |publisher=Visit Calderdale |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221115183837/https://www.visitcalderdale.com/love-revolution-5-reasons-why-calderdale-is-the-best-lgbt-friendly-destination-in-the-uk/ |date=17 March 2022 |archive-date=15 November 2022 |access-date=15 November 2022 }}</ref> The nature of that community has changed with evolving queer politics, away from [[lesbian feminism]] and towards "[[homonormativity|homonormative]] [[cultural assimilation|assimilation]]".<ref name="IHR 2022-11-15"/><ref name="Duggan 2002">{{cite book |first=Lisa |last=Duggan |chapter=The New Homonormativity: The Sexual Politics of Neoliberalism |title=Materializing Democracy: Toward a Revitalized Cultural Politics |editor1=Russ Castronovo |editor2=Dana D. Nelson |pages=175–94 |publisher=Duke University Press |date=2002 |doi=10.2307/j.ctv125jgrq.10 }}</ref> {{As of|2004|post=,}} Hebden Bridge had the highest number of lesbians per head in the UK.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/weekend/story/0,3605,1177708,00.html |title=Location, location, orientation |first=Julie |last=Bindel |author-link=Julie Bindel |date=27 March 2004 |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=17 September 2016}}</ref><ref name="BBC-Robehmed">{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16962898 |title=Why is Hebden Bridge the lesbian capital? |last=Robehmed |first=Sophie |date=9 February 2012 |work=BBC News |access-date=29 October 2014}}</ref>

In April 2005, Hebden Bridge was named the fourth quirkiest place in the world by ''High Life'' (the [[British Airways]] flight magazine) and was described as "modern and stylish in an unconventional and stylish way".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hebdenbridge.co.uk/news/news05/17.html |title=Hebden Bridge: 4th funkiest town in the World |date=1 May 2005 |website=Hebden Bridge Web |access-date=17 September 2016}}</ref>

The town was documented in the 2009 film ''Shed Your Tears And Walk Away'',<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1531010/ |title=Shed Your Tears and Walk Away (2009) |date=1 October 2009 |website=IMDb.com |access-date=11 September 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hebdenbridge.co.uk/news/2010/070.html |title=Shed Your Tears and Walk Away reviews |date=July 2010 |website=Hebden Bridge Web |access-date=11 September 2016}}</ref> which made controversial claims about the levels of drug and alcohol abuse in the town, and consequent deaths among young people.