Easton is an inner city area of Bristol. The area is considered to stretch east of Bristol city centre and the M32 motorway towards Lawrence Hill. Easton’s northern and eastern borders are less defined, merging into St Phillips Marsh and Eastville.

In administrative terms, Easton comprises the electoral ward of Easton and part of Lawrence Hill ward. It is located within the parliamentary constituency of Bristol East, currently represented by Kerry McCarthy MP (Labour).

According to the 2001 census, Easton has a younger average age than that of England and Wales; in addition, around 35% of the population is of black or Asian origin.

Easton is one of the most deprived areas in the South West of England, with the Lawrence Hill ward the most deprived ward in the region and one of the most deprived in Britain. This has resulted in the area being granted European Union Objective 2 status.

As regards crime, the general perception in Bristol is that Easton has a high crime rate, especially in relation to violent crime and street robberies.

Back in the early twentieth century people living outside the areas of Lawrence Hill and Easton were fearful of travelling there as they were afraid of being robbed. However, despite its perceived difficulties, Easton continues to be part of a thriving diverse multicultural community with many arts and political activities.

Despite these problems (or perhaps because of them), Easton is a vibrant community with many local community and pressure groups, local bands, political groups, housing and workers’ cooperatives and some anarchist communes. It also has three separate mosques, a synagogue, a Sikh temple and several churches of various denominations. In the northern part of Easton, market research information also confirms perceptions of a higher than average interest in current affairs, high rates of those educated to degree level and higher than average rates of those working in the public sector.

St Marks Road in Easton includes a wide variety of small restaurants and shops specialising in organic and ethnic foods, further reinforcing the area’s reputation as ‘alternative’.

Easton has two local railway stations, Stapleton Road and Lawrence Hill, which are served by trains on the Severn Beach Line, plus occasional services to and from Gloucester or South Wales on the main line to South Wales, the Midlands, the north of England and Scotland. The M32 motorway presents a physical boundary between Easton and St Werburgh’s/St Paul’s. The A4320 Easton Way dual carriageway also cuts the area in two. In addition, Easton is bisected by the Bristol & Bath Railway Path, a popular route built by Sustrans for use by pedestrians and cyclists.

NB: The above information is based largely on the Wikipedia Easton page, with grateful thanks to all who contributed and is published under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, like all Wikipedia contributions.