This article contains portions of a report on research conducted in 2015 by the individual in-depth interview method with inhabitants of Ochota and local activists. The authors decided to look at the specifics of metropolitan culture in Poland—at changes occurring in the infrastructure of cultural life, cultural practices, and forms of participation in culture. The first part of the article is devoted to the history of the district and the characteristics of its inhabitants. In analyzing the answers, the researchers noticed the phenomenon of Old Ochota—a district with a long, rich history, in which many signs of local patriotism could be observed. They discovered that the local cultural offerings were rich and they raised the question of whether culture could be an instrument countering social exclusion. They decided that participation in culture only minimally serves such an aim. The offerings satisfy the needs of elderly people, who constitute a large part of Ochota’s population, but they do not reach children and young people in general. The interviewees also perceive that there are various marginalized social groups that should be encompassed by new forms of activeness and grassroots social self-organization.
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