White knights and elephants
What's going on? First we're getting Ikea. Now it's Jones the Grocer ... Anybody would think we're becoming the world-class city some people think we need to become.
Okay, that's probably overselling a few new bits of fancy tat, and anyway, without a transport infrastructure of any real description, Auckland is doomed to become an archipelago of villages; well-heeled, boutique-retailed ones in the centre serving competitive car-parkers and Link users, ringed by cheaper ones anchored around megastores and motorways.
But we won't be regarded as world class if we stick a great stale doughnut on our waterfront, hugely detracting from the Tank Farm and the city's 2040 plans, whatever they count for now.
If we're going to spend a billion, I'll keep harping on for an underground. For some reason I love this site, where the subways of different cities are displayed by comparative size. Auckland has the same population as Vienna or Stockholm, both here. So what if our GDP is a third of Austria or Sweden? There's bound to be plenty of volcanic tunnels that'll save on the digging and the bills.
Okay, that's probably overselling a few new bits of fancy tat, and anyway, without a transport infrastructure of any real description, Auckland is doomed to become an archipelago of villages; well-heeled, boutique-retailed ones in the centre serving competitive car-parkers and Link users, ringed by cheaper ones anchored around megastores and motorways.
But we won't be regarded as world class if we stick a great stale doughnut on our waterfront, hugely detracting from the Tank Farm and the city's 2040 plans, whatever they count for now.
If we're going to spend a billion, I'll keep harping on for an underground. For some reason I love this site, where the subways of different cities are displayed by comparative size. Auckland has the same population as Vienna or Stockholm, both here. So what if our GDP is a third of Austria or Sweden? There's bound to be plenty of volcanic tunnels that'll save on the digging and the bills.
posted by Mark Broatch at 1:09 PM
3 Comments:
"an archipelago of villages; well-heeled, boutique-retailed ones in the centre serving competitive car-parkers and Link users, ringed by cheaper ones anchored around megastores and motorways".
Sounds idyllic to me - anything that stops the march of the malignant malls and loosens the Foodtown/Woolworths grip. I think I can live without a tube. What we need next are some farmers' markets.
That's what Mr Fallopian said!
The choice of public transport is something always strikes me when I go overseas. Was in San Francisco recently, where they have trams, buses, underground and cheap taxis in a city smaller than Auckland. Oh, ferries too.
It's a very pleasant place to walk and bike around, so with the excellent public transport system, I was wondering why they don't just say no cars in the city completely. In a sense they have, because the one-way system and steep parking charges make driving into SFO a mug's game, but...
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home