Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: The Golden Mile

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  • Sacha, in reply to Craig Ranapia,

    Exactly. Proceeding without the cooperation of private owners often means an expensive buyout (like KiwiRail) and increased rates or debt. You can guess which faction in Councils tends to oppose that answer.

    Or there could be firmer regulations about being a responsible building owner. Those can only be made by central government.

    What has been happening with the St James should be criminal for any listed heritage building.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to Matthew Poole,

    Even 'link' doesn't really cut it, as we've discussed before. Has to be a better way to express the region-wide benefits of this missing part of the rail network jigsaw.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Barnes,

    Attachment

    Ok, here's a jpg. Unfortunately jpg will not handle transparency but I think you can get a general idea from this.

    Peria • Since Dec 2006 • 5521 posts Report Reply

  • Matthew Poole, in reply to Sacha,

    It's the missing link :P
    There's no good word, really, if one is seeking to avoid having to say more than one word. However, "loop" has its own connotations which are far more destructive to the project's image than any shortcomings of "link".

    Auckland • Since Mar 2007 • 4097 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Barnes,

    Attachment

    And this.
    The plan isn't exactly to scale so it ain't easy to line up all parts at the same time.

    Peria • Since Dec 2006 • 5521 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to Matthew Poole,

    I reckon turbo should be in there somewhere - makes the whole thing run faster and stronger. Spins around in the hub of the network. Also resonates with petrolheads. :)

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Ray Gilbert, in reply to Steve Barnes,

    The other time I went there was to visit someone who lived upstairs.

    Santa?

    Since Nov 2006 • 104 posts Report Reply

  • Ana Simkiss,

    I think quality rather than size is the only justifiable complaint that Brewer may have. Nothing at all wrong with small shops as amply demonstrated by O'Connell St, Vulcan Lane and (now sadly emptying) High St. This incidentally seems to be what Newmarket is trying to emulate in their little backstreet precincts, quite well in fact. The issue is crappy shops right?

    Plus, I'm not even sure I even mind crappy shops on Queen St. It's got plenty more life and variety than when I last lived here (2000). The nooks and crannies and back streets of a city are generally the bits where cool things happen anyway, why should we expect that of the main drag? (and, a little bit of crappy can be actually quite cool: see K Road, Fort Lane).

    And I didn't know about the redevelopment of the Mid City complex - could be great, could be shit, but better than a big empty building surely.

    Freemans Bay • Since Nov 2006 • 141 posts Report Reply

  • Michael Stevens,

    How I wish we had those two squares laid out in that plan.

    I walk around Queen St and the area a lot, and I like it. Yes it's shabby in places, but it's also vibrant and cosmopolitan. If it were lined with Chanel/Gucci/Prada or similar stores from the Town Hall down it would be a monumental bore

    Take traffic out of High and Lorne Sts, that would be better than turning Q St into a mall.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 230 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Barnes, in reply to Ray Gilbert,

    Santa?

    LOL

    Peria • Since Dec 2006 • 5521 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to Ana Simkiss,

    The nooks and crannies and back streets of a city are generally the bits where cool things happen anyway

    Melbourne's laneways seem to bear that out.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to Steve Barnes,

    nice work. the reclamation is clear too.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Barnes,

    Right. Those maps.
    If you like you can download the .xcf file (for GIMP) or psd file (for Photoshop) Here
    Now you should be able to actuate the transparency.
    Crossing fingers again.

    Peria • Since Dec 2006 • 5521 posts Report Reply

  • Samuel Scott,

    Newmarket does have Little & Friday. Which is great.

    Queen St has about thirty cheap delicious restaurants the cuisine of which my grandmother may have called oriental. This is very great.

    South Wellington • Since Feb 2008 • 315 posts Report Reply

  • Ian Dalziel,

    faux dough shopping…

    I miss the old Cook Street Market
    and that kind of shopping precinct
    (and yes with the Six Month Club
    still upstairs would be nice…)

    Victoria park mkt never really got that
    market / people ambience right…
    – cities need bazaars
    the bizarrer the better…

    chchch inner city died because people
    didn’t seem to like to walk a block or two*
    but malls like Northlands and Riccarton
    seem to make people happily walk further…

    *and because they killed the square
    by repurposing it for tourists and getting rid of buses
    and cars mostly - then the movie theatres mostly left
    resulting in a gray void - nice going CCC...

    Giving Ak the stiff little finger...
    I note that Auckland is an...
    ...Alternative Ulster !
    (what a result!)

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report Reply

  • nzlemming, in reply to Samuel Scott,

    Queen St has about thirty cheap delicious restaurants the cuisine of which my grandmother may have called oriental.

    Heh. I remember the first time I ordered sweet and sour pork in a restaurant and this pink goo arrived and I thought "this isn't how my mother makes it" followed by "Where's the pineapple?"

    Waikanae • Since Nov 2006 • 2937 posts Report Reply

  • Jackie Clark, in reply to Ian Dalziel,

    Oh yes, I too miss Cook St market. Funnily enough, I went to this body/mind/spirit fair (well, one tiny room to be honest) in the weekend, and it smelled just like Cook St market used to. Ah, patchouli! Ah, incense!

    Mt Eden, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 3136 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to nzlemming,

    "Where's the pineapple?"

    teeworthy

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Patrick Reynolds,

    Well Queen St is no urban centre but rather a lid on a creek turned into a traffic sewer. It has improved considerably through the simple addition of humans- I can remember its lowest points around the early 90s- and the great and increasing volumes of people, lead by the survival then the expansion of inner city universities, is what will improve the commercial environment.

    If it needs much improving that is; hard not to see Cr Brewer here little doing more than sneering in the search for anything to pick away at Brown with as he leads up to trying to ride that wave of entitled resentment know as the C+R ticket all way to the Mayoralty.

    But Queen St is no great place physically, and short of daylighting the stream [yes!] What needs to be done?

    The whole city, and not just the CBD desperately needs the City Rail Link; as it will bring even more people and more viable retail and entertainment business without the deadening impact of of adding more land hungry cars. While connecting many of the more distant bits much more effectively to the centre and each other. Remember two train tracks equals 10 motorway lanes, and requires no vast and wasteful parking resource and clogs no local roads [like Queen St!]. Prosperity at a bargain then. Here:

    http://publicaddress.net/speaker/why-auckland-and-new-zealand-needs-the-city/

    But as it seems we will have to wait for a government that bases policy on facts and evidence and not just whim, prejudice, and cronyism to get this done what else can we do with this street. Well, a lot, like this:

    http://transportblog.co.nz/2011/08/30/guest-post-why-are-there-cars-on-queen-st/

    Auckland • Since Jan 2010 • 40 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to Patrick Reynolds,

    Remember two train tracks equals 10 motorway lanes

    Julie-Anne Genter made that point in Parliament this week. Needs to be repeated and understood widely. And clowns like Brownlee and Joyce not allowed to peddle blatant lies without prompt and continuing challenge.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • nzlemming, in reply to Sacha,

    Julie-Anne is making huge strides. Gareth did his best in the last term (and that was pretty damn good) but he was spread to thin. With more MPs, the Greens are having a solid impact. Brownlee looked like a big incompetent bully in the House this week.

    Waikanae • Since Nov 2006 • 2937 posts Report Reply

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