Posts by BenWilson
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Making Quay St pedestrian/public transport only makes a lot of sense. Trucks shouldn't be going through there, when the Grafton on-ramp was built to serve the port. I wonder how many truckies are going that way to avoid the weighbridge/logbook check at the bottom of Parnell Rise.
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Speaker: Party Central, structures and silos, in reply to Sacha,
But hey, we're arguing over an imaginary stadium that will never be built. :)
Yes, it's water under the pier now. And yes, other things could be done there, and hopefully one day will be. The iterative improvements to the waterfront generally should eventually make it imperative that it becomes commercial/retail, rather than heavy industrial.
I didn't see the boulevard proposal. Any good?
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Speaker: Party Central, structures and silos, in reply to Rich of Observationz,
One day, there'll be enough money to put the wharves under a huge concrete roof after the fashion of U-boat pens. Or move the docks to the other side of Waiheke, linked by a big bridge.
Ho ho. Or they could put the port somewhere sensible, and actually make money doing it. The real estate value of that land is colossal, far too valuable to waste on what is essentially a big parking lot for containers.
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Speaker: Party Central, structures and silos, in reply to Sacha,
Views of anyone at ground level would have been permanently blocked.
Have you walked along that area admiring the view recently? I have. You can't see anything.
ETA: Mind you, I will admit to being one of those nuts that does like the view of a port, or any other major industrial site. I find them fascinating to watch, far more so than open sea, or trees, or whatever, for which there are thousands of millions of locations around this planet.
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Speaker: Party Central, structures and silos, in reply to Rich of Observationz,
You think it would really be a good idea to have spent another billion dollars of public cash?
Yup. I really do.
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Speaker: Party Central, structures and silos, in reply to Sacha,
and being able to walk around the edge of something doesn't make up for not being able to see past it or use it without paying.
Yes, views of existing lucky people were preserved. They're not free, but at least they're the status quo, so that's all good.
Trouble was it would have been as well as those rather than instead of them.
Perhaps. The plans never got to a second round of discussion in which a thousand tweaks could have been added. In my memory, the main blockers were people complaining about views, birds and heritage in one camp, and stingy people in the other, in an unholy alliance to cut off their own noses to spite their faces, and to embarrass and frustrate Labour. The sense of wood around the right wing blogosphere when the plans were ditched was palpable.
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Speaker: Party Central, structures and silos, in reply to DexterX,
It was a possibility, although I'm not bitter on the idea of a huge work of public architecture that would have brought major business to the downtown area, to replace the container ships, stacks of containers, and mobile unloading cranes. It could have had an outer boardwalk built in, opening up that waterfront. Or a dozen other ideas could have happened. But the political will was just not there. Labour was dying, and everything they were doing was getting slammed hard all around. The timing was simply unfortunate, that in the partisan politics of the day, we missed a gigantic opportunity to actually improve Auckland. In the end, we did not build one single stadium to host a massive sporting event, the like of which I doubt I'll ever see in this country again. I felt it was a piss-poor showing of national spirit, but I'm glad at least that people are finally rallying to the event itself, now that it's been plonked in our lap. Probably it will have a net positive economic effect, but it will have no lasting legacy at all.
ETA: OK, temper that to "no lasting legacy for sports". It seems like it has stimulated a lot of local developments at least, which is pretty cool.
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Speaker: Party Central, structures and silos, in reply to izogi,
I think the big lesson from the Melbourne sporting precinct is to have a precinct. That spot is absolutely prime land, on the banks of the Yarra, walking distance from the city. It took forward thinking not to just cash in and sell it all off for apartments.
I felt that we missed the big chance to build something like that when the waterfront stadium idea died. We won't get an excuse like the RWC for another 30 years.
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Speaker: Party Central, structures and silos, in reply to Islander,
while things were also looking positive in Otago for the weekend, there is no sign of increased patronage on the Coast.
I'd be surprised if that happened before the end of the pool round, at which point 12 out of 20 teams are eliminated, whereupon visitors who considered a holiday in NZ coinciding with the World Cup might opt to trip around. Or go home...
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I went for a long rambly bike ride yesterday, to the city and taking the "low road" home - around Westhaven. There were lots of little bars, cafes and restaurants that have been around for a while, but seldom noticed, all doing business. I spoke to the guy organizing the boat club and ramp at Westhaven, which was full of caravans, and he said that the caravans were funding substantial improvements to the facilities. According to him, the break-even for the improvements there was $80,000 and they were already up to $170,000. The proprietors of the local eateries reported roaring trade since the tournament began.
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