Posts by Hebe
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Hard News: Christchurch: Is "quite good"…, in reply to Sofie Bribiesca,
At the right time. No point questioning now; we've been told what will happen. Most of us have read the glossy mailout, the plan in the paper and on the net and tv. Our specific questions will not be answered, we know that from experience, so why go? We told them what we wanted; the bureaucrats (most of them Not From Here) and planners interpreted that; came up with what they thought we wanted (not the same thing) and what they wanted; and told us. Done deal.
As Emma said, everyone is knackered. It's cold, it's August.
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Hard News: Christchurch: Is "quite good"…, in reply to Lilith __,
My politics: a Green who wants results, and who knows and respects people who sit on most parts of the political spectrum. I’m not offended at all; I want people in this city to work together, bringing their own perspectives and strengths to create something better than before. For that to work we are all (and I definitely include me because I can be great at smart comments without being constructive) going to have to show generosity of spirit even when we don’t want to and when it seems too hard.
As for the rental housing shortage, it is disgraceful. The Government has no excuse for not acting on that issue, especially when we know the likes of John Key in his early years benefited so greatly from access to affordable, safe housing.
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Hard News: Christchurch: Is "quite good"…, in reply to Sacha,
Lilith and Sacha: This is not and was not an ideological game. I repeat: It is not generally understood yet how very close Christchurch was to a complete economic collapse in the months after February. Start with that premise and detail what you would do better. And how about a little generosity to those with diverging views, even if the National Party do believe different things to you?
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Capture: Two Tales of a City, in reply to Gudrun Gisela,
Good px Gudrun. Those guys standing up on the remains of the Westpac tower are tough.
As for Bluebell, looks like she could be a media star -- details and a photo requested from Greg. You read it here first! -
Hard News: Christchurch: Is "quite good"…, in reply to Russell Brown,
Some people have no sense of adventure :-)
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Hard News: Christchurch: Is "quite good"…, in reply to Sofie Bribiesca,
Don't agree. We need both. No use having fixed homes and no jobs, and the reverse is equally true.
It is not generally understood yet ( spelt out clearly in the Press CBD feature yesterday for the first time that I can recall) how very close Christchurch was to a complete economic collapse in the months after February.
Whatever one thinks of the government's actions now, just keeping the city going by unqualified political back-up and the business subsidy was brave and bold and totally the right move. That's where Key, English and Joyce, and Brownlee's business-type approach of "Here's the problem. Deal to it" worked perfectly. That I believe is what they deserve to go down in the history books for, not the rebuild plan.
Infrastructure like water, power, telecoms is still fragile; the repairs are vast and the estimates for the total bill are very likely to be 50 per cent higher than publicised. The start of most commercial construction is about two years away, possibly longer -- the insurers won't adequately insure the rebuilds quickly.
All this is not to say that people are not hurting: they are. Some are hurting a lot. But the scale of hurt is relative to what it could have been without the first-year response phase being so bloody good.
The psychological profile of disaster effects on a community seem to be tracking pretty much as expected. Now is the angry time for many, and that will continue for a year or two yet.
Don't expect a silver bullet: there aren't any. Part of me is pissed off at the loss of opportunity for a sustainable rethink of the city; part of me is admiring how these guys in CCDU are getting stuff done regardless of the problems; and part of me is thankful I don't have to wake up every morning with that task in front of me.
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Hard News: Christchurch: Is "quite good"…, in reply to Steve Barnes,
Steve: the million litres as I understand it was for EQR (the Fletchers subsidiary) which is repairing homes under the $100k damage cap on behalf of EQC. EQC does not deal with commercial properties (which is most of the CBD). Sorry about the acronymitis.
I'm in awe of your calculating ability -- numbers is a foreign country to me!
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Bugger. One of the chooks died of fright at the explosion. Bluebell was a nervous girl from the start. The two whumps and thumps were loud and "felt" as well as heard here.
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Capture: Two Tales of a City, in reply to Ian Dalziel,
Ta.
The Press has done an excellent ongoing job of the earthquakes, especially since Feb 22 last year. I was stunned and grateful on Feb 23 when all our essential services (including the escape-route bridges) were down to find the Press on the drive. For two weeks we had no telecoms apart from cellphones that had to be conserved for worst-case scenarios; for a week no power, so old media was essential.BUT The Press still has not adapted to the possibilities of technology, and to the fact that print is not the authority any more. The number of times I read in the paper about someone or a company and mentioning a website but not giving the actual link is dismaying. I don't know the present policy, whether it's just not good copy-tasting, or whether there is still the idea of not mentioning the competition, but they need to get over it. It's off-putting to me -- and I'm a comparative tech dinosaur.
And the videos are delayed. Why not immediate? From my understanding an iPhone will film, and upload in seconds. It's the now-ness not the definition that makes news that's watched.
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Capture: Two Tales of a City, in reply to Ian Dalziel,
Press had good pix but video fail: it’s still not up. Flu for me and the warnings made my three reluctantly stay home. The feeds were so screwy that we heard the thump, thump in St Martins before the video came through then it seized. Bugger! Three mutinous males in the house.
Don’t Cera et al understand PR and how to get the citizens on side? As for the Press video crew, why don’t they git an iPhone for the first cut of something like this? Techie fail.Just found a good one, that shows the gleeful crowd: