Public Address | Cafe | Hard News: Back in Christchurch

Joe Wylie

Thu, 07 Jul 2016 11:33:04 +1200

...the Port Hills are such a natural asset and this transplanted Aucklander is very grateful for there existence
My late Mum used to talk about Harry Ell as if he'd only recently departed this world. When I eventually got around to checking dates I discovered that she'd have been eleven…

headasunder

Thu, 07 Jul 2016 10:18:46 +1200

I spend a lot of time cycling up dem dere hills I'm always surprised at how many people are out walking/running cycling, the Port Hills are such a natural asset and this transplanted Aucklander is very grateful for there existence

Rob Stowell

Tue, 05 Jul 2016 22:40:24 +1200

Word returns
Ace. Always telling myself to get to more next time – now it’s arriving :)

Hilary Stace

Tue, 05 Jul 2016 20:25:25 +1200

A flaw with the Margaret Mahy playground was that it was inaccessible to many disabled children, particularly those in wheelchairs.

To make such obvious disability-related mistakes is slightly worrying when you consider all the other stuff being built and developed. I see they are now planning some upgrading…

Russell Brown

Tue, 05 Jul 2016 20:08:17 +1200

Word returns

Yep! I had a little meeting with Rachael King while I was there. Totally amped for that weekend.

Sacha

Tue, 05 Jul 2016 18:54:05 +1200

Word returns

nzlemming

Tue, 05 Jul 2016 18:09:02 +1200

I think I should stop now, it all makes me very, very irate…

Ah, an irate payer...

Alice Ronald

Tue, 05 Jul 2016 10:15:55 +1200

I like Emma’s theory on the mix of people in venues. I’m looking forward to trying more places – our office is moving into the CBD next week, so I’m hoping to meet up with friends in the central city cafes & bars more often (ETA: the building behind the trees…

Joe Wylie

Tue, 05 Jul 2016 10:11:17 +1200

Wasn’t that a stunning book??

I'm somewhat amazed that it's generated so little discussion. The chapters on the parallel post-quake experience of the Italian city of L'Aquila alone are a revelation. Fiona Farrell on the then yet-to-open Margaret Mahy Playground:
The playground was announced by CERA in December 2012. It…

Carol Stewart

Tue, 05 Jul 2016 09:55:16 +1200

Fiona Farrell managed to get that one right just on a year ago, when the place had yet to open.

Wasn’t that a stunning book??

I was lucky enough to attend a fantastic conference People in Disasters back in February, and Fiona Farrell did a poetry reading during the closing…

Joe Wylie

Mon, 04 Jul 2016 22:26:17 +1200

The Margaret Mahy playground was such an inspired Council investment.

The Crown built that, not the Council, insisted on it (and coming in around $20 million you’d hope it might be okay) – it’s one of the few things they’ve completed, aside from the unholy monstrosity that looks like Mega…

Ian Dalziel

Mon, 04 Jul 2016 22:04:31 +1200

Non-stop Nonsense
The Margaret Mahy playground was such an inspired Council investment.
The Crown built that, not the Council, insisted on it (and coming in around $20 million you’d hope it might be okay) – it’s one of the few things they’ve completed, aside from the unholy monstrosity that looks…

Lilith __

Mon, 04 Jul 2016 21:14:58 +1200

Thanks for continuing to post about Chch, Russell. And good to see that Piko continues to be outstanding.

Lilith __

Mon, 04 Jul 2016 21:08:39 +1200

On the subject of Gap Filler, anyone who hasn't seen the wonderful documentary about it and other transitional projects, it's still available On Demand.

Lilith __

Mon, 04 Jul 2016 21:07:03 +1200

after 5 years, we need to completely reconsider the ‘blueprint’. any business would do this: is it still what we want? what we need? what is best achievable? The only reason this isn’t happening is because there are egos too big to admit ever getting anything wrong.

The Blueprint was…

Russell Brown

Mon, 04 Jul 2016 18:26:19 +1200

Kia ora, Jeanette.

So, this is a Pollyanna post – and not to brush over all the pain that has happened and continues. Nevertheless, I feel that I’m getting to live in a new city without having moved.

That's a very valid point. There is something exciting about the rebuild.…

Jeanette King

Mon, 04 Jul 2016 18:08:13 +1200

Tēnā koutou,
My experience of the Chch CBD is perhaps different from that of other people. We regularly cycle into town on weekends to check up what's going on. I'm a very spacially orientated person, I remember buildings, etc, and miss them when they're gone – but after the quake…

Ian Dalziel

Mon, 04 Jul 2016 15:07:57 +1200

Renegotiation Of Christchurch City Council/Government Cost Share Agreement Should Wait Until After Local Body Election

Keep Our Assets Canterbury has consistently called for the Christchurch City Council/Government Cost Share Agreement (entered into by the 2010-13 Council headed by Mayor Bob Parker) to be renegotiated.

That is one obvious way to…

Alfie

Mon, 04 Jul 2016 14:41:30 +1200

...there’s this thing where you say hello to everyone you pass the way you wouldn’t on a footpath.

Living in a small seaside village where everybody waves or says hello, the few (usually temporary Book-a-Bach clients) who do their best to avoid eye contact really stand out. While they may…

Rob Stowell

Mon, 04 Jul 2016 14:23:42 +1200

The convention 'centre' is a scandal. I was walking through this morning, and it's remarkable how far the central city lags other development/rebuilding. As someone running for council says – after 5 years, we need to completely reconsider the 'blueprint'. any business would do this: is it still what we…

Ian Dalziel

Mon, 04 Jul 2016 13:31:49 +1200

A stadium bereft of purpose.
Ozymandias-like (and -lite) it fixes in time the year the fifth National Government began laying waste to New Zealand (using the numeric notation of another failed empire).

Little Pom’s is just phenomenally popular, every day.
Also there isn't really another cafe worth the name north…

Stephen Judd

Mon, 04 Jul 2016 12:59:25 +1200

Little Pom's is just phenomenally popular, every day. I don't believe there's anything to it beyond having very good food and service (albeit at matching prices). The car park is full every morning which indicates to me it isn't neighbourhood people, but customers from all over coming there.

Russell Brown

Mon, 04 Jul 2016 12:57:04 +1200

Also, what's the deal with Little Pom's? Are they set up as a breakfast venue for other hotels or tours? It was very busy, especially on Sunday morning.

Russell Brown

Mon, 04 Jul 2016 12:55:00 +1200

Is it a coincidence that all these images are devoid of people? I still find Christchurch places horribly depopulated.

Sort of a coincidence and sort of not. The northeast CBD is weird.

Ironically, Fiona and I actually enjoyed the space – it made us think about how bloody crowded our…

Stephen Judd

Mon, 04 Jul 2016 12:36:37 +1200

Is it a coincidence that all these images are devoid of people? I still find Christchurch places horribly depopulated.

Joe Wylie

Mon, 04 Jul 2016 12:29:53 +1200

there's this thing where you say hello to everyone you pass they way you wouldn't on a footpath.

And yet that's what people did, not so long ago. When I came to live here in 2003 I had to habituate myself to it. I remember going to visit my mum…

Russell Brown

Mon, 04 Jul 2016 12:19:49 +1200

Going back up into the hills is something else we’ve been doing this year. When the weather is nice, the tracks are busy without being crowded

Next time, we'll make more time for walking. I might even have a crack at getting up that hill on a bike – lots…

Emma Hart

Mon, 04 Jul 2016 12:09:21 +1200

Victoria Park, on a glorious morning, is a spectacular place. There are dog-walkers, cyclists, hikers. It feels very, very different to the flat city below.

Going back up into the hills is something else we've been doing this year. When the weather is nice, the tracks are busy without being…

Russell Brown

Mon, 04 Jul 2016 11:51:32 +1200

And a little bit of Leithfield Beach ...

Russell Brown

Mon, 04 Jul 2016 11:50:18 +1200

I should also note that Whisky Galore's return to Colombo Street is a delight. The shop is spacious and the new tasting room, The Howff, is as big again.

Public Address

Mon, 04 Jul 2016 11:50:18 +1200

Discussion from blog post.