Posts by Russell Brown
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Hard News: London's Burning, in reply to Omar Crawford,
Thanks for that excellent comment, Omar. Stay safe.
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Hard News: London's Burning, in reply to Hadyn Green,
I met a guy last year who was in the Poll Tax march (and subsequent riot). He said as they walked in his friends noticed large piles of bricks around despite no other construction work and felt that initial dread of seeing what they were walking into.
There was poor policing there too, though. The cops mishandled a sit-down protest outside Downing Street and bottled up crowds on Whitehall. They beat innocent marchers.
We'd actually wandered off to the pub and had no idea what was going on until we tried to catch a bus home and drove into it all. I recall a policewoman on a horse being caught in the crush at Piccadilly Circus and feeling relieved when she stayed in her saddle.
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Wow. Via Dylan Horrocks, this Guardian story -- published 10 days before the riots -- headed 'Farewell youth clubs, hello street life – and gang warfare' seems prescient.
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Field Theory: All Blacks v South Africa…, in reply to Simon Poole,
Kyle: McAlister was 12, centre was played by Mils who had indeed been shifted from fullback. Something of a sad run we’ve got going.
When you think about it now, that's a horrible midfield.
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Field Theory: All Blacks v South Africa…, in reply to Paul Williams,
If the theme is “redundency”, I think we’re a little vulnerable at fullback at the moment – but not centre where Nonu could cover – will Dagg or Toeva travel to the Republic? If not, surely Jane could get a run on game there?
Word is that both Toeva and Dagg will travel -- and that Mils might be looking to his laurels a bit.
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Hard News: Fixing Auckland, in reply to Craig Ranapia,
To fair, I can’t say this is the time of year where al fresco dining is terribly attractive. Anywhere. If you’re on the waterfront, I can’t really see the point of not being exposed to your major point of interest.
And it's true that the Viaduct Basin establishments suffered a severe crash for their first few winters. The turnover of businesses was pretty high. But I think some businesses there have learned a bit better how to keep trading all year.
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Hard News: Fixing Auckland, in reply to Stephen Judd,
Oooh, that’s not quite how I’d see it, at least potentially. It can be good for street life when private zones bleed into public ones. Perhaps I’ve been a bit brainwashed by the Jane Jacobs school of urban (non)-planning, but a theory is that residents’ eyes on the street make it safe. Porches and so forth can be sociable in an urban neighbourhood.
I totally get what you're saying. I can picture a bustling quadrant of high-density downtown living, where markets are open late and people dine and drink on their balconies while music plays in the street below.
That block behind Viaduct Basin is so not like that.
I think some of the people behind it weighed into the "what to do with Queen's wharf" debate, proposing more of the same. Fuck's sake.
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Hard News: Fixing Auckland, in reply to Shaun Lott,
Those are all reasonable criticisms.
The arrival of the SW change was fairly dramatic -- and I left before the rain, having read the forecast (headwind both ways, though - bah) -- it swept up the part of the site where the restaurants and bars are. But it is winter, and they seem to have reasonable shelter.
They're going to have to manage the bridge very carefully during big events like Laneway.
And we can only hope the tram tracks facilitate a longer-term plan. Nikki Kaye's push to get trams running to Grey Lynn and Ponsonby, for example. Imagine a tram way connecting Britomart, Wynyard and Ponsonby. That would facilitate some partying.
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Hard News: Fixing Auckland, in reply to Su Yin Khoo,
I for one, am a resident of said apartments
Really? I didn't think actual people lived there :-)
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Hard News: Fixing Auckland, in reply to Gareth Ward,
And yet this new neighbourhood will really need some form of residential living to keep it alive outside of Mon-Fri 9-5. Certainly the working wharves and the proposed hotel will help but you need to have people living around these areas to really keep their heart beating IMHO.
In theory, yeah. But these residents seem to have no street life. Nothing happens there.