The Courtenay Place Park seems more-or-less finished now, having recently unveiled the second and final stage of it’s development. A very minimal and very urban park, it’s strengths lies in the quality of the finish and detailing, as well as the enhancement of pedestrian flow within this highly-traffic area.
The park creates two axes, each in parallel to the adjacent street or footpath, resulting a wedge-shaped open area. Although this central space is fairly large, its awkward shaping is perhaps too restrictive for the programmes of “markets, street performances, theatre crowds, festivals” that the council had envisioned.
Wellington’s…
read the full entryIt seems that the roadmap to congestion pricing is itself congested: gridlocked by an array of obstacles and opinions.
We have a $200k report/proposal, dense legal obstacles, technical challenges, a mayor that is “not even lukewarm”, and a public that is overwhelming against the issue.
So what happens next? Nothing?
The first hurdle seems to lie with parliament, in the resolution of the various legal issues that block the access charges on a state highway. Of course this issue is to be postponed for a “future government;” for a time when the problem is so sufficiently entrenched that the public…
read the full entryWellington City Council has launched a survey to find out who is living in the inner city, asking questions such as how long inhabitants have been there, how big their apartments are, and if / where they park their car. About 6500 surveys have been mailed out (which perhaps gives us a clue as to how many apartments are there already) according to this council link, but if you haven’t been sent one, you can still complete one online. The survey runs until 31 May, so we’re not going to see any results for a while yet, but there is a…
read the full entryAll this talk of budget entry-level apartments has got me thinking: what’s the best small apartment you know of? Tempted as I am (not) by the prospect of living forever in a cube, I can none-the-less recognise genius in small apartment design when I see it.
My first pick would have to be the apartment of Korben Dallas in Luc Besson’s “The Fifth Element”, where he lives in a (presumably) budget studio apartment somewhere on the mid-levels. But it has several good design features, apart from the tasteful monochrome colourscheme. Although only about 2-3m wide, and possibly stretching…
read the full entryFollowing on from the No Affordable Housing post, this is perhaps a somewhat provocative stance, yet it is one that I shall endeavour to put forward in a series of broadly sweeping generalizations such as: As far as I am aware, give or take a handful of people in Cuba Mall, or under Grafton Bridge, there is no shortage of housing in New Zealand. There is a house or apartment for at least every family in the country. There is even a number of homes sitting empty, mostly by the sea. There are no favelas full of homeless people converting…
read the full entryChews Lane is open, today, at last. The development, under wraps (of sorts) for the last couple of years, has been opened back up to public view, at least on the ground floor. The historic Lane itself has been re-opened, and businesses are poised to open their doors. Some are open already – witness this photo of a gang of supremely fit joggers poised to purchase more water bottles, and the sight of a clear link to the old boating sheds should be a good lure through the link to the other side.
The buildings above, of course,…
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