I’m generally quick to criticise the NZ Herald for its backward thinking on transport and urban planning matters, so I feel a bit bad for taking so long to comment on what was actually an exceptionally good editorial from Wednesday last week, that pushes the case for further pedestrian improvements to Queen Street. The editorial came about in response to an earlier article about the growing proliferation of fast food restaurants on Queen Street, particularly becasue a McDonald’s restaurant is due to open near Britomart in the next few weeks.
New Zealand’s premier retailing strip has become the site of an increasing number of fast-food outlets. Dozens of them, churning out burgers, kebabs, fried chicken and bread rolls, inhabit the 1km from Britomart to Aotea Square. Clearly, this is not what the city planners had in mind when they sought to introduce the sort of shops that would lure people from suburban shopping malls.
In one way, the burgeoning number of fast-food restaurants is a testament to the success of the $43.5 million upgrade. A core aim was to increase the number of pedestrians in Queen St, which, in turn, would boost retailers’ takings. Obviously, the way this has happened has encouraged fast-food sellers to increase their presence there. McDonald’s, for example, will soon have four shops in or around Queen St, and Burger King and Subway each have four on the street itself.
Personally I think this panic about fast-food joints is a bit excessive. Go to most busy main streets in the world and you’ll find similar stuff – be it the Champs Elysses in Paris or Times Square in New York City. What we want is a downtown retail area that attracts people and gives them things to do while they’re there. A part of that will always be providing food options, and it’s unlikely independent food retailers will be able to afford Queen Street rents: particularly if rising rents are following rising foot-traffic.
While some seem to be keen on the idea of limiting the number of fast-food restaurants that can inhabit Queen Street, the Herald editorial suggests what is obviously a far more sensible option – keep working on improving the attractiveness of Queen Street so that there’s competition from other retailers for the space. The obvious step forward to such an outcome is to progressively create a more inviting environment for pedestrians:
A far more fruitful response to Queen St’s problem would be to make it such a pedestrian magnet that fast-food outlets face stiff and, ultimately, unbeatable competition from high-quality shops for available retail space. The upswing in foot traffic since the facelift reflects the fact that the street has gone some of the way to justifying the tag “pedestrian-friendly”.
Footpaths are wider in places, pedestrian crossings are more generous, different trees have improved the ambience, and traffic has been discouraged. The result shows signs of corresponding to what has happened in the vast majority of the world’s most liveable cities when people and public places have been given precedence.
Accelerating that process seems the most likely solution to Queen St’s woes. The Auckland Council’s 20-year city-centre masterplan envisages turning all or part of it into a pedestrian mall. With the previous city council’s planning having hit a snag, there is good reason to proceed. Tourists and locals, alike, are entitled to expect more of Queen St. The more attractive it is to them, the more likely there is to be a better mix of retailing.
Once again, if you look at most main streets around the world – particularly in nearby cities like Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne there are extensive pedestrian only (or pedestrians sharing with trams in the case of Melbourne) retail areas that attract enough foot traffic to give confidence to really top notch retailers.
I suppose the ultimate test for Queen Street is whether it can attract an Apple Store. If we closed off the section between Customs and Wellesley Streets to cars, supplementing it with an extension of the Wynyard Tramway to Britomart and then up Queen Street to Karangahape Road, I suspect we may well pass that test in the not too distant future.
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Yes, just think how Queen St will hum when the wharf/waterfront redevelopment is finished, the CBD rail link is in place, and there’s a tramway up the street. That will be something!
Well Auckland is getting an Apple store, but it’s down at Britomart, an area that already has more ped priority. And will be even more so as those cross streets are to change to shared spaces. The Apple store is being built on one of those car parks behind Britomart.
The editorial is right, improve the urban form and the foot count and the retail quality will lift.
Really? Where did you hear that?
And where exactly are they proposing to put it – bottom floor of whenever they get around to building the central Britomart buildings?
Low rise buildings on former carpark, under construction right now, between the new East building and the back of the station, directly above the platforms….Make a bit of a break from all the bars around there…. not sure if it’s an Apple owned store or re-sellers. Heard it from the developers [I hang with all sorts], timed to meet the iPad needs of WRC revelers.
Ah sounds like a Mac World or something similar. I think a full Apple Store would be pretty high profile.
I always thoguht the site taken up by Dick Smith just across the road from Britomart would be great for an Apple Store – though it’d need a huge retrofit at that store’s current layout is horrific.
Or perhaps when Downtown is rebuilt after the CRL is put through the current mall we could get a purpose built one…..
Yeah that’s going to open up some pretty interesting opportunities actually. The current mall is pretty abysmal – though interestingly when it was opened (1970s?) apparently it was the cutting edge of urban revitalisation to bring people back to the city.
In fact it seems to me that retail down at that end of town has improved a huge amount, especially since Britomart opened, and the mall and the foodcourt are way busier these days…. I wonder what Westfield’s numbers are over the last ten years. Still it’s a strange beast for it’s location, like a little taste of the suburbs right at the heart of the city, but then it is all that Westfield seem to be capable of…. but must be their only asset in NZ with no car parking! Does that mean it is possible to rent retail successfully without expecting every customer to turn up in a car?
The funny thing is that in a way, we actually have Westfield to thank for getting us to where we are with the CRL. If it wasn’t for them planning to knock down the mall and build a tower on the site (with a new mall included) then it wouldn’t have kicked the former councils into gear as that is directly what lead to previous study and if that study hadn’t happened then there might not have been the push to get a business case done.
The Farmers (Trading Company) Building was once a key retail attraction in Auckland. I remember my grandma taking me in, and riding the toy cars on the 7th floor. Obviously, things have changed significantly since then, as the suburban mall well and truly took over the intellectual landscape for a couple of decades.
I know this is off topic, but … wait, what?! Apple store? Where did this come from? I can find nothing about this on Google, what’s your source?
There’s not a real Apple Store coming to Auckland, not yet anyway, Apple’s future expansion plans are well publicised and the current roadmap doesn’t include NZ. Whatever is opening in Britomart is an Apple Authorised Retailer along the lines of the Mac store in Newmarket.
Setting up an Apple store is easy and it doesn’t need a Queen St or Newmarket location: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCKtdbSCadA
Do you have any info about the shared space plan? – I too had heard it was under consideration but have never seen anything solid.
Just a chat with Peter Cooper….
The causes
1. Queen Street is now more attracting greater foot traffic, but there is nowhere to put tables and chairs out.
2. There is still a lot of traffic along the street which would be off putting to cafes, restaurants etc.
3. Quieter streets around Britomart and High/Lorne Streets have seen improvements. Auckland is no longer just Queen Street.
The fixes
1. Greater pedestrian priority.
2. More emphasis on selling the city centre.
3. Make it easier for building owners to renovate or replace the old 70s and 80s skyscrapers to get higher quality tennants in.
4. Accept the fact that there will be a certain amount of fast food on Queen Street.
And the three no brainers.
5. Ban smoking for the comfort of everyone
6. Pedestrianise the street.
7. The CBD Loop
Not so sure about pedestrianise… de-car yes, but keep the transit and the bikes and probably even the taxis? Certainly there’s got to be delivery vehicles too. And, of course, daylight Waihorotui….
Yes, rip up the road, restore the stream!
1. There are plenty of side streets that may be better for this kind of thing – perhaps some of the shared space streets, or pedestranised streets could have this allowed? I have no idea about the feasability, but Queen seems an unlikely place
I don’t agree with banning smoking either. Although I hate the butts that are everywhere. Messy, toxic, and they drag down the place. Maybe a few more butt bins around the place are needed (those building-side ones).
Its not the butts that are the problem, it is the large groups of people, usually students, that stand around blocking the footpath and blowing second had smoke everywhere. The other common one is the frequent people who walk along smoking with the smoke blowing into everyone behind them, banning smoking along there would be a great thing.
“3. Make it easier for building owners to renovate or replace the old 70s and 80s skyscrapers to get higher quality tennants in.”
What would make it easier? Paying them to do it? I don’t see how the current regulations prohibit them or stop them doing it…To be honest, I’d be happy to see Dutch laws in place in NZ, which state that if you don’t maintain a building then you lose the right to own it and ownership reverts to the state. That would put a stop to the derelict buildings around the city.
Provide priority consenting etc. Just little things to help smooth the way.
I think there’s some blame to put on the shop owners on Queen St.
For example this evening at 5pm there were thousands of people walking down Queen St, mostly coming out of job and going to catch a bus/train, and in the same time many shops (jewellery, camera shops) were closing or closed. Doesn’t look good, does it? To rush to close the doors in front of thousands of potential customers? I usually like to waste some cash after a very good or very bad day at job, but the only way I can do it is in beer or junk food?
A while ago there was a proposal that CBD retailing hours be shifted an hour or two to close around seven or seven thirty, so that workers could shop after work on their way home. A good idea, but one that was shot down by union types over issues about mum having to get home to cook dinner or some such palaver.
I must say in most cities in the world the CBD doesn’t shut down at 5pm and everyone goes home, usually retailling, food and entertainments keep going with a roaring trade… But that is in places where the city isn’t just a location to store office workers for eight hours.