We get frustrated today at the amount of auto-dependant development that continues to happen in Auckland (and other places around NZ). This is especially as we know the impacts this form if development has on communities and individuals. Many might think that we’re only now realising the impacts however that’s not the case. This video (two parts) from 1978 sounds like the sort of thing we still say today.
NZ On Screen - Johnstones Journey - Settling for Suburbia

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12 comments

  1. Having been around long enough to actually watch the the start of motorways in auckland it is with some resignation that I say that Auckland has been badly served by bureaucracy both central and local.

    When I look at the likes of manukau city ,and the likes of Botany there has been little if no improvement. The closest we get to have some sort of change in thinking is Wynyard and parts of hobsonville

  2. It’s hard to say what’s worse – the suburban sprawl or the ‘idyllic’ tractor spewing smoke and chemicals amongst the vines that is passing for the alternative. Maybe we can just all agree the ’70s were dire and move on.

  3. My son has just come back from 2 weeks backpacking in France. He said it doesn’t feel like there are a lot of people, partly because there’s not much traffic. Thye’re also really friendly. One person he met on public transport in southern France asked him to a birthday party. PT and walkable environments provide more opportunities for serendipitous meetings with strangers than where everyone is separated by metal boxes. In Paris there is a population of 12 m within a 75 km radius of the centre, over half of which is within 25 km of the centre (the latter being the current limits of Auckland’s built up area). The Anglophone world certainly lost something by following the example of the United States.

    1. Not sure the French can teach the US anything considering it was the US who saved France in WW2, not vice versa.

    2. Well that is a very different France from the one I lived in.

      The people were not friendly at all and there were cars everywhere. I would say only NZ is worse in my experience of looking at a piece of lovely land and thinking, “You know what that needs, car parking!”

      It might seem idyllic when travelling for a few weeks but France is far from a model for urban living. Look further North in Europe for that.

  4. Johnson hits the nail on the head when he calls Massey a suburb built for people with wheels instead of legs.
    When your idea of a suburb is a smattering of houses at the end of a motorway, with next to no local amenities, how can you expect people not to use a car to get around?

  5. Yes I watched the doco and cried. Those poor people had to pay a deposit of $4000 and needed one parent to work full time to pay off a house (that doesn’t leak) that is now worth $700,000.

  6. Living in Massey, grew up in porirua, happy with where I am, and proud of my roots, found that hilarious 🙂

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