Levelling up the Takaanini LXR project
As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, which will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah.
Also like the city centre, this is an upgrade predicated on the City Rail Link.…
22 Comments Waimahara: The Singing Spirit of Water
There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums with feeling.…
City Centre Rebuild: How Soon Is Now?
Patrick Reynolds is deputy chair of the City Centre Advisory Panel and a director of Greater Auckland
There is ongoing angst about construction disruption in the city centre. Fair enough: it’s very tough, CRL and other construction has been going on for a very long time.…
Matariki on K’ Road: the proof is in the people
Why can't we have so many more spaces like this, all over the city, especially but not only for special occasions? Like many making Matariki wishes on stars last week, let me make one more. I wish for more places in Auckland to be for people. Let's make every day in our city feel like a good party.
You do have the power to change things
When I was invited to come aboard and help with Greater Auckland a few months ago (thanks to Patrick!), it was suggested it might be a good idea to write some sort of autobiographical post by way of an introduction.
This post isn’t quite that – although I’m sure I’lll get to it eventually.…
Gas Station watch
Gas Stations sit the very intersection of transport, land use, and the energy transition, so are interesting to watch. Especially in the city core. The three buildings shown here are all on the sites of former gas stations in central Auckland.…
Children’s Voices in Auckland’s Future
Recently, the transport consultancy Crank publicly released a report about children’s vision for transport in Auckland. It was produced in 2023 to help shape Auckland Council’s Vehicle Kilometres Travelled (VKT) Reduction Strategy.
That got me thinking, and after going back to the recent Long Term Plan Consultation Feedback results, one thing stuck out to me.…
Photo of the Day: GNR
This post marks the return of an old format: Photo of the Day.
Recently I was in an apartment in one of those new buildings on Great North Road Grey Lynn at rush hour. Perfect day, the view was stunning, so naturally I whipped out my phone:
Turns out I caught a fascinating moment; compare these two details: a lone traveller heading west on GNR, and, in the distance: State Highway 16 doing its afternoon rush thing.…
Success City
Patrick Reynolds is deputy chair of the Council’s City Centre Advisory Panel. On the back of the latest Infometrics data release, the Council through its economist Gary Blick has been publishing a whole lot of great numbers:
For the second year in a row, Auckland’s high-achieving city centre has outpaced New Zealand in both GDP and employment growth.…
Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy of reckons himself: Richard Prebble CBE.…
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