Time Machines
It is common to joke that NZ is 20 years behind the rest of the world. When a friend of ours arrived here, the pilot said 'We've just arrived in New Zealand. Please set your watches to 1974.' Aussies like to say that to get to New Zealand you don't need a plane but a time machine.
As with most jokes, there's truth there. Walking around Chch any evening or Sunday, you'll find that nearly everything is closed. They do roll up the sidewalks at 5:30 here. In fact, until the 1970's, shops were required by law to close on Saturdays and Sundays. Going back even further, in the 1950's and '60's nothing was opened on Sundays and some towns even locked up the playgrounds. A favorite pastime in Chch during that period was going to the airport to watch planes take off and land, or simply walking up and down the beach, regardless of weather.
In the early 1980's the laws were liberalized, allowing shops to open on Saturdays, first in the 'tourist' sections of Chch and Auckland, then in the rest of the country. Today, there are four holidays--Good Friday, Easter Sunday, Anzac Day, and Christmas--on which trade is prohibited.
A local mall advertises that it is 'open late'. Three days a week, it doesn't close at 6:30, but 8:00 instead. Another is open on Friday and Saturday until 9:00, but that's largely because it has a movie theatre and a couple of restaurants. Beside the grocery stores, which have extended hours, and dairies, which are generally open 24 hours, there's only one store in Chch that's open until 9:00 pm. So, should your heater break at 8:00 on a Sunday night, you either have to get out an extra blanket or drive out to the edge of town to the one Warehouse that's open.
Living in smaller cities like Willimantic and Danielson/Brooklyn as a kid, being here reminds me of those times. (I'm not going to say, 'When life was simpler and better.') You could go shopping downtown and find clothing stores, shoe stores, book stores, etc. Malls were a novelty. Stores were closed on Sunday, and those that were open probably opened late, closed early, or both.
New Zealand, or Chch at least, is in that transition right now, from Downtown Culture to Mall Culture. Chch has eight malls, and I'd guess that all of them were constructed in the last 10 years or so. They are small--smaller than the Fox Run Mall--and homogeneous. And, unlike in the US, they have grocery stores in them! Most are anchored by one grocery store and either a Warehouse or Farmers. (The Warehouse is like Wal-Mart, but really more like K-Mart or Caldor's or Bradley's or Zayer's ... yes, *that* bad. Farmers is like JC Penney from 20 years ago, when it sold furniture and toys and cookware and all the stuff it doesn't sell any more. I'd compare it to Macy's, which still does sell that stuff, but it would be an insult to Macy's.)
Just like the US, the mall here is where you want to go when you want to buy over-priced mass-produced poor-quality clothes and shoes, or want to spend $5 more for a CD or DVD than you could get it elsewhere.
Shopping elsewhere in the city is just as you would find in any other large American city, but on a smaller scale. Chch has it's own Newbury Street, it's own fancy department store (Ballantynes), and it's share of upscale eateries (though only one of them is regarded as among the best in the country). Outside of the central business district, away from the heart of town, you will find places like Columbo Street in Sydenham, where you can find family shoe stores, clothing stores, cafes, and butcher shops. It's there that the Main Street-style downtown of 20 or 30 years ago still exists.
But, I wonder how long this will last. I don't think the malls will kill these places. What will do them in instead is what is killing cities and towns all across the US--suburban sprawl and the big box retailers.
In Chch, the term 'suburb' is what we might refer to as a borough; it's the part of the city in which you live, rather than its outskirts. They are sub-urban in that they are outside of the CBD. I live in the suburb of Waltham, but I'm about as far away from the CBD as Epping High School is from Wal-Mart, and no one from the US dropped on my street would think that they were anywhere other than in the city.
But Hallswell, which is truly on the outskirts of Chch, is the fastest growing suburb. It is made up of 'old Halswell,' the part closer to the city, and 'new Hallswell,' which is where the farms are raising houses rather than sheep. In fact, American-style suburbs are springing up all around the city, with cookie-cutter houses (tan brick with black roofs, two car attached garage and living room on the front) on postage stamp size lots.
(Another side note: here in NZ, houses are packed in very, very tightly. There's a lot of construction around us, because anyone with a lot big enough to fit two houses on it has subdivided the lot and is building a second house in the back. Our lot is probably the standard here, measuring about 60'x60'. The reason for this, I am told, is because it is too expensive to build upward because of the earthquake precautions that must be taken. Two story single family homes are rare, as are residential buildings taller than 3 stories.)
Big box retailers and springing up hand-in-hand with the new residential developments. Mega Mitre 10 and Bunnings are large home improvement stores. Tower Junction is a local shopping center that combines several retailers--think 'The Crossing at Fox Run'. There's even an outlet mall, too. These are all much newer than the mall, most opening in the past year or two or currently under construction.
Watching the new development here in Chch is like watching a replay of recent American socio-economic history. I was going to compare it with what I saw driving the highways between New England and St. Louis over the last 15 years, but I don't need to make that comparison because it's the history of Epping over the past 5 years. It's what those of you who are there are seeing right before your very eyes. (BTW, how's that new Starbucks? Just like every other one, I bet.)
I came here hoping to see something different from what I was seeing in the US. Not to recapture some golden age of innocence, but just to see an alternative. To see what it would be like to live someplace *different*. Driving around, I can't help but think that I'm 10 years too late.
Well, I've done it again ... okay, maybe not *next* time, but soon, I'll tell you about Political Correctness and Housework Songs, Volumes I & II.
As with most jokes, there's truth there. Walking around Chch any evening or Sunday, you'll find that nearly everything is closed. They do roll up the sidewalks at 5:30 here. In fact, until the 1970's, shops were required by law to close on Saturdays and Sundays. Going back even further, in the 1950's and '60's nothing was opened on Sundays and some towns even locked up the playgrounds. A favorite pastime in Chch during that period was going to the airport to watch planes take off and land, or simply walking up and down the beach, regardless of weather.
In the early 1980's the laws were liberalized, allowing shops to open on Saturdays, first in the 'tourist' sections of Chch and Auckland, then in the rest of the country. Today, there are four holidays--Good Friday, Easter Sunday, Anzac Day, and Christmas--on which trade is prohibited.
A local mall advertises that it is 'open late'. Three days a week, it doesn't close at 6:30, but 8:00 instead. Another is open on Friday and Saturday until 9:00, but that's largely because it has a movie theatre and a couple of restaurants. Beside the grocery stores, which have extended hours, and dairies, which are generally open 24 hours, there's only one store in Chch that's open until 9:00 pm. So, should your heater break at 8:00 on a Sunday night, you either have to get out an extra blanket or drive out to the edge of town to the one Warehouse that's open.
Living in smaller cities like Willimantic and Danielson/Brooklyn as a kid, being here reminds me of those times. (I'm not going to say, 'When life was simpler and better.') You could go shopping downtown and find clothing stores, shoe stores, book stores, etc. Malls were a novelty. Stores were closed on Sunday, and those that were open probably opened late, closed early, or both.
New Zealand, or Chch at least, is in that transition right now, from Downtown Culture to Mall Culture. Chch has eight malls, and I'd guess that all of them were constructed in the last 10 years or so. They are small--smaller than the Fox Run Mall--and homogeneous. And, unlike in the US, they have grocery stores in them! Most are anchored by one grocery store and either a Warehouse or Farmers. (The Warehouse is like Wal-Mart, but really more like K-Mart or Caldor's or Bradley's or Zayer's ... yes, *that* bad. Farmers is like JC Penney from 20 years ago, when it sold furniture and toys and cookware and all the stuff it doesn't sell any more. I'd compare it to Macy's, which still does sell that stuff, but it would be an insult to Macy's.)
Just like the US, the mall here is where you want to go when you want to buy over-priced mass-produced poor-quality clothes and shoes, or want to spend $5 more for a CD or DVD than you could get it elsewhere.
Shopping elsewhere in the city is just as you would find in any other large American city, but on a smaller scale. Chch has it's own Newbury Street, it's own fancy department store (Ballantynes), and it's share of upscale eateries (though only one of them is regarded as among the best in the country). Outside of the central business district, away from the heart of town, you will find places like Columbo Street in Sydenham, where you can find family shoe stores, clothing stores, cafes, and butcher shops. It's there that the Main Street-style downtown of 20 or 30 years ago still exists.
But, I wonder how long this will last. I don't think the malls will kill these places. What will do them in instead is what is killing cities and towns all across the US--suburban sprawl and the big box retailers.
In Chch, the term 'suburb' is what we might refer to as a borough; it's the part of the city in which you live, rather than its outskirts. They are sub-urban in that they are outside of the CBD. I live in the suburb of Waltham, but I'm about as far away from the CBD as Epping High School is from Wal-Mart, and no one from the US dropped on my street would think that they were anywhere other than in the city.
But Hallswell, which is truly on the outskirts of Chch, is the fastest growing suburb. It is made up of 'old Halswell,' the part closer to the city, and 'new Hallswell,' which is where the farms are raising houses rather than sheep. In fact, American-style suburbs are springing up all around the city, with cookie-cutter houses (tan brick with black roofs, two car attached garage and living room on the front) on postage stamp size lots.
(Another side note: here in NZ, houses are packed in very, very tightly. There's a lot of construction around us, because anyone with a lot big enough to fit two houses on it has subdivided the lot and is building a second house in the back. Our lot is probably the standard here, measuring about 60'x60'. The reason for this, I am told, is because it is too expensive to build upward because of the earthquake precautions that must be taken. Two story single family homes are rare, as are residential buildings taller than 3 stories.)
Big box retailers and springing up hand-in-hand with the new residential developments. Mega Mitre 10 and Bunnings are large home improvement stores. Tower Junction is a local shopping center that combines several retailers--think 'The Crossing at Fox Run'. There's even an outlet mall, too. These are all much newer than the mall, most opening in the past year or two or currently under construction.
Watching the new development here in Chch is like watching a replay of recent American socio-economic history. I was going to compare it with what I saw driving the highways between New England and St. Louis over the last 15 years, but I don't need to make that comparison because it's the history of Epping over the past 5 years. It's what those of you who are there are seeing right before your very eyes. (BTW, how's that new Starbucks? Just like every other one, I bet.)
I came here hoping to see something different from what I was seeing in the US. Not to recapture some golden age of innocence, but just to see an alternative. To see what it would be like to live someplace *different*. Driving around, I can't help but think that I'm 10 years too late.
Well, I've done it again ... okay, maybe not *next* time, but soon, I'll tell you about Political Correctness and Housework Songs, Volumes I & II.
posted by Jon A at
9:59 AM
2 Comments:
When I was in Madison, WI, I went to a mall with a grocery store in it. There were also condos built just outside the mall - they shared a parking lot. It was weird.
That is all.
I wonder why that is? In East Hartford, the Buckland Hills Mall is surrounded by condos, but I don't think that was originally part of the plan. I wonder if the Madison situation was all one large multi-purpose development. I've seen plans for (but never actually been to) planned communities built along the lines of having mixed residential and retail in such a way as to make the whole development 'walkable'.
I think it's actually a good idea from the mall operator's perspective. Everyone has to go grocery shopping, but we don't all need to go the the mall.
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