Will wrote:TooFar: There are 2 types of people who hold Adelaide back. Those who do not want it to change, and those who do not think it can change. Up to this point, you fall into the second category. Because I have looked through all your posts in this forum and they are all negative. Like Frank said, we are all aware of our city's faults, yet most of us understand that nothing useful will be achieved by dwelling on the negative. If you bothered to look through my posts, even on this thread you will see that I acknoledge our faults, yet offer ideas and constructive criticism, not simply say: "Adelaide is a backwater, I'm pissing off overseas".
Will, I believe I would fall in category 3, those that have seen no major changes in their lifetime. For some reason I have always had a keen interest in the urban landscape of cities, specially freeways, subways, skyscrapers and the urban grit that comes with high density living. I was also lucky that we traveled around Australia a bit when I was a kid, I guess that explains why I continue to travel to this day. I was born in 1968 so have accumulated about 40 years of history on Australian Urban environments.
During the 70’s and early 80’s, Adelaide was known for its high quality roads, when leaving the state you always notice how worse the roads were in Vic & NSW. From my young perspective, it appeared that in the 70’s there was a sense of prosperity in Adelaide, there was talk of Freeways, Satellite cities, underground train lines ect.
During the 70’s Perth had no freeways or train network, its population was smaller than Adelaide’s. Sydney had no Darling Harbour, its tallest building was Australia Square. Melbourne had no Southbank. Brisbane was considered the country’s backwater and was the butt of many jokes.
Fast forward to now, and Adelaide in considered the country’s backwater, is the butt of many jokes, and has the worse roads and PT infrastructure. There has been no significant developments since the Festival Theater. For all intents and purpose, Adelaide has gone backwards, with many mistakes being made along the way. Compare how much the other capitals have changed in the same time frame, they are almost unrecognizable.
So Will, it is not that I don’t think Adelaide can change, it is the fact that I have seen no changes in my lifetime. Should I keep living in a town that frustrates and annoys me? Where every proposed development is knocked back, or when it does go ahead, it only meets the minimum requirements. There is no vision, no world class designs, everything is mediocre. As I said, I appreciate things like, skyscrapers, subways, freeways, the byproducts of high density living and quality urban design – a city.
Why should I spend my life living in a town that offers none of these? I guess after living in Adelaide as long as I did, and seeing how it has fallen behind, plus living in a number of larger cities around the globe, has left me cynical and disillusioned. Sure, other city’s have their issues, and no place is perfect, but I have given up on Adelaide ever changing in my lifetime.
But having said all that, Adelaide is not a bad place, it does offer a comfortable lifestyle for many. I do have fond memories of growing up there. I still have family and friends living there. So I would be extremely happy to see the place flush with cash and large world class developments popping up. I guess that is why I continue to lurk on this and other forums.
Now with Beer Garden for our smoking patrons.
WE ALL KNOW ADELAIDE IS NOT PERFECT and we don't need to be constantly reminded of its faults.
). Four years after it was built the people of Seattle pushed through an initiative to limit the height of city buildings, interestingly. I believe that was overturned in 2002, however.
