This quote from John McInerney, again in Saturday's Herald, casts some light on his previous mystifying statement that 'Kings Cross is working well' (see story below).
'Cr McInerney wants to encourage a High Street of shops and small businesses, rather than Westfield-esque malls.
"We're going to have to rethink this big box shopping centre," he said. "The new Woolworths up in Kings Cross is exactly what we want. There's no parking. As soon as you have parking ... you have separated the shopping centre from all the surrounding residential areas."
And separation-by-parking is not conducive to a walking, talking village, which residents will be asked to help create. "We'll build up a vision of a place they want their community to be," he said. "You can ask them what they want their village to be like, and out of that you can grow their village."
It seems that Cr McInerney draws no distinction between Potts Point and Kings Cross. Is he blind?
It seems everyone gets to have a say in what their village is to be except the Cross. The rest of what he says is laudable.
5 comments:
Kings Cross is not a suburb, it is only a location within a suburb. The Deputy Lord Mayor is right.
Yes, we know all about Kings Cross not having its own postcode -- however if people can't see that the strip has had its own identity, and been written about, filmed and sung about for decades, they are looking the other way (literally). The Docco 'The Glittering Mile' defines it and films it very accurately.
It is the most unique precinct in Sydney and to deny its existence is simply putting the blinkers on. And saying it is working well remains one of the most absurd statements ever made. The question is, do you try to develop it out of existence, running against its grain, or come up with something more imaginitive?
Why cant all you people accept the fact that the Cross is gone, finished. It’s had its day. Why don’t you just accept the inevitable? It will be something else and that is it.
Anyhow it’s all talk. It could become a barren strip or a fantastic nightspot, or a new Double Bay. Who knows and who cares?
Let free enterprise decide. If it is meant to be an impoverished area as it now is that’s ok. In another 20 years someone will think it should be something else.
All this talk about what it is or was is a complete waste of time. Unless you are in government and you decide its worth fighting over do something . If you are in government and feel it’s a great home for drug services do it. Close the place down , compensate the shop and property owners and move on. But don’t pretend that it is anything other than a sleezy place not worth promoting.
Of course the Cross is different to Potts Point - that's what makes it special and worthy of protection. One is a (wonderfully) sleazy shopping/sex strip, the other is pretty much residential with a few cafes thrown in. The best thing about the Cross is how safe you feel. Everyone knows their place - the junkies, the hookers, the bikies, the hoons and the curious, who pretty much leave each other alone. I once heard a story about a tranny from NZ who 'came out' in the Cross because it was the only safe place she knew. That surely demonstrates how unique this place is, especially for people who see themselves living on the fringe of society and who need their own neighborhood -just like the rest of us. Let the streets around Potts Point undergo a facelift or two, but please lets keep the Cross as a showcase of tolerance, even a laugh, and keep advocating it as Sydney most lively strip. Naughty but nice.
To the person who keeps claiming that the Cross is dead, I've got news for you (news that just hasn't broken yet).
My glass is half full. Shame yours always seems to be half empty!
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