Sydney Uni station? Yes please!

Today, the Sydney Morning Herald teases us with the news that the proposed SydneyLink metro line could include a stop at Sydney University.

When you think about the layout of the area, this almost certainly means a stop at Victoria Park. Awesome.

Catching the bus to my new job near the harbour has shown me once again that George St is currently just a car park for buses. There has to be a better way of moving people around a city of this size.

Imagine strolling down to Victoria Park and getting a fast train to the city, or to a meal in Leichhardt, the Swans at Olympic park or my in-laws in Castle Hell. Magic.

What's more, the additional foot traffic to Victoria Park would increase the pressure to finally build a pedestrian crossing over City Road at Myrtle St. It would also create new demand for the services of the Victoria Park Pool Cafe, allowing it to invest in quality food and coffee.

Bring it on, I say.

Two routes for metro plan via kwout

Disquiet over Sustainable Sydney 2030

I'm concerned that most of the advertising for Sustainable Sydney 2030 features quotes from Lord Mayor Clover Moore. These ads would be more forceful if they quoted residents, city workers and diverse experts and leaders. In their current format, they give credence to the claim that the Lord Mayor is using our rates to pay for her re-election campaign. Not a good look.

Cute house

One of my favourite little houses in Chippendale has turned up on Flickr.

Zeeba house on Flickr via kwout

Save the Victoria Park Pool creche!

Victoria Park Pool creche is an amazing facility — the potential saviour of parents from across the City of Sydney. However, I feel like it's at risk, and here's why.

This story starts a few years ago, with another Victoria Park Pool facility — the cafe. Once upon a time, this cafe served city-quality food and coffee, and the patrons came in droves. But the pool seemed unwilling to back this brave experiment. In the end, long queues and stress behind the counter ultimately made it impossible. Today, the cafe at Victoria Park Pool is just like any other — fine when the kids need an ice block or you're so tired that you can stomach shopping centre style coffee, but a lost opportunity to do so much more. A captive and cashed-up market has gone to waste. Today, we bring our own snacks, and stop for coffee at Toby's Estate on the way home.

Then, there's the creche. For parents, this is a godsend. It has the potential to transform the quality of life of anyone who feels trapped at home by parenthood. When we first began using this facility, it was incredibly popular. The waiting list was long. The timetable was managed like clockwork. Late cancellations were not tolerated. And this is what you'd expect from a service that has so much potential to affect so many lives.

But Victoria Park Pool and the City of Sydney have done nothing to promote the creche. I'd guess that most parents in the area don't know that it exists. And as a result, when we come we often find it woefully underutilitised. An incredible resource, going to waste.

It's got to the point that Victoria Park Pool appears to not want to really experiment with greatness. Does someone want to kill all demand for the creche so they can turn around and kill the creche, saying, "look, there's no demand".

C'mon Chippendale, use it or lose it! There's a community of parents at this pool, and there's always room for more. Get out of the house and into your togs. Your life and the city will be richer for it.

Mosquito repellant heaven

Since my earliest days in Chippendale, I've fretted about the mosquitoes. Yes, they are a problem around here.

The solution I've found is simple burners from the hardware store which you refill from a huge bottle of citronella oil. They work a treat. But the wicks sold in every hardware shop I can find are just too darn thick for the burners. They also come in measly packs of six or so — enough to last a few weeks at best.

Enter Stax of Wax, in Australia St, Newtown. This friendly little candle-making supplies shop, opposite the Newtown Local Courts, sells wicks by the metre, in every thickness, at very low prices. Thanks to Stax of Wax, I'm in mosquito repellent heaven.

Fish Market revamp in the balance

The Sydney Morning Herald has the story.

I for one would be very disappointed if we lost the opportunity for continuous foreshore access from Glebe to Woolloomooloo.

Sounds like typical NSW Labor indecisiveness to me.

Fish market sick to the gills on $80m delay via kwout

Pyrmont community site

I just found this nice Pyrmont community website after investigating an encouraging comment left on one of my earlier posts.

Pyrmont Village via kwout

City Talk now available as video

Thanks to Josh from the council for the link.

Future Melbourne wiki

Here's an idea for getting the community behind Sustainable Sydney 2030: stick it on a wiki so we can collectively write and therefore own the document, much like this initiative from the City of Melbourne.

Australia's best investment opportunity

That's how a real estate expert describes Chippendale in The Australian.

Does Caltex think we're stupid?

In today's SMH, a Caltex spokesperson is quoted as saying:

• the government should not impose a carbon cost on motorists
• the government should instead encourage motorists to use more fuel-efficient vehicles and public transport to cut emissions

I take it he was down the pub during Microeconomics 101, in which he would have learned that charging a carbon cost to motorists is the single most effective way of encouraging them to use fuel-efficient vehicles and public transport.

Actually, he probably does understand microeconomics. But if he does, he must be assuming that we don't, which makes me angry.

Spanish centre comes to City Road

The SMH has the story.

El of a Spanish cultural centre via kwout

Introducing snoble.net

Like so many people, I have blogs posts, photos, social network connections and who knows what scattered across the internet. I created snoble.net to quickly link to some of this stuff.

Steven Noble on the networks via kwout

Who will create chippendale.nsw.au?

It seems like all the pieces are in place...

Community Site in a Box via kwout

More about the City Talks

I'm delighted to see that audio recordings of the Sustainable Sydney 2030 speeches are now available. I gave my quick take on these talks in an earlier post.

Sustainable Sydney 2030 - City of Sydney via kwout

Chippendale property on the rise

Quoting today's Sunday Telegraph:

Some of Sydney's inner city suburbs have outperformed many of their more affluent eastern suburbs neighbours, taking out three positions in the top 10 best-performing suburbs for the past year, Residex's survey figures show.

Chippendale, a tiny suburb wedged between Haymarket, Surry Hills and Darlington, was the second-best performing suburb in Sydney after perennial favourite Whale Beach. The median property value for homes in the inner city rose by an impressive 25.1 per cent in the 12 months to the end of March 2008. The median value of homes there is $638,500.

Nearby Waterloo, once an industrial and commercial hub, came in at the number four spot with median property values jumping 24.3 per cent to $600,000. And Surry Hills, which has performed well in recent years, continues to impress in the number seven spot after registering growth of 23 per cent to post a median property value of $919,500.

Property experts claim this strength is typical of the start of a housing cycle. But local agents say the popularity of these suburbs is due to more than just market forces.

Ivan Bresic of Bresic Whitney in Darlinghurst says Chippendale and Waterloo have been sleeper suburbs. But new, vibrant cafe strips in both suburbs and their proximity to the CBD have attracted young professionals and those priced out of more expensive Surry Hills and Paddington.

"Chippendale has always been a tier or two down from places like nearby Surry Hills and even East Redfern, but that's not so much the case any more," Bresic says.

In Surry Hills, improved infrastructure, a popular restaurant and cafe strip along Crown St and renovations, combined with stylish new homes, kept it on the property radar.

Between the CUB development, Sustainable Sydney 2030 and ever-rising petrol prices, this trend can only continue.

The 2030 City Talk

Here's a few nuggest from Sustainable Sydney 2030 City Talk:

I was moved by Jan Gehl's photos of Sydney pedestrians crammed into narrow footpaths, desperately waiting for a break in traffic. And his photo of end-to-end buses on George St was stultifying.

It was refreshing to understand how dramatically Sydney has changed in the past: with the construction of the Western Distributor and Circular Quay station, the elimination of the trams, and the shift from gas lighting to a mish-mash of private electric services to public electric power. This gave me hope that Sydney can change as dramatically once again.

After the event, I went looking for footage of the speeches on YouTube. So far, nothing — but I was pleasantly surprised to find the City of Sydney does have a YouTube channel. That's where I found this fly-through promo for the 2030 plan:

Summary of CUB negotiations to date

REDWatch has published a nice summary of the CUB negotiations to date. Unfortunately, REDWatch repeats the truism that density on the site should be reduced — without explaining why. Otherwise, the overview is comprehensive, balanced and useful.

Artist's impression of CUB development

Take this impression of the corner of Broadway and Abercrombie with a grain of salt — the architects have not yet designed the actual buildings.

World's biggest home brew - and room for 13,000 at the inn via kwout

6 Star Green Development

That's the bold claim and admirable claim in this media release about the CUB site from Fraser's. Congratulations to all who helped get us to this point.

Frasers Property's vision for 6 green star urban quarter on Broadway via kwout

Making sense of 2030

Since my last post about the feasibility of Sustainable Sydney 2030, there have been some interesting developments.

In one corner, Liberal City of Sydney Councillor Shayne Mallard copy-pastes a column arguing that Sustainable Sydney 2030 is nothing more than pre-election puffery that everyone knows will never be executed. In the other, Lord Mayor Clover Moore claims that land sales can and should fund some of the proposed development, making it more feasible.

The next two steps should be:

• credible costings from an expert third-party

• a map of the decision makers for every proposed change

eCouncillor: Spin Sustainable Sydney 2030 for Council elections? via kwout

Wondering about Mulligan's

Has anyone been to Mulligan's Irish Restaurant? I have a strange attraction to the joint, much like the urge that lead me to try haggis when visiting my extended family in Scotland. So far I've held the line, but eventually I'll crumble, and a dish of "cabbage with bacon" will be the result...

Mulligan's Irish Restaurant via kwout

Sustainable Sydney 2030

It almost goes without saying that I support Sustainable Sydney 2030: both the big picture, and what I've read so far of the detail.

But my first thought* is simple: how the hell are they gonna pull this off?

By "they", I mean the City of Sydney, because a plan like this certainly won't be championed by the witless bureaucrats that dominate NSW Labor nor the deranged cultural warriors that continuously undermine the NSW Liberals.

Clover's victory with the Small Bars Bill no doubt gave her courage, but bringing Sustainable Sydney 2030 to life will require nerves of steel. It will also require some fresh thinking about the task of inspiring change. Here are a few ideas:

• Turn city residents and businesses into shareholders. For example, allow residents near future light rail links to buy shares in the proposed lightrail expansion.
• Have a credible economist measure the long-term benefits of the changes in addition to their costs.
• Create a "2030 starter kit" with resources than anyone can use to create their own 2030 support movement.
• Where possible, make it non-partisan. Specifically, support 2030 pressure groups within NSW Labor and the NSW Liberals, and create platforms for councilors and MPs from both parties who support the campaign.
• Stop giving splashy exclusives to the SMH and start thinking about the only newspaper state politicians care about: The Daily Telegraph
• Turn the Sustainable Sydney 2030 website into a social network where users can register, connect and make their own contribution to historic change
  

Some of the ideas may be rank. And I'm sure there are plenty of alternative approaches I haven't considered. But it's a start.

* Actually, it was my second thought. My first thought was "Great. I'll be 61 by the time 2030 comes around..."

Sustainable Sydney 2030 via kwout

Woe is me: history walk booked out

Woe is me! I didn't even hear about the Chippo history walk until it was booked out. Sniff sniff. Note to City of Sydney: if you decide to repeat this event, let me know and I promise to tell all five of my readers ;-)

City of Sydney : What's On via kwout

(There's actually a few more than five...)