No, more density doesn’t mean more traffic – and other widespread myths about the effects of increased housing, busted by Greater Auckland’s Heidi O’Callahan. Aucklanders would do well to get more involved in the discussion around how our city develops. Leaving the struggle to the techno-centric planners – with their unwitting NIMBY supporters – and … Read more
Auckland is going through a period of rapid change. Hayden Donnell talks to an urban design advisor about whether it’s possible to transform the city without riling everyone up. With local body elections less than three months away, Auckland is divided in two. On one side are people who want to continue reshaping the city … Read more
There is an increasing class division in Auckland, defined by access to the democratic system. Where does this leave our young people in the future, asks Shehara Farik? This is a condensed version of an extremely long story about democracy. I want to show how the history of democracy has defined the crisis we are … Read more
Mt Albert is a town at a crossroads. The pressures of growth are set to radically reshape the area, but so far change has left some of its residents and business owners pining for the past. Hayden Donnell travels to the suburb to talk to locals about the way forward. It’s 4pm on a Tuesday … Read more
Muzza’s Pies is a beloved Mt Albert institution, responsible for curing a million hangovers. Alex Casey pays tribute to the shop that got her through her teenage years. We were all perched on the bench outside Muzza’s Pies, a motley group of teenage girls nursing our cheap whiskey hangovers with an urgent IV of warm … Read more
Mt Albert is on the verge of a transformation. Josie Adams gives a roadmap for how to change Auckland’s second-oldest suburb without ruining it in the process. Until now, Mt Albert’s drawcards have tended towards its outskirts. Hotspots like St Lukes and the Auckland Zoo all lie on the fringe of the township, teasing at … Read more
We’re on the record praising the virtues of Mt Albert, but how did it get to where it is today? Alice Webb-Liddall tells the story of a suburb’s 900-year history in ten moments. Mt Albert is Auckland’s second oldest suburb and arguably its best. It’s home to one of the country’s biggest schools, best playgrounds, … Read more
Don’t fall for the spin that presents this latest revision of a historical hostel building type as some kind of genuinely community-based housing, argues Mark Southcombe ‘Co’ is hip and cool. It’s fashionable as a prefix for all sorts of community-based and community-led, co-operative, collaborative and collective housing models. The prefix is also being co-opted … Read more
Mt Albert isn’t exactly known as a cyclist’s paradise, but it has some good rides if you know where to look. Local rider Helen King shares her secrets to cycling in the suburb. Being a bike enthusiast in Mt Albert can feel like being a Labour voter in Epsom: you know you’re in the minority … Read more
For anyone considering fixing up a bike, sourcing bike parts, or with an interest in perusing a yard full of years’ worth of trash-turned-treasure, now is your time. Loop Groop – the Eden Terrace co-op that rescues and repairs old bicycles and provides space for people to tinker with bikes themselves – is being forced … Read more
Other suburbs have their appeal, but one rises above them all. Hayden Donnell argues Mt Albert is the best place to live in Auckland. First, a terrible confession: I grew up on Auckland’s North Shore. For most of my life, all I knew were Planet 8 board shorts and bowl lattes; golden sand beaches clogged … Read more
Will Pukekohe continue to be a food bowl for Auckland and New Zealand, or yet another victim of the Super City’s metropolitan sprawl? Stephen Forbes for interest.co.nz looks at the small rural town at the frontline of the battle between sustainable development and urban encroachment. The ongoing importance of Pukekohe and the need to preserve it was highlighted … Read more
This week’s emergency declaration by Auckland Council is a welcome development in the fight to save the planet, says 17 year old Rebecca Kerr. But there’s still so much to be done. On May 24th, thousands of students marched down Queen St to call for New Zealand to wake up and declare a climate emergency. … Read more
Auckland Council declared a ‘climate emergency’ yesterday, but campaigners say there are legal impediments to it making truly impactful decisions. Josie Adams speaks to those wrestling with New Zealand’s sometimes bizarre environmental legislation. Yesterday Auckland Council joined counterparts in Canterbury, Kāpiti and Nelson in unanimously declaring a climate emergency. The resolution has little power on … Read more
The bike-hating sticker owner underscores just what a nightmare it is to try to get around Auckland on a bicycle, writes Amanda Chapman I first saw that awful sticker while stuck at a traffic light. It contained an iconised bike enclosed within a circular no symbol. Next to it, in all caps: GET OFF THE … Read more
The Auckland Harbour Bridge turns 60 today. Don Rowe revisits some of its finest moments to celebrate. Sixty years ago today, then-governor general Lord Cobham was chauffeured into the Northcote Toll Plaza, walked past a Navy guard of honour in his big bowler hat, and officially opened the Auckland Harbour Bridge. Aucklanders lined the streets … Read more
A watery war zone has emerged in New Zealand’s biggest city, with Waiheke-Auckland ferry cutbacks leaving abandoned souls desperate for home and hungry for retribution. Josie Adams risks everything to experience the nation’s most hostile ferry journey. The mood was set early on by cement walls and wire caging. Blocky orange fencing like industrial Duplo … Read more
Is this the Harbour Bridge crossing breakthrough Auckland has been waiting for? And what does it mean for SkyPath? This post was first published on Bike Auckland. Today the NZ Transport Agency unveiled its preferred design for a walking and biking pathway across the Auckland Harbour Bridge, breaking the silence around the project since the government … Read more
Public transport in Auckland looks set to hit an all-time of 100 million passengers this year. Patrick Reynolds looks back at how we got here and what next to expect for the future of transport. There’s a quiet revolution underway in Auckland, slowly but relentlessly transforming the city. It began early in the century – … Read more
A legal challenge from a tiny group of pensioners is protesting a 100 apartment development on Dominion Rd that the council’s own development arm is trying to build. Sam Grover explains why this is not as cute as it might seem. Last year, Auckland Council declined planning permission for a proposed development on Dominion Road. … Read more
In what seems like an unlikely source of inspiration, a group of Howick singers have created a folk protest song about Auckland local body planning rules. Hayden Donnell steps in to assess a musical work that somehow combines his two greatest passions. The history of protest music is littered with songs that have seared themselves … Read more
A recent Spinoff column argued that Auckland’s dog laws are overly restrictive, and only set to get worse under proposed new bylaws. Nonsense, writes James Pasely. Dogs and their activities should not be the hill we die on. Aucklanders have more important things to worry about – issues like traffic, housing, mental health all loom … Read more
With Auckland’s local body elections coming up in October, now is the time for Aucklanders to turn their attention to the city’s overly-restrictive dog laws, writes Julian Light. Auckland has the goal to be the most liveable city on earth. Just not if you’ve got four paws. Pooches are treated as pariahs in our biggest … Read more
For Auckland is a new Spinoff podcast of civic conversations with people working to create and sustain a better Auckland for all. In episode three host Timothy Giles spoke to Mark Spencer about how to build a construction sector that can build a world-class city. On Sunday the government announced an agreement with the construction … Read more
For Auckland is a new Spinoff podcast of civic conversations with people working to create and sustain a better Auckland for all. In episode two host Timothy Giles spoke to Pauline Winters about migration. Auckland is preparing for a population of two million residents. Migration continues to play a huge role in shaping the city. … Read more
In February, Auckland bus, train and ferry fares went up. Again. We say we want a world-class transport system, writes Auckland Councillor Richard Hills – so why do we keep hitting users in the pocket? I want to freeze public transport fares. I am not alone in this. There are many voices around the council … Read more
For Auckland is a new Spinoff podcast of civic conversations with people working to create and sustain a better Auckland for all. In episode one host Timothy Giles spoke to Tayyaba Khan about the effect of the tragedy in Christchurch on the Muslim community, grief, identity, and what happens next. In a period of shock … Read more
To make our roads safer, Auckland Transport wants to introduce a new bylaw to set new speed limits, which would see the city centre become a 30km/h zone. Jolisa Gracewood explains why she’s in favour of the proposed changes. Nobody ever expects to be involved in a car crash. But accidents happen, and for most of … Read more
We must do everything we can to stop people dying on our roads, writes Shane Ellison CE at Auckland Transport. And that starts by reducing speed. A few people have asked me, since we opened our consultation on the draft Speed Limit Bylaw, if 64 people dying on our roads in 2017 is enough to … Read more