When will we realise?

Last night i was out to dinner with some good friends who have recently bought a new house in one of the newer estates south of the city. Its not my kind of thing (too big, a little cliche, typical mcmansion really) but arguably really quite nice and with a pretty sweet view. The problem is its pretty much in the middle of nowhere (well amongst a bunch of other suburban houses that are in the middle of nowhere too). I asked them how they were liking it and obviously its a great house but what do they miss? Well being close to the shops, cafes, pubs and public transport that were just around the corner from the old place. She works in the city and used to walk a few minutes to the train stop and catch it in to and home from work. I couldn't help but smirk a little when she made the comment, that if someone isn't there to pick her up off the train now, she's stranded! Amusingly too she noted, if there is nothing in the fridge at night, they don't eat because they can't be bothered going back out again. Nothing like when there were shops within a short walk!

This might be a reality for heaps of people who live in the country, or small towns but this is supposed to be a city and people are supposed to have the advantages that city life brings, like being close to services. It should be everyones right to have good, reliable and frequent public transport within a short walk of their house and this is how we should be designing new parts of the city. What percentage of Adelaide has this?

I can't believe we are still covering prime agricultural land north, south and east of the city (thank god for the coast to the west or we would have sprawled a few nautical miles that way too by now) with more of the same shite housing that we know is so unsustainable.

My ultimate plan if I were in charge would be to stop all new development on greenfield land. I would take a number of the less desirable suburbs close to the city (sorry western suburbs but its probably you) and throw out the development plan as it stands. I would allow, no I would enforce zero set backs and 3-4 storey buildings as a standard. I would create a whole new suburb that was 4-6 times more compact than existing. I would encourage developers with tax incentives but only if they involved design professionals in the design process. I would eliminate minimum car parking numbers and improve transport links. I would encourage cycling and walking as the main means of transport and it would be great. This would take up less than 1% of the existing footprint of the greater city and those who complained could live in the remanding 99% of the sprawl with their big lawns, multiple cars and subscription to the Advertiser.

As noted I would especially promote cycling as a fashionable alternative form of transport. I have been spending too much time on copenhagencyclechic reminiscing about how good europeans have it and thinking about how much better women in dresses and high heels look on bikes than guys in full combat high visibility suits. Yep, won't see any of this in Adelaide....