I am working on an urban design proposal for Perth, Western Australia. Perth has a reputation for being 'dullsville', possibly the most boring capital city in Australia. Only having lived here since March, I tend to agree with the this popular perception.
Whether it's a fact or not can be debated till the cows come home, what I am interested in is what makes YOUR city an eventful livley city to live in? What do you love about your city? What areas of your city do you love the most? What do you love about these places? What makes these places unique? or are they generic and that's part of the reason you love them?
I will be proposing to create an Event/Festival heart to the city, so any thoughts you might have as well from your past research would be of great help.
I'll get it started
Singapore - Little India and Arab Street areas
These areas are small shop house areas, many of the buildings are run down, some aren't. There is a definite aged, dirty and run down feel to the place, it is in stark difference to the rest of Singapore's brand new sky scrapers and HDB flats. I love the lanes ways and discovering new restaurants and hidden places that have are on very human scale streets between very human scale buildings buildings.
Brisbane, Australia - Riverside
I love the river side, it connects different areas of the city which all have very differing quality. Taking a stroke, run or ride along the river can be peaceful and there is a great array of people doing different activities. The activities and the nature of people has a different feel to that of when you walk along the streets of Brisbane. They're not just going from A-B, they're taking in everything around them.. there's a relaxing feeling to just about anywhere in the river side.
Barbados, West Indies - Yeah its not a city but it's a truly remarkable place.
The island is small yet there is always something happening. Every weekend there is a festival or party or event where tourists and the local public can have an exciting time. My two favorite places on the island was a local rum shop, where people were talkative and really easy going, there was plenty fried pork and enough cheap rum to pickle any man or woman. The bar was very ad hock and put together over a number of years, it wasn't anything pretty to look at (typical of the Caribbean really) but it was always the best place to be on a Friday night. My second favorite place on the island was one of the beaches. It was quiet with just local families on a Saturday morning and people playing soccer or cricket on the sand. The water was calm and the perfect bright blue. there was no pretension about the place, just a beautiful beach, just families, just piece and quite away from anything and everything.
scott, i lived in perth for 15 years, studied architecture there and worked there for a few years.....dullsville it certainly is.
i have been living for the past 6 years in amsterdam and absolutely love it. and the main reason is density.
everything is so close, i don't have a car and have never needed to even rent one. all transport by bike.
and what i like about the bike culture is that is isn't a culture. it isn't about have a fixed wheel bike or a cool mountain bike, you ride a crappy granny bike and you ride to your office in your nice dress clothes.
when i lived in perth i tried to carve out my own 'urban' existence. i managed to, and this was many years ago, before the boom time.
i lived on hay st in west perth and most evenings i would walk aroung the cbd and i would be the only person, except for the occasionally wino. the city needs ppl, and lots of them. and they need to be enjoying the city.
one thing that i am used to in amsterdam, but i remember that when i first moved here that it amazed me is how amsterdammers use the street in front of their house. if the weather is nice, they put out some chairs and even a whole table set and have dinner, on the footpath, this utilising of public space is fantastic. it is like taking the streets back and saying 'this is my city'.
That's great! when I think about it they do a similar thing in Barbados. They called it 'liming on de block', basically people would just sit on the side of the road all day, not really doing anything just sitting. People would stop their cars and block up the traffic to have a chat.... it was soo funny. You just had to laugh. But this from what I saw was a big part of social interaction, esp for old people.
Music (calypso) is the big part of how people voice their opinion or concern. Calypsonians have been a big part of Barbados's and other Caribbean island politics in the past, probably less so nowadays.
Thanks for your Perth insight, I can assure you these days you will find plenty of people in Perth and Northbridge.... plenty of people beating the shit out of each other, Northbridge is a pretty dangerous place these days on Friday/Saturday night. There's armies of cops down there every weekend.
Steve thanks for that. Most of the posts seems to be facts about where people are from, but there are a few gems of feeling and memory of a place in there.
it might not be relevant in the global scale you are speaking of, but Detroit, in terms of an "American" city, has a sense of REALITY that is rare for cities in the US. Not to be romanticizing decay, but its history, rich with culture, and rich with its urban scars, make it hard for superficiality.
on a more Global scale, Sao Paulo, in its brutal disregard for its citizens, actually functions well, and with a surreal sense of beauty, as an urban background for living within yourself, and within society.It invites living in an improvisational mode, which in turn, makes you interact with the city constantly.
the interesting thing about both of these cities, is that time and social interaction are both required for one to understand, and grow to love its characteristics.
what I like about my city is density to provide for a lively cultural climate and affords facilities such as public transport, my city should be easy to explore on bicycle but can have some Koolhaasian congestion too. Somehow it needs a harbour, harbour cities seem to have nice people living there whether it's Amsterdam, Rotterdam, New York or whatnot. Maybe the historical exchange of goods, ideas and people for years creates a climate of tolerance and openness for different cultures that I can appreciate. It also needs water for strolling along, cooling down in summer, wider views of the city and ice-skating in winters. My city should also have changing seasons, I like contrast. My city should also provide me with a job, I don't like long commutes. that's it for now I guess, but mostly it should have a harbour, then the rest will be arranged too.
randomized, i like your musings on port cities. i've been living in new orleans for about a month now, and your theory rings true. it's certainly a city in which you can be yourself, and celebrates oddities and flamboyance. i guess that's what happens when the french, spanish, italian, irish, etc. live in such close quarters to one another.
i love how in the summer nature provides a way for my city to cool off in the middle of the day... always with a quick rainshower promptly at 3pm.
Aug 5, 09 1:02 pm ·
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The things you love about your city.
Hey guys and gals,
I am working on an urban design proposal for Perth, Western Australia. Perth has a reputation for being 'dullsville', possibly the most boring capital city in Australia. Only having lived here since March, I tend to agree with the this popular perception.
Whether it's a fact or not can be debated till the cows come home, what I am interested in is what makes YOUR city an eventful livley city to live in? What do you love about your city? What areas of your city do you love the most? What do you love about these places? What makes these places unique? or are they generic and that's part of the reason you love them?
I will be proposing to create an Event/Festival heart to the city, so any thoughts you might have as well from your past research would be of great help.
I'll get it started
Singapore - Little India and Arab Street areas
These areas are small shop house areas, many of the buildings are run down, some aren't. There is a definite aged, dirty and run down feel to the place, it is in stark difference to the rest of Singapore's brand new sky scrapers and HDB flats. I love the lanes ways and discovering new restaurants and hidden places that have are on very human scale streets between very human scale buildings buildings.
Brisbane, Australia - Riverside
I love the river side, it connects different areas of the city which all have very differing quality. Taking a stroke, run or ride along the river can be peaceful and there is a great array of people doing different activities. The activities and the nature of people has a different feel to that of when you walk along the streets of Brisbane. They're not just going from A-B, they're taking in everything around them.. there's a relaxing feeling to just about anywhere in the river side.
Barbados, West Indies - Yeah its not a city but it's a truly remarkable place.
The island is small yet there is always something happening. Every weekend there is a festival or party or event where tourists and the local public can have an exciting time. My two favorite places on the island was a local rum shop, where people were talkative and really easy going, there was plenty fried pork and enough cheap rum to pickle any man or woman. The bar was very ad hock and put together over a number of years, it wasn't anything pretty to look at (typical of the Caribbean really) but it was always the best place to be on a Friday night. My second favorite place on the island was one of the beaches. It was quiet with just local families on a Saturday morning and people playing soccer or cricket on the sand. The water was calm and the perfect bright blue. there was no pretension about the place, just a beautiful beach, just families, just piece and quite away from anything and everything.
scott, i lived in perth for 15 years, studied architecture there and worked there for a few years.....dullsville it certainly is.
i have been living for the past 6 years in amsterdam and absolutely love it. and the main reason is density.
everything is so close, i don't have a car and have never needed to even rent one. all transport by bike.
and what i like about the bike culture is that is isn't a culture. it isn't about have a fixed wheel bike or a cool mountain bike, you ride a crappy granny bike and you ride to your office in your nice dress clothes.
when i lived in perth i tried to carve out my own 'urban' existence. i managed to, and this was many years ago, before the boom time.
i lived on hay st in west perth and most evenings i would walk aroung the cbd and i would be the only person, except for the occasionally wino. the city needs ppl, and lots of them. and they need to be enjoying the city.
one thing that i am used to in amsterdam, but i remember that when i first moved here that it amazed me is how amsterdammers use the street in front of their house. if the weather is nice, they put out some chairs and even a whole table set and have dinner, on the footpath, this utilising of public space is fantastic. it is like taking the streets back and saying 'this is my city'.
a great old thread on this topic:
http://www.archinect.com/forum/threads.php?id=22129_0_42_0_C
P2an,
That's great! when I think about it they do a similar thing in Barbados. They called it 'liming on de block', basically people would just sit on the side of the road all day, not really doing anything just sitting. People would stop their cars and block up the traffic to have a chat.... it was soo funny. You just had to laugh. But this from what I saw was a big part of social interaction, esp for old people.
Music (calypso) is the big part of how people voice their opinion or concern. Calypsonians have been a big part of Barbados's and other Caribbean island politics in the past, probably less so nowadays.
Thanks for your Perth insight, I can assure you these days you will find plenty of people in Perth and Northbridge.... plenty of people beating the shit out of each other, Northbridge is a pretty dangerous place these days on Friday/Saturday night. There's armies of cops down there every weekend.
Cheers
thanks Steven
Steve thanks for that. Most of the posts seems to be facts about where people are from, but there are a few gems of feeling and memory of a place in there.
Cheers
it might not be relevant in the global scale you are speaking of, but Detroit, in terms of an "American" city, has a sense of REALITY that is rare for cities in the US. Not to be romanticizing decay, but its history, rich with culture, and rich with its urban scars, make it hard for superficiality.
on a more Global scale, Sao Paulo, in its brutal disregard for its citizens, actually functions well, and with a surreal sense of beauty, as an urban background for living within yourself, and within society.It invites living in an improvisational mode, which in turn, makes you interact with the city constantly.
the interesting thing about both of these cities, is that time and social interaction are both required for one to understand, and grow to love its characteristics.
Simples that's certainly relevant, thanks
what I like about my city is density to provide for a lively cultural climate and affords facilities such as public transport, my city should be easy to explore on bicycle but can have some Koolhaasian congestion too. Somehow it needs a harbour, harbour cities seem to have nice people living there whether it's Amsterdam, Rotterdam, New York or whatnot. Maybe the historical exchange of goods, ideas and people for years creates a climate of tolerance and openness for different cultures that I can appreciate. It also needs water for strolling along, cooling down in summer, wider views of the city and ice-skating in winters. My city should also have changing seasons, I like contrast. My city should also provide me with a job, I don't like long commutes. that's it for now I guess, but mostly it should have a harbour, then the rest will be arranged too.
what i like about my city is that it has many roads that lead to different cities.
randomized, i like your musings on port cities. i've been living in new orleans for about a month now, and your theory rings true. it's certainly a city in which you can be yourself, and celebrates oddities and flamboyance. i guess that's what happens when the french, spanish, italian, irish, etc. live in such close quarters to one another.
i love how in the summer nature provides a way for my city to cool off in the middle of the day... always with a quick rainshower promptly at 3pm.
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