The panorama of our capital city, as viewed from Mt Victoria. Photo / File
The panorama of our capital city, as viewed from Mt Victoria. Photo / File
Senior Wellington journalist Georgina Campbell's fortnightly column looks closely at issues in the capital.
OPINION
Holiday blues is one thing, but getting back from a summer away and questioning why on earth you live in Wellington is a more serious problem.
That feeling of dread will likely be worse thanever before after a year of Covid-19, broken poo pipes, a divided council, and skyrocketing house prices.
After a couple of weeks in the Winterless North, it's easy to find yourself questioning whether Wellington gets half the sun that the rest of the country does.
Cruising around Auckland with the city's HOP card makes Wellington's investigation into using the Snapper card on both buses and trains look positively ancient.
The experience of attending a concert at Christchurch's James Hay Theatre, which has retractable seating to allow for standing room, is a welcome relief from Wellington's stuffy Opera House.
A worrying narrative has been growing over the past few months that the city is past its use by date.
Senior New Zealand Herald journalist Georgina Campbell. Photo / Mark Mitchell
The accompanying onslaught of media articles and commentary has created quite the pile-on.
Absolutely Positively Wellington has apparently turned into the city people love to hate.
Wellington's weather has always been lousy. November was just six minutes shy of being the gloomiest on record.
Nothing can be done about it, that's just something you sign up to as a Wellingtonian.
But there is opportunity to change the city's vibrancy, horizontal infrastructure, and housing market.
Not too long ago I got talking to a woman on the bus about Wellington City Council considering a 23 per cent rates increase. She was quite shocked and concerned by that number.
But interestingly, she was prepared for her rates bill to increase if she could be assured the money was being used to fix the city's broken pipes.
Max Vollenbroich of German firm Amex-Sanivar was one of several technicians flown in to the country last year to fix two broken sludge pipes in Wellington. Photo / Supplied
The council is right to be putting together a budget of infrastructure and it's probably the best shot they've got at getting public buy-in for investing in water pipes.
Local Government undoubtedly needs alternative funding tools to residential rates. It's an issue Central Government departments are painfully aware of, if several briefings to incoming ministers are anything to go by.
But the idea that rates increases need to be kept to a minimum at all costs needs to change.
The massive infrastructure failures over the past year actually present an opportunity, councillors just need to present it the right way.
On the streets above the pipes, Courtenay Place has been painted as a picture of late night carnage and it's a pretty fair characterisation.
Ignore the taxidermy birds: Puffin wine bar on Ghuznee St, is a great place for a nightcap. Photo / Supplied
The street is a strip of bars I would do anything to avoid. Meanwhile, nearby Te Aro Park has become a magnet for anti-social behaviour.
But I can't ignore the fact I thought Courtenay Place was a thrilling playground at the age of 18.
So maybe it does have a place in our city, but preferably without the binge drinking culture and violence.
As a person in my late 20s, I'm really impressed with the way Ghuznee St is being brought to life.
Stretching from the Taranaki St end are the likes of Whistling Sisters, cute cafes such as Milk Crate, and the Hannah's Laneway Precinct.
Further along, Scopa is a classic option for dinner before heading to nearby Meow or San Fran for a live gig. Puffin is an intimate setting to head back to for a late-night drink.
Graze the Laneway: Wellington's Hannah's Laneway eateries have a Melbourne-equse vibe. Photo / Supplied
That's the kind of night out I love. I'm the age group Wellington's leaders need to be thinking more creatively about.
People like me still have hardly any responsibilities, yet more disposable income than a bunch of 18-year-olds.
One needs to indulge in a wine when the deposit you're trying to save to buy a house with is literally getting you nowhere.
The way things are going, changing the housing market feels almost as impossible as changing the weather. It's really a matter for Central Government to lead on.
But Wellingtonians, and more specifically lobby groups, need to stop such staunch opposition to development.
Shelly Bay, for example, should not be opposed purely on the basis that it's not all affordable housing. It would still provide more than 300 new homes and create the opportunity for movement in the market.
At this point, any additional housing is welcome.
Nobody pretends to have all the answers to Wellington's problems, but it's worth thinking about some of the solutions rather than just whinging.
