Karangahape Rd has been named one of the world's coolest streets. Photo / LandLAB
Karangahape Rd has been named one of the world's coolest streets. Photo / LandLAB
OPINION:
Freedom. From traffic jams. To roam and explore and discover. To take time to smell the roses, or get somewhere in a hurry if you need to.
It's not something we've built our cities for in this country. People, that is. We instead tend to have built our cities for cars, getting more and more frustrated when we can't fit more and more thousand-kilogram-plus steel boxes into a finite space.
It's like spending hours toiling over a delicious soup only to require your dinner guests eat with just a fork. They'll miss a lot of flavour. It's the wrong tool for the job.
A city is by definition a built-up environment. It's where more and more people work, live, play and want to be. If the problem is getting people around, you won't find the solution praying at the car altar. If the problem is how best to scoop your soup, you won't find it in a fork catalogue.
I'll confess. I'm proud to represent what happens to be the most car-less electorate in the country and I don't own one myself. I'm lucky to live in Auckland's central city, along with 45,000 others within the motorway boundaries. I mostly get around by walking and a well-used HOP card. We happen to live within a stone's throw of modern convenience. Such is city life, which more and more of us can have the amenity of with the right decisions made by decision-makers.
Our electorate office is on Karangahape Rd, which Time Out magazine coincidentally recently named as the world's sixth coolest street.
Of course, any street can be cool.
A vibrant, living strip offering everything you need: goods, services, social connection, a sense of being part of the life of the city.
A warm and welcoming place to live, where you know your neighbours and free-range kids can bike to a mate's place without thinking twice.
A stress-free route from A to B that's been designed so it's easy to take the bus or bike, giving you options for avoiding a jam. The key is to think of our streets as places for all kinds of people, not just chutes for cars.
Cool streets are great for our wellbeing, great for the planet and they happen to be great for business too. Research out of Europe, America and Canada - as well as closer to home on Auckland's Karangahape Rd and Fort St - show an increase in customer numbers when we make more space for people to hang out, spend time and money. It's a welcome reprieve from traffic jams on your doorstep.
Cities are not museums. They change and evolve to the needs of the many people who bring them to life. Photo / Dean Purcell
Less-polluting transport options and more streetside trees means cleaner air, less clutter and clatter. More foot traffic brings places to life, encouraging people to meander, interact and enjoy.
And isn't it just nicer when the sound of kids, community, birds and conversations drown out the noise of traffic, rather than the other way around?
It's a world entirely within our grasp.
After all, who actually benefits from extremely limited and increasingly expensive transport options? Not even drivers - because if you don't actually have a choice, you're not really in control.
Cities are not museums. They change and evolve to the needs of the many people who bring them to life.
Our streets are the shared arteries of our cities, which means they can and should meet everybody's needs. Every street can be a cool street, for walking or wheeling, riding a bike or scooter, catching a bus or - yes, if you need to - driving a car.
The shape of our streets are decided by local government in partnership with central government.
This is why it really matters who's on the council and who's on your local board. They're your voice in the room – so it's important to make sure they reflect our ambitions, for our neighbourhood and our city.
For better neighbourhoods, easier ways of getting around and climate action – and trust me, each of these things look a lot like the other – voting in the current local election for the candidates dedicated to delivering it is one of the most important things you can do. Local democracy is the key to creating towns and cities that are a joy to move around in, where the ways we move help free up time and space for the things that really matter.
Our streets can be places that connect us instead of separate us. They can keep us happy and healthy, where we can meet and chat with friends and neighbours, notice the little things in our community and discover local enterprise.
It all starts with a few steps in the right direction - towards your nearest post-box or registered ballot-drop off. If you're in Tāmaki Makaurau, you'll find an up-front commitment to cool streets and connected neighbourhoods in your Green-Labour-Progressive Independent City Vision candidates and Efeso Collins for Mayor.
• Chlöe Swarbrick, Green Party, is the MP for Auckland Central.
