Australia is also plagued with houses with absurdly complicated roofs. A 200 square meter house might have 20 roof planes. Of course that means it's impossible to vent and difficult to airseal and insulate. And forget about easy solar. And expensive to build. We Americans look pretty stupid when it comes to house building until you look down under.
Sad but true. Hope you had an opportunity to watch the wonderful "Maurice and me". Also true that, despite the missed opportunities (and a bit trauma residue from the quakes) it's now a very pleasant place to live, especially near the hills.
After doing an 11k walk around the inner city, I think you’re well qualified to comment and got it bang on Lloyd.
We didn’t even go to look at the tilt slab terrors of the East Frame, where Fletcher Living, Williams Corp and now Growcott Freer, are building the residential slums of tomorrow.
It was supposed to be an uplifting educational experience 😂
It’s a stark contrast to the Botanical Gardens, which were laid out 150 years ago with a long term vision, now realised.
I was as frustrated as Sir Christopher Wren, when the first thing they did was drop public transport from the 100 day plan. (This was the rebuild plan of the city, mostly watered down now). Later, I watched as the old tram lines in Colombo Street were cut through to allow the broken sewers to be replaced.
Still, it’s the city where I live and where I take families for the meandering walk along the banks of the Avon River. The kids love the Margaret Mahy playground, but like you are more fascinated by the eels (tuna in Te Reo), than the elevations, existing and being erected.
All said and done, I wouldn’t want to live in any other city in New Zealand.
Hi Lloyd — Nice update on Christchurch; despite all of the missed opportunities, it’s our ‘Go-To’ walking in the city holiday destination several times each year! Your tour guide missed some key architectural gems too like Cranmer Square apartments, several city parks surrounded by cute apartment units and the Arts Centre, almost completely rebuilt now and host to many regular community events and gatherings. Sure, it’s a work in progress, but it’s THE most popular destination for young families looking for a new life close to the great outdoors.
>>"the old rule that you can only have two of fast, cheap or good applies here in spades; with few exceptions, they went for cheap and fast." That shouldn't come as a surprise though because of the human element in Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Who's going to wait years in temporary housing (think modular or tents) to rebuild a house, let alone an entire subdivision, while waiting on permitting and feasibility studies to be concluded on the adoption of wide-scale Passivhaus construction? And as Grok will inevitably point out, who's going to pay for that kind of upgrade if it were able to be mandated? I mean, if you have the means, sure—you can pay for an upgrade no problem—but the standard default that we've had for literally a couple hundred years is going to be utilized because the infrastructure exists (from banking, to blueprints, to workers, to equipment, and know-how) to get thousands of people back into homes as quickly as possible.
Australia is also plagued with houses with absurdly complicated roofs. A 200 square meter house might have 20 roof planes. Of course that means it's impossible to vent and difficult to airseal and insulate. And forget about easy solar. And expensive to build. We Americans look pretty stupid when it comes to house building until you look down under.
Sad but true. Hope you had an opportunity to watch the wonderful "Maurice and me". Also true that, despite the missed opportunities (and a bit trauma residue from the quakes) it's now a very pleasant place to live, especially near the hills.
After doing an 11k walk around the inner city, I think you’re well qualified to comment and got it bang on Lloyd.
We didn’t even go to look at the tilt slab terrors of the East Frame, where Fletcher Living, Williams Corp and now Growcott Freer, are building the residential slums of tomorrow.
It was supposed to be an uplifting educational experience 😂
It’s a stark contrast to the Botanical Gardens, which were laid out 150 years ago with a long term vision, now realised.
I was as frustrated as Sir Christopher Wren, when the first thing they did was drop public transport from the 100 day plan. (This was the rebuild plan of the city, mostly watered down now). Later, I watched as the old tram lines in Colombo Street were cut through to allow the broken sewers to be replaced.
Still, it’s the city where I live and where I take families for the meandering walk along the banks of the Avon River. The kids love the Margaret Mahy playground, but like you are more fascinated by the eels (tuna in Te Reo), than the elevations, existing and being erected.
All said and done, I wouldn’t want to live in any other city in New Zealand.
Scathing, but mostly deservedly so! 😅
Hi Lloyd — Nice update on Christchurch; despite all of the missed opportunities, it’s our ‘Go-To’ walking in the city holiday destination several times each year! Your tour guide missed some key architectural gems too like Cranmer Square apartments, several city parks surrounded by cute apartment units and the Arts Centre, almost completely rebuilt now and host to many regular community events and gatherings. Sure, it’s a work in progress, but it’s THE most popular destination for young families looking for a new life close to the great outdoors.
We actually dined at Cellar Door, inside the Arts Centre. Cranmer Square apartments are an abomination compared to what the earthquakes took away.
Agree with the accessibility and the weather is generally wonderful too.
Possibly also one of the best cities in NZ for cycling?
>>"the old rule that you can only have two of fast, cheap or good applies here in spades; with few exceptions, they went for cheap and fast." That shouldn't come as a surprise though because of the human element in Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Who's going to wait years in temporary housing (think modular or tents) to rebuild a house, let alone an entire subdivision, while waiting on permitting and feasibility studies to be concluded on the adoption of wide-scale Passivhaus construction? And as Grok will inevitably point out, who's going to pay for that kind of upgrade if it were able to be mandated? I mean, if you have the means, sure—you can pay for an upgrade no problem—but the standard default that we've had for literally a couple hundred years is going to be utilized because the infrastructure exists (from banking, to blueprints, to workers, to equipment, and know-how) to get thousands of people back into homes as quickly as possible.
Ayup, what he said!