HAD the pleasure of a walk through the city this morning.
Lovely chill in the air — nice to be reminded one has a nose tip and fingers! The beautiful morning gave me pause to reflect on why I like Hobart so much.
Walking down through Davey and Macquarie Streets from the South Hobart end, I was struck once again by the collections of beautiful buildings we have. I would agree with Leo Schofield that we just don’t do enough to look after and promote our built heritage.
Passing by St David’s Park it dawned on me why, in particular, I like this time of the year. As the leaves lose their leaves, there is a wonderful sense of space around this part of Hobart, particularly as you get close to the water. I passed on by Salamanca and didn’t stop to puruse this time but again, the mixture of tourists, locals and those familiar stalls also reminded me of the relatively gentle character of life in Tasmania.
Despite our differences on specific issues, I am hoping that there is more that binds us together than divides us …
Passing through the wharf area and over to Wapping, you have to wonder about some council and State government priorities on town planning. Still, the area around the Museum and Gallery and down to the water is inviting. It would be terrific if some clever town planner could do something about the traffic (please no tunnels!) but it is not awful.
Walking over to the new residential sections of Wapping, I do wonder what will become of these areas in the future. The slight grotty charm of the area has been scrubbed away a fair bit, but reminders of yesteryear can still be found.
If we could block off some traffic
On to the rose garden, old University buildings and Aquatic Centre — this is another gorgeous and well managed site. Even 1 Collins Street doesn’t look so bad from this angle.
Back into town and the mall area and the main city block is still not particularly pleasant, but passable. Now if we could block off some traffic around the CBD???
Overall, the thing that impresses me about Hobart is the feeling of ‘space’, not being hemmed in, as well as the various points of focus.
I would say that Sydney has been largely wrecked and is one of the most claustrophobic cities of the world, despite the Bay, it is just too crowded and busy.
Melbourne is nice but lacks focus points — might be achieved with Federation Square? Perth and Brisbane are, well, just cities — their modernity has just about obliterated any character.
Adelaide I like — lots of space and regions of preserved heritage.
Canberra — too much space, no sense that a community lives there.
So this is why I live in Hobart, not just because of familiarity but also because it is a very liveable city, with a relatively well preserved built heritage and the feeling of space, both in terms of the personal and geographical.
If there could be a solution to traffic congestion, that would be great, but it still remains a great city.
I post this article as I feel the need to have more about what we like about this Island on Tasmanian Times rather than just what we don’t like. Views are appreciated on the pleasures of Tasmania …
