Rebecca and I landed in Brisbane last night, and we’re staying at the Emporium Hotel in South Bank. We have this phenomenal view of the Brisbane CBD.
Check out this photo. It wasn’t clearly defined, so I added red marks over each.
There are 13 cranes helping construction in Brisbane’s CBD. And as I write this, looking beyond the CBD, in seeing another 5 cranes.
Compare that with Auckland.
New Zealand has fallen so far behind in quality of life. 😞
What Makes a City?
Sitting drinking a beer by the infinity pool, this place is pretty sweet. None of this was here when I left Brisbane in 1990. And it’s very flash.
But Rebecca and I went for a walk around the block, and the density of new buildings really doesn’t add much to the uniqueness of the location. They’re modern buildings in a city that could be anywhere.
It got me thinking about what makes a place great to live in. This place modern, well landscaped with great amenities. But there was nothing historic and “interesting” from a what-came-here-before perspective.
The new now
When I walked around the old streets I used to walk around in 1988, asking the urban environment “what came here before”, it answered “there was nothing here before”.
Maybe history doesn’t make successful cities? Maybe it’s the experiences you have within them that define their greatness.
Does it matter what came here before? Or is it more important to have quality experiences in the now, like being beside an infinity pool in the sun.
I’m thinking those who vote for history are the people who want to tell the neighbours how high to cut their lawn. They might not be the people who actually go off and live their lives having experiences.