Kerre Woodham: Inner city life has changed beyond recognition

When I was hunting around trying to find a new home a couple of years ago, looking at everything, among the everything I looked at was a number of apartments in the city. City life appealed. I could walk to work, walk to the theatres, walk to the Comedy Club, the library, the art gallery, cool cafes and shopping precincts just a couple of blocks away, all a single woman of a certain age could possibly want. As it was, my circumstances changed and my family and I ended up buying a home together, and I have to say that I am jolly glad my dream of a bougie inner city pad did not come to fruition. Because that's all it would have been, a dream.  

The reality is that the inner city, just like every other inner city in New Zealand, has changed beyond recognition. Name me one inner city in the country that's thriving, doing really well. Bustling, happy, energised, retailers thriving, cafes gorgeous, just people milling around, having a lovely time?  I'll wait.  

During the Covid years, when the homeless and the needy were put into inner city motels and backpackers, and when city residents abandoned the inner city itself and stayed within their suburbs, the CBD was given over to the halt, the lame, and the dispossessed. The sad and the bad. And we have yet to reclaim those urban spaces, or at least to make room for ourselves in those urban spaces. There should be a place for everyone in our communities. There used to be a place for everyone in our communities. You know, people who were living in halfway homes were part of the community and they were considered as such. But now we seem to be simply overwhelmed and no one seems to know how to move on beggars, drug pushers, the idle, the violent.  

The City Mission says if you move on rough sleepers, it's simply a case of Whack-A-Mole - they'll pop up somewhere else and probably you're right. And Police Minister Mark Mitchell says things are improving as a result of a stronger police presence. 

“We know that we've got a long way to go. I mean rough sleepers, you heard the Commissioner, talking about that. That's not something that police can fix and that's why I'm meeting with all stakeholders, including the Mayor next week, so that we can have a joined-up approach to continue to move in the right direction. But we are, we are starting to see crime trend down in the CBD. The police are doing a good job, they have increased their foot patrols by 60%. They are more visible, and the feedback was very positive around that.” 

Are things better? I've been into inner city Auckland twice in the past month and although I wasn't accosted by a strange ranty person this time, I did park pretty close to my destinations and I did not linger. Inner cities are not places for promenading or taking in the sights. I'm thinking of Wellington here. Not great. What are the other inner cities I've been to recently? Tauranga dead. I'd say in the last two months Auckland, Tauranga, Wellington, none of them have been thriving. I'm not saying none are. I'd love to hear from you if you are in a city where you think the hub of the city is alive and well.  

But the inner city, it used to be a treat to go into town in all our inner cities. But now when I think inner city, I don't think high end shops, a treat, an occasion. I think I hope I don't get yelled at or, in the worst-case scenario, bashed. The footage of that absolute Neanderthal who elbowed an elderly woman in the throat last month just ripped my nighty. It was on Newshub last night. The incident happened last month, but they replayed it, the sort of random act of mindless violence that you could encounter when you're in the inner city. I urge you to look at it because in this case, a picture does indeed paint 1000 words. It's right in the heart of Federal Street where there are the very popular cafes, Sky City, and an elderly, a little frail lady, a tourist as it transpired, is walking along the street, minding her own business, harmless. This absolute thug comes striding down the street and not even looking at her, doesn't even glance at her and shoves his great meaty elbow into her throat, and she goes straight backwards. Hits the ground with a thud. Doesn't see it coming because nobody in their right mind would expect that sort of violence. Nobody in their right mind would commit that sort of violence. I can't even imagine what is going on in those synapses to make him think that that was okay.  Here's the frailest little person I can see, so I'm going to hurt her. She was in a serious but stable condition in hospital last time and a 43-year-old man has been arrested. Honestly.  

And that's unfortunately, what you think of when you think of inner cities. And I would love to hear from you if you are in the inner city if it's your home, or it's your place of work. Right around the country who can say hand on heart that their inner city hub is thriving? That they consider it a joy to be there, to be in amongst vibrant inner city living? The unintended consequence of putting people who had nowhere else to go into the backpackers in the inner city motels means that the number of people who are in desperate need of some sort of professional help far outweighs those who just want to get about their business. 

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