Apart from the fact that the last NSW gov was a ship of fools, I think there is a lot of unwarranted negativity about Sydney which no government will be able to fix. Transport plans and so on will not materially change the stuff people don't like. Sydney is a city. Cities are congested, crowded, and expensive. What you want is the rest of Australia!
Sydneysiders do a lot of wishful thinking. If you are choosing to stay, shut up and enjoy it. As someone who can't afford to buy but is fortunate to rent close to work, I can highly recommend not having a mortgage or a commute: it does save quite a lot of worry, once you click with a landlord and a flatmate. I have a long list of likes about Sydney (cities are convenient, social and have cheap asian food), but when I am finally fed up with living here I won't moan and wish, I'll LEAVE.
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Yes, cities are congested, crowded and expensive, but even so, there are cities that work a lot better than Sydney does. Hong Kong is congested, crowded and heaps more expensive than Sydney, but things like public transport are much better and more streamlined--perhaps because they have to be to manage the number of people who live there. Melbourne is similar to Sydney, demographic-wise and sprawl-wise, and they have terrific public transport, and there is less of the angst that comes from the majority of the city's workforce being stuck in mind-numbing traffic for two hours every day. Fix transport here and I think that things will be a little easier here.
ReplyDeleteTrue point. If I was dictator I would build a massive subway network, and bulldoze all the shops on Parramatta Rd.
ReplyDeleteHowever, how long does it take to "fix transport", or decentralise a CBD, whatever the answer is... Perhaps in 20 years we could be like HK, but I hope my enjoyment of Sydney isn't going to be cramped by what I wish it would be. And Sydney is still pretty great.