I was staying at the Rydges hotel in Rose Hill on Friday. Rather than order room service, or go down to the restaurant I decided to go out for a walk to find some food (hotel dining gets old very quickly if you spend as much time in hotels as I do).
I was really surprised then to find that unlike Australian suburbs as I know them – where walking is easy and the built environment is pedestrian friendly – this one is like a little slice of Houston, Texas.
If you have never been to Houston, then heres a short description: limited footpaths (if any), massive parking lots, limited public transport, everything is focused on driving. Even (I kid you not) driving 100 meters up the road to get lunch which is considered normal.
Walking is liable to get you heckled or worse. Only poor people walk, or catch the bus, so pedestrians are considered fair game by many.
So walking around Rose Hill was a real shock. The fast food stores (extruded from their respective corporate motherships) all seemed to assume that the only way anyone would approach them was by car.
The average pedestrian was forced to walk far out of their way to reach a door, and often run the gauntlet of driveway crossings and car parks to get there. It was really quite startling and more than a little bit repulsive. Somewhere some council town planners need to be sent for “re-education”
At least the extra walking required was good for me!
John.
oday is a momentous day! It is the day that the last major piece of earthworks is taking place at my hideaway house. We are backfilling some trenches and levelling off an area for guest parking. Once it’s done there shouldn’t be any need to have heavy machinery on the property again soon, so I can really get on with the garden without the risk of having it ripped up in a months time!
I was reminded of Katsura recently as I lay on the deck of my hideaway enjoying the early morning sunlight with a good book and a cup of tea. The sunlight reflected off the pond below the deck danced on the wall and under the eves of the building bringing to mind Katsura’s design which combines the villa’s lake, buildings, and garden to great effect.
