blogging it real

Wellington is that high up? What's the world coming to? It's a cold, windy shithole with overpriced, cold wooden houses. And living in Dunedin, I should know.
 

Zurich no. 1?
Must have been the NZ$10 a pop beers, the $NZ25 club entries and its characterless, soulless population. Perhaps I'm being harsh it does have a shitty big lake that can be swum in two months a year...and a fair few banks.
Bennyasena
 

I've been to Zurich, Geneva and Bern and they make Auckland look like New York (the good and the bad bits).
 

So this silly ranking exercise values the staid, the soulless and the expensive over the dynamic, exciting and affordable then?

Another interesting question: what do they mean by "city" - just the core urban area (e.g., Auckland City) or the metropolitan region (e.g., Auckland, Waitakere, Manukau and North Shore Cities)?
 

I'm not sure that I'd say that Geneva makes Auckland look as bad as New York, but I do wonder how it got to the top of the list. Times I've been there it seemed a nice quaint old place, nice architecture, staid and fairly bland, safe and unexciting. Unlike Wellington, for instance.

But isn't this Auckland/Wellington thing a bit over done? I am surprised that anybody would react that way to a throw away comment by Linda Clark, certainly somebody as thoughful as Graham Reid. Why should he or any Aucklander think that our linda's views about Auckland arts and culture - if indeed she has any views on the subject although she does tend to have a fairly pointed view on most things - matter a stuff? There are as many Aucklanders who make throw away remarks about Wellington (and those who live there) as vice versa. Why should anybody care? Why should either Aucklanders or Wellingtnians be defensive about where they choose to live, both of which places (I am excluding Dunedin from this discussion for reasons that should be obvious to anybody who has ever been there, he mutters darkly...) have their attractions and their downsides. Saying that one is better, or more culturally advanced, more into the arts, than the other, yadayadayada, and producing a long list of things you can do on a good day and a bad don't change it, one way or the other.

Last time I looked, both Auckland and Wellington were small cities. The Auckland urban area hardly rates on any world scale, and even the greater metropolitan area doesn't reach the size of a decent overseas city. Wellington, of course, is less than half that size even if you include the Hutt and Porirua (God knows why you would want to but I s'pose you have to) the population is less than half of greater Auckland. So what? Doesn't seem to me that the size of the population tells us anything. Both cities are pretty vibrant and interesting places, for some quite different reasons.

Yamis mentions the car race. It wasn't so long ago that the waterfront race in downtown Wellington was a regular event in the international programme. Sure it caused some disruption, and sure some greenies of the panty sniffing kind remarked on a short time ago in a different context by our erstwhile dc_red, complained about it and so did a bunch of ratepayers who objected to subsidising it. Most of them were upper crust Khandallah types objecting to not being able to park their Beemers and Mercs outside Kirkcaldies on Saturday while they trotted in and bought their 14th 96 piece Royal Albert bone china dinner set (you Aucklanders might not relate well to this part) so their voices don't really count. And ultimately a weak-kneed council canned it, notwithstanding that it brought in huge crowds and good money and yeah maybe cost the ratepayers a bob or two but did bring in a lot of petrol head dollars. I'll be very surprised if the new event isn't a similar success.

Did Wellingtonians begrudge Auckland the America's Cup regattas? Or do they begrudge the razmattaz of Auckland Cup day? Or the Ellerslie Flower Show. Or, despite Ms. Clark's apparent sarcasm, the Arts Festival? Of course not. Do Aucklanders begrudge the image quite rightly attributed to Wellington as being the centre of the arts, having a dazzling nightlife, and being as cosmopolitan as all hell? You be the judge.

And now we should turn on, or rather to, Dunedin. I think it was Clement Freud who said, actually in a slightly different context but who cares? - "I went there once but it was closed". I have in fact been there many times when the odd place ws open, although not having a taste for that foul stuff they call Speights sent me home early. I also know a great deal about Dunedin from a television documentary about student flatting there, which was quite obviously absolutely authentic down to the pissing in the sink, and I truly believed every word of it. What a place.

To conclude, we Wellingtonians love Aucklanders, generally in a platonic and somewhat patrnising way. We prefer that most of them stay there, but are too polite to say it. You have to admit thiough, you do produce way more than a fair share of crap politicians. Many of us quite like Auckland too, it being a great place to come home from. We encourage you Aucklanders to chill out, hang loose, take it in your stride, be tolerant, reach out, enjoy Linda Clark's dazzling repartee, and shoot the breeze, as we Wellingtonians frequently do. Come see us on a nice sunny day when the wind is not coming at us 80k an hour from the nor'west. If you can work out which day that will be.

Cheers, wiremu1306
 

Cheers Wiremu1306, you may want to take up this blogging business on a serious basis (if you don't already).

As for Dunedin - my impression (after about 8 months of residency) is that it is a wonderful place to live if you fall into certain very narrow population subsets - a student aged 18-21 who likes to party, throw glass bottles, burn couches and piss in sinks; or a middle-aged to elderly New Zealander who fears change and the outside world, but finds Ashburton just a fraction too small and conservative.

For those of us who no longer fall into the first category, and hope never to graduate into the second - and for "professionals" more generally - the place offers SFA except pleasant (but overwhelmingly pastoral) scenery.
 

Nice comments Wiremu. I think you maybe overstated the reaction of Aucklanders (me and Graham Reid?) regarding the Clark comments. I just pull any old thing out of my arse to blog about as many will notice.

I believe he stated and so did I that it's been something of a growing trend rather than a one off minor remark. The proverbial straw that broke a little camels back as it were.

I can honestly say that Wellington and other NZ cities and towns does not occupy an awful lot of my thought time. And neither should it. but then us Aucklanders get accused of not knowing that anywhere exists south of the bombays. What a load of shit. For starters Auckland is full of people from overseas and from parts of NZ that are indeed south of the aforementioned hills and Aucklanders are massive domestic travellers to boot. It's because of the strong Auckland dollar going along way in ghettoes down south muhahaha.

I've managed to visit Wellington a couple of times and quite like the place. Little bit funky and whatever. For me the only downside is that it's too fucken hilly. I like seeing flat open spaces where people can run about and kick a ball. I must be claustrophobic.

Regarding the size of Auckland. I remember when I was younger there were frequent comments that it was the 5th largest city in the world in terms of area. I don't know what rules they were using but you could certainly drop Seoul (10 million people) inside the Auckland area with masses of room to spare.

If you are talking about population size then it's very minor on the world stage but then again it seems that the smaller cities have something of an advantage when it comes to ranking high on that survey. Anyway at the end of the day who gives a shit. Just clean up your act... and your street!!
 

yamis, I doubt that it's a growing trend, Wellingtonians have been bagging Aucklanders and Auckland for years - usually by way of unfavourable comparisons with their own fair city. What may be a growing trend is Aucklanders becoming more and more sensitive about it.

My observations over the years tell me that Auckland is indeed an increasingly cosmopolitan place, with people from a wide range of ethnic backgrounds, and you can spot the odd one or two from south of the Bombays. They'd be the ones not sipping lattes in trendy little boutique cafes in Parnell and similar.

Wellington is a city of great charm, especially on a nice sunny and calm day, with a view over the harbour. It can also have a parochial small town feel about it, seen most clearly when petty local body politics break out. We exclude from this discussion central government politics, on the basis that this is a national blight that simply happens to be housed in the city.

You are right, of course, nobody actually gives a rat's arse for any of it. I reckon Linda's programme should come with a warning tag - "caution, any throw-away lines about Auckland or Aucklanders should not be taken seriously". (Unless they're about John Banks, of course).

Cheers, wiremu1306
 

And furthermore..............

Wellington NZ Among World's Hottest Cities

Source: Positively Wellington Tourism 9/17/04
15 Sep 2004

Wellington was last night named the 18th hottest city in the world to visit at the prestigious Condé Nast Traveller Magazine UK awards.


It was the only New Zealand city to appear on the list of the world’s top 100 cities.


The awards – dubbed the “Oscars of the Travel World” – are decided by readers who vote for their favourite destinations, accommodation and other travel activities.

Cheers, especially to Aucklanders, wiremu1306
 

And furthermore..............

Wellington NZ Among World's Hottest Cities

Source: Positively Wellington Tourism 9/17/04
15 Sep 2004

Wellington was last night named the 18th hottest city in the world to visit at the prestigious Condé Nast Traveller Magazine UK awards.


It was the only New Zealand city to appear on the list of the world’s top 100 cities.


The awards – dubbed the “Oscars of the Travel World” – are decided by readers who vote for their favourite destinations, accommodation and other travel activities.

Cheers, especially to Aucklanders - wiremu1306