In the Apple Store at Southland the other day, I noticed they had all the iDevices maps set to satellite. It wasn’t hard to see why — it took all of a minute or two to find some glaring errors in the street maps. It’s not just that tram lines are completely missing; they’ve put ... [More]
Tag: Melbourne
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Malawi and Moldova
Something I never noticed until yesterday — in an obscure building in Little Bourke Street are the consulates of Malawi and Moldova. Who knew? I wonder how many visitors they get. Bet the security isn’t as strict as at the US Embassy, where you have to place virtually all your belongings in a locker before ... [More]
My recollection is the back of the building at the corner of Little Bourke Street and Little William Street was an old man barber shop. (Pic from Google Streetview.) Over the past year or so it’s somehow transformed into a trendy cafe called Patricia. The kind of place that appears to be wildly popular despite ... [More]
Dragon: Are You Old Enough (1978) — around Brunswick Street, Fitzroy, including the now-gone behaviour of riding the running board on a tram, and a Silvertop taxi back when they really did have a silver top. John Paul Young: Yesterday’s Hero (1975) — around Swanston Street Paul Kelly: Leaps and Bounds — mostly the Nylex ... [More]
From page 54 (Chapter 2, part 1) of the 1929 Melbourne Plan for General Development, commissioned by the Metropolitan Town Planning Commission. Other highlights include Chapter 2, part 7, which has a bunch of stuff about railways, including a discussion of a railway to Doncaster (page 132) and a strong argument for a combined transport ... [More]
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Hazy shade of autumn
On a recent morning, not unlike today. Bourke Street Little Collins Street
(Little William Street)
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The new bit of Bourke Street
This is the new bit of Bourke Street, in Docklands. I can quite put my finger on why, but I think I prefer the older bit.
What’s the ultimate waste of space in a city centre? Ground level, single level parking. Along with the access space required to get cars in and out, it’s wasted space because apart from perhaps $20-30 per day in revenue, it isn’t used for anything. This post from Gordon Price compares a few cities — the ... [More]
The Age last Friday released its liveability survey of Melbourne suburbs. Top five were pretty predictable: South Yarra, East Melbourne, Armadale, Hawthorn East, and Toorak. From what I can tell, it’s an update to a survey done in 2005, using the same methodology. This time however they didn’t put out the full breakdown of figures, ... [More]
Church Street doesn’t have a church in it any more. Nearby Synagogue Lane doesn’t have a synagogue in it anymore. I got curious: How come only one of them got to keep its name? Despite what appears to be a sign that is not particularly ancient, evidently the name change was some time ago — ... [More]
Melbourne came up tops in the Economist Intelligence Unit’s latest liveability survey (97.5 points) just beating Vienna (97.4) and Vancouver (97.3). A colleague of mine was incredulous, noting that the trains are packed, there’s litter and graffiti, she’s seen a fight in the street, and rents are stratospheric. My light-hearted reposte, at least to the ... [More]