New York’s Times Square might be worlds away from the run-down west Crown Street strip, but Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery says Wollongong has a lot to learn from the bustling heart of Manhattan.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Cr Bradbery has just returned from a 15-day trip to the United States, where – as part of a University of Sydney study – he looked at how Wollongong City Council can revitalise the square bordered by Market, Denison, Ellen and Keira streets.
The tour, estimated to cost the city up to $22,000, took Cr Bradbery, the council’s planning director Andrew Carfield and MMJ town planner Luke Rollinson to San Francisco, New York and Boston.
Much of the time was spent looking at how various US councils were encouraging more affordable housing and examining street activation techniques in places like Times Square and New York’s meatpacking district.
Cr Bradbery said the biggest lesson learnt was the need to encourage developers to build New York-style high-density housing which moved away from traditional apartment design.
For instance he said some US developers were given floor space or height bonuses if they agreed to include areas of public space within new buildings.
‘‘What we learnt from America was not to create ghettos, but also that we’ve got to get our head out of the idea that every apartment needs a full kitchen, a full living room,’’ he said.
‘‘There are more simplified designs, like a studio space, so young people can afford access into the housing market. These people do not necessarily want to eat in the apartment – because in New York you go out to eat and meet people – and parking is not essential.’’
It was also important to encourage creativity and a sense of ownership for the city’s residents, he said.
‘‘In Connecticut, we saw an apartment building just for artists – where you have creative people coming together and enhancing the local precinct,’’ he said.
‘‘I think that can translate into west Crown Street, we can make it more funky and a bohemian, artistic space. We hope to be able to turn it around by flooding the area with people who own a space there and that will create pride in the city.’’
He will now file a report to the council and hopes to work with residents and businesses to put these ideas into practice. The University of Sydney study continues until November.
