Why does Adelaide get such a bad wrap?

[Power King]

It's what happens when the advertiser has the monopoly it does in this state.

I'd love for a second state newspaper to be introduced and compete with it sales wise, but I doubt people would be up for the mental (yes) challenge of this occurring.

 

[Portology]

It's what happens when the advertiser has the monopoly it does in this state.

I'd love for a second state newspaper to be introduced and compete with it sales wise, but I doubt people would be up for the mental (yes) challenge of this occurring.

We did have, not so long ago - was a bit like having two dilapidated old stadiums not up to the challenges of the future. One was in the wrong place, and the other was stuck in the past. Or was it the other way around ?

Murdoch owned The News, saw the writing on the wall for afternoon papers. Media ownership rules mean he's not allowed to own 2 papers in one town, so he buys the "quality" morning paper (yes, The Advertiser), sells off The News then promptly turns the Advertiser into a clone of The News, sends his old paper bust and laughs his a*** off at the media ownership rules.

 

[Alex99]

Fair enough. I'm not sure why they chose the location, but everyone has known for ten years it will be built there, so there has been time if you felt a more central location would be suitable, which I do agree with.

You’re kidding right?

Have you forgotten what state this is, this is Adelaide after all and leading business people, professors of medicine and influential media people cannot change the governments mind on moving the new hospital, what hope in hell do a few mere mortals have who live in suburbia moving a swimming pool.

 

[morell]

Whilst I understand the point about the swimming centre being centrally located, personally I am glad that for once, finally, the southern area of metropolitan Adelaide is being focussed on for development and infrastructure.

For too long the Northern area has received the lions share - leaving the South way behind. The South Road Superway as a perfect example.

 

[RangaInTeal]

Whilst I understand the point about the swimming centre being centrally located, personally I am glad that for once, finally, the southern area of metropolitan Adelaide is being focussed on for development and infrastructure.

For too long the Northern area has received the lions share - leaving the South way behind. The South Road Superway as a perfect example.

Out here, Northern Adelaide, It just keeps on expanding, out to Smithfield/Virginia, I believe there is now a Gawler banding where the population is restricted to try and keep Gawler from becomming part of Metro Adelaide. Adelaide runs North to South and I feel if something is not done down South in 20 years time Adelaide will run from as far North as Mallala. The Population North is starting to Boom with Mawson Lakes near on Completion, Playford Gardens/Grove, New Port Quays and Evenston and Evanston Gardens.

Adelaide is the place to be for the next 20-30 years for Housing Opertunities, However we are never going to be a Melbourne or a Sydney where the corporate world dominates the city nor are we going to become a Brisbane (although we have the capacity to do so) where Tourism drives the city. Perth seems to be a good blend of Corporate world with Tourism and Labouring work.

 

[FattyLumpkin]

Adelaide is flat... boring
Adelaide has no great beaches. (compared to sydney / brisbane)

Brisbane has beaches???? Where? Lived here for 15 years and I havn't found one. Unless you're talking of the Gold/Sunny Coasts - have you ever had the pleasure of the drive back from the Sunny Coast on a Sunday arvo? A couple hours of your life you never get back.

Other posters have whinged about Adelaide traffic - what traffic Do a Brisbane commute then you'll never complain. Was back in SA and just loved the peak hour traffic (compared to the car parks we call roads up here).

The thing I notice every return to SA is the lack of development. I think development in SA is defined as a new set of traffic lights or similar. Also the seemingly never-ending closure of businesses (Port Stanvac, Holden, Mitsubishi, Bridgestones...). Sometimes I get the feeling Adelaide survives only cos there is a critical mass of people doing just that - surviving, but not progressing.

Don't get me wrong, I love Adelaide and it will also be "home" - but I don't think I'll ever return there to live. Guess living away from there so long has taken the blinkers off. When I first moved away I reckon Adelaide was 3rd in the pecking order behind Sydney & Melb. It has definitely been taken over by Brisbane & probably Perth - maybe thats the beauty of the place?

 

[Ford Fairlane]

Michael McGuire wrote a terrific feature article for the Saturday review on this topic earlier this year. Worth a read.

Stirring up an ants' nest
MICHAEL MCGUIRE
March 06, 2009 11:30pm
link
AURELIO Vidmar's throwaway line about a pissant town caused a ruckus, but did it touch a deeper truth? We asked Adelaideans about the city's fragile psyche.
...
WHEN globally renowned physicist and cosmologist Paul Davies first arrived in Adelaide from England nearly 20 years ago he came with a spring in his step and enthusiasm for the new life he was about to undertake.
<snip>
What Davies found instead was suspicion and doubt. He found a peculiar brand of local pessimism which dictates that "nothing ever happens in Adelaide''. And that pessimism became a self-fulfilling prophecy. We say it can't be done, ergo, it won't be done.
link

His comment about the peculiarities of some of Adelaide's 'achievements', as well as his comment about the new RAH, resonated with me anyway.

There are certain peculiarities to this town that are celebrated and bemoaned in the same breath. Any Adelaide citizen can list them. Britannia roundabout, Victoria Square, Victoria Park, the one-way Southern Expressway, lights at Footy Park, lights at Adelaide Oval, the opening of the Adelaide Airport, Grand Prix, State Bank. Our latest debate is whether we should build a brand new, state-of-the-art hospital. How many cities would have that debate? Most would just build it.

 

[Ford Fairlane]

Out here, Northern Adelaide, It just keeps on expanding, out to Smithfield/Virginia, I believe there is now a Gawler banding where the population is restricted to try and keep Gawler from becomming part of Metro Adelaide. Adelaide runs North to South and I feel if something is not done down South in 20 years time Adelaide will run from as far North as Mallala. The Population North is starting to Boom with Mawson Lakes near on Completion, Playford Gardens/Grove, New Port Quays and Evenston and Evanston Gardens.

There is a Thirty Year Plan for Greater Adelaide out for consultation and one of the key features of that is to restrict the urban sprawl, and develop a more compact and efficient urban form.

 

[Steve Dore]

Brisbane has beaches???? Where? Lived here for 15 years and I havn't found one. ....

You're not looking in the right places. Of course Brisbane has a beach. Not sure what it is called now but when I lived in BrisVegas it was called Kodak Beach and it was at South Bank. One of the best man made beaches I have ever seen

I first visited Brisbane in 1982 and couldn't get over how backward it was even compared to Adelaide. When I moved up there to live in the early 90's I couldn't get over how much it had changed. They even had Sunday trading back then. In ten years it had leap frogged Adelaide and had become far more advanced. Fifteen years later Brisbane continues to forge ahead while in Adelaide the anti-development ACC and the "not in our backyard" North Adelaide Society continue to hold this city back.

 

[Andre]

There is a Thirty Year Plan for Greater Adelaide out for consultation and one of the key features of that is to restrict the urban sprawl, and develop a more compact and efficient urban form.

Plenty of good features, but I'm younger then you Ford, and have still seen enough plans for the city in my time that if they were all piled together in Victoria square and lit, the resulting fire would contribute to global warming across the state.

I'll believe any of it when I see action.

 

[morell]

Fifteen years later Brisbane continues to forge ahead while in Adelaide the anti-development ACC and the "not in our backyard" North Adelaide Society continue to hold this city back.

Thats where its at. Adelaide's main problem is its CBD. The 'burbs are generally pretty good compared to the bigger cities.

We have a situation here where a body elected by 60,000 people make the decisions that affect 1,000,000 people.

The ACC should be a ministry in the State Government.

 

[Papa G]

Thats where its at. Adelaide's main problem is its CBD. The 'burbs are generally pretty good compared to the bigger cities.

We have a situation here were a body elected by 60,000 people make the decisions that affect 1,000,000 people.

The ACC should be a ministry in the State Government.

It's more like 20,000 and only a small percentage of them actually vote. The vocal minority.

 

[Ford Fairlane]

Plenty of good features, but I'm younger then you Ford, and have still seen enough plans for the city in my time that if they were all piled together in Victoria square and lit, the resulting fire would contribute to global warming across the state.

I'll believe any of it when I see action.

I think with the Thirty Year Plan, it is an approach borne of necessity. We will have population growth, and we will need to manage it to ensure critical infrastructure and services can meet the demand.

And initiatives are happening, the new hospital will be built, the desalination plant will be built, the tram line is being extended, major roadworks are being planned in line with the vision of transport corridors, transit-oriented developments are going ahead, in line with the focus on transit corridors. You are seeing action, maybe just not recognising it as such.

It's more the vision of organisations like the Property Council to turn Adelaide into mini-Melbourne, that has the texture of fluffy pavlova. Even so, it's easy to be dismissive of these ideas, rather than actively supportive, and so the 'self-fulfilling prophecy of local pessimism which dictates that "nothing ever happens in Adelaide'' ' continues.

 

[tribey]

^Cripes!

Are you actually the South Australia? Like, can you feel me inside you right now?

 

[Ford Fairlane]

He's heaps good.

 

[morell]

^Cripes!

Are you actually the South Australia? Like, can you feel me inside you right now?

If I didn't have a moral rejection to stocking up Cheephy's mansion and new Merc fund I would pay for a BF subscription and have this as my signature.

 

[PowerKat]

^lol

Well, I miss devil's elbow tbh. Taking interstate visitors for a 'drive in the hills' used to be a blast!

 

[finbarr]

^lol

Well, I miss devil's elbow tbh. Taking interstate visitors for a 'drive in the hills' used to be a blast!

Screw that! I spend my day working/driving in the hills. As it is i can leave the CBD at 8.00am and be in Hahndorf by 8.30am for my morning coffee and a sit down.

Had Devil's Elbow still been there i'd be lucky to make it for lunch.

 

[ClintEastwood]

Good observations there Andre and I agree with them all.

I personally also think the Parklands, insanely vaunted and protected by many in this city, are in many ways the worst design flaw in this city and have stifled growth, progress and what I think Adelaide lacks in a big way - inner city vibe.

My thoughts exactly.

The parklands, while for many years a lovely green belt around the city, have now stifled growth and expansion of the city centre, thus limiting the growth of Adelaide as a whole.

The ACC will never make any great change in this regard, and unless at some stage there is a state government that sees this, and is able to legislate for change in this area, I don't see Adelaide growing much at all.

 

[Forrest Gimp]

Agree with Magpiespower..
========================================
Even though Adelaide will always be 'home' I still find it to be a stifled, conservative, navel-gazing city.

Only reason I head back now is to see Mum who's getting on a bit. Once the old duck goes, I really won't have a reason to return.
=========================================

I'd add that it does seem a bit like an old-folks home too now...every time I've been back it seems the population demographic is nearing retirement! (My parents are still there too...and they're getting on a bit!).

Melbourne is the best place I've lived...much more to offer, and my house is in Richmond within walking distance of the MCG, the city, tennis centre, etc..... and I love my sport!

Living in Houston now....due to work....would take Adelaide over this place anyday. They don't know what fine wines are, nor classy restaurants, public transport, white, sandy beaches....I could go on and on.

I've been to loads of cities in the world, and usually enjoy it, but my 3 weeks in Houston was shite. It's the worst city I have ever been to. All the chicks are fat mingers as well

 

[PowerKat]

Screw that! I spend my day working/driving in the hills. As it is i can leave the CBD at 8.00am and be in Hahndorf by 8.30am for my morning coffee and a sit down.

Had Devil's Elbow still been there i'd be lucky to make it for lunch.

Just making my case - being anti-development is what it's all about here in SA, dontcha know

 

[birdmanptr]

Screw that! I spend my day working/driving in the hills. As it is i can leave the CBD at 8.00am and be in Hahndorf by 8.30am for my morning coffee and a sit down.

Had Devil's Elbow still been there i'd be lucky to make it for lunch.

Do they still have the best pasties ever ?

 

[finbarr]

Do they still have the best pasties ever ?

There's a bakery across the road from the IGA in Strathalbyn that not only has the best pasties ever, but also make a chocolate donut i'd nearly consider having sex with.

 

[birdmanptr]

There's a bakery across the road from the IGA in Strathalbyn that not only has the best pasties ever, but also make a chocolate donut i'd nearly consider having sex with.

I hear you brother

 

[MrMeaner]

I certainly would not agree with any suggestion about developing the parklands. For one thing, cities need green space. The fact that Adelaide has it is one of its great attractions to me.

Although I love many of Melbourne's inner suburbs, I would be unlikely to live in one as they are just too much concrete. In summer it becomes stifling. I would hate it if Adelaide went down that path.