Examples of how light-rail changed the Gold Coast street-scape
The Gold Coast light-rail has been hailed as a great success and promoted as an example of very similar
technology and deployment to that proposed by Capital Metro. However it is very simplistic to assume
what has worked on the Gold Coast will work in Canberra - the cities are very different. As Griffith University senior transport planner Dr Matthew Burke warned, the Canberra route lacks the major destinations that contribute to the
success of the Gold Coast project, and the route chosen by Capital Metro is a poor choice for light-rail in the capital.
Capital Metro's artist impressions of what the light-rail will look like in Canberra de-emphasise
the concrete, tracks, poles, wires, signage, and 10 new sets of traffic lights, so it is interesting to
see "before and after" street-scapes of the Gold Coast.
"Turn-over" in land uses on the Gold Coast
During an ABC News special broadcast in late November 2015, "Canberra light rail: Fast track to the future or start of new set of problems?", Dr Burke discussed with ABC reporter Ewan Gilbert the changes brought by light-rail on the Gold Coast. He used as an example a section of track near the
corner of Scarborough and Nerang Streets, Southport as they both walked around the corner of Scarborough, turning east into Nerang:
Ewan Gilbert:
"So Matt, an area like this smack on the new tram spot - has it always been like this,
or have you seen some sort of development since it has gone in?"
Dr Matthew Burke:
"Oh no, this is an area going through rapid change. So the light-rail is just part of a set of transformations that are under way and we are seeing planning reacting with the transport planning,
so land-use, developers are moving in, they're amalgamating sites.
We haven't seen too much in the way of
new developments per se, but we are seeing turn-over of the land-uses. So hipster bars have moved in,
cafes, brunches and bars at night, and hipsters have been seen here for the first time, probably in, ever."
As you can see, the shops they walk past in this scene are a convenience store, real estate agent, a bank branch and a jewellry shop.
Maybe not as hip as could be, but maybe they chose this spot to demonstrate hipster-central for some other reasons - perhaps there had been an accountant, a dentist, an insurance broker and an undertaker here before the tram.
In search of hipsters
But land-use and particularly retail use change is constant, with or without particular transport
developments. As Aranda residents have noticed, a trendy coffee shop has recently opened in a
derelict shopping centre and the first hipsters have been seen there since I left the suburb in 1977.
Braddon has been transformed from car-yards into hipster-central, remarkably without transport infrastructure
changes, just by market forces.
So what has happened at the corner of Scarborough and Nerang Streets, Southport? Thanks to Google Street-view, we can take a look at "before and after" images of that area, comparing the most recent
Google Street-view image (mostly April 2015) with one before light-rail construction commenced.
At each location, we asked Google Street-view to show the view from as close to the same position and
camera angle as possible.
Gold Coast "before and after"
The tram turns the corner in front of "The Cecil".
The cliched palms, hedges and the greenery outside the pub have been cleared away by concrete and red paint, and a set of substantial poles supporting the tram's power help break up the monotony of the sky:
Before
After
Looking along Nerang from the corner, you can see the shops in the
clip; Lee Vans Jeweller has been replaced by the convenience store, and the hipster bank, Bendigo Bank has replaced "Stylistic - Hair Skin and Beauty" (2010), which itself replaced a bargain book-store (2007). The
five-storey building was painted white and the clock removed, sometime after 2010:
Before
After
Looking along Nerang another corner, the shops on the NE corner seem equally "vibrant", although grey has replaced brown in the facade, blue poles with grey poles. A hedge has been replaced with a serious amount of kitty-litter:
Before
After
Maybe the transformation has happened south of the Nerang corner. Looking back up (north) to this corner,
one of the banks has been replaced by a chemist, the brick building has been painted, and a hedge and large palm replaced by an even larger pole,
and more concrete, some of it painted red. ANZ have tarted-up their facade above the awning. The
"after" pedestrains look fitter and are striding more purposefully (surely they just don't want to be
anywhere else?) :
Before
After
Going a bit further south, still looking back to this corner,
that is an impressive mound of concrete, and removal of the vegetation makes the view clearer - "clean lines"
must be in, the "organic" look must be out.
Not in shot (but visible from a full-frontal
view on Google Street-view), the shops replaced between 2010 and April 2015 in the block south of "The Cecil" are:
Roast Chickens changed to Kebabs, a hair salon became a convenience shop, a former chemist is now vacant,
and an internet cafe became a restaurant. I guess that's "turn-over".
Before
After
..but still no beards in sight. Looking south from this point down Scarborough:
Before
After
So, the action must be around the corner from The Cecil - let's find us some dudes on fixed gear bikes. Looking east along Nerang towards the Scarborough intersection:
Before
After
Hmm.. I'm not picking up "vibrant", in fact, the opposite, but in preferring greenery and
friendly road islands to concrete and large poles, I may be in the minority. Maybe things
improve a bit further along Nerang:
Before
After
.. maybe not.
What about the intersection of Nerang and Davenport?
Before
After
Yikes! Is it just me? "After" looks brutal..
So, let's hit the main drag - Surfers Paradise Blvd down around Cavill Ave - there's a theme emerging, and it involves
the celebration of concrete, poles and wires. Green things - not so much..
Before
After
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After
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After
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After
Out west on Queen Street, its more of the same
Before
After
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After
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After
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After
Is this what was on the box?
So is this what the people of the Gold Coast signed up for? Capital Metro has some
remarkable "artist impressions" that do almost entirely away with the distractions of
concrete, fences, red paint, poles and wires. Did we nick their artists?
Here's some "product shot" -v- "what's in the box" comparisons:
What you were sold
What was in the box
