Cities
Former Prime Minister, Paul Keating, has long been a champion of better architecture and planning. Most recently, he caused a stir by describing our national capital as “a great mistake”.
Keating also lamented the bulldozing of much of Melbourne’s heritage in the 1970s, but even had a shot at some of the Victorian buildings that remained.
“I used to call it Whorehouse Rococo and Bordello Baroque”, he said. And he teased Australia’s “heritage mafia” for making a crust out of pretending that old buildings are of significance.
I grew up in the outer suburbs in a Mcmansion with upwardly mobile Howard-voting parents and garden view to ‘Fountain Lakes’ shopping centre. Boganism is in my gene pool.
A new blog called Things Bogans Like (inspired by Stuff White People Like) attempts to map out exactly what does and does not constitute Aussie Boganism.
The site is run by a group of young men who live in inner-Melbourne, go to music festivals and art galleries. Certainly, the fact many working-class people now have money and live in big houses has been making the intelligentsia uncomfortable for quite some time.
Continue reading "A bogan’s revenge: 10 signs you’re an inner-city tosser" »
Latest 2 of 120 comments
View all comments-
Saskia says:
‘Bogans’ are ‘Old Labor’ or the Union side of the ALP Inner City ‘Tossers’ are ‘New labor’ (or Greens if they are too embarrassed to say they vote Labor) or the chardonnay socialist side of the ALP I love how both of these sad little groups despises each other but… Read more »
-
Grumbles says:
Your a hippie Read more »
Cities have personalities, they have a tone to their collective voice, and my former home town of Adelaide has a voice which can generally be described as courteous, civil, thoughtful, prepared to make a point, but also willing to listen.
My adoptive town of the past decade often finds itself at the other end of the register. Sydney is often so boisterous as to be uncouth. It can be pig-headed, abusive and rude. In its political and social discourse, Sydney’s general modus operandi is to start with a full-blown argument and work your way backwards towards civility from there.
But in the NSW school holiday fortnight just gone, which we passed happily back in SA, there was a very different edge to Adelaide’s voice. The normally sedate city sounded depressingly like Sydney at its unthinking and aggressive worst as its leaders and citizens dealt with a genuinely terrifying spate of crimes linked to the so-called Gang of 49.
Continue reading "Crimewave turns our most genteel city into a moshpit" »
Latest 2 of 25 comments
View all comments-
Louise says:
Adelaide’s population is a fraction of Melbourne or Sydney and the Gang of 49 has rattled us. Thanks David for bringing this to the attention of the rest of the country. Yes we don’t do enough to rehabilitate criminals, in fact those that have been caught will return to Magill… Read more »
-
Jennifer says:
iansand 08:54am: you are correct, it is so “much cheaper to stop people being criminals before they start than to stop them when they are entrenched ... and that the middle way is called early intervention!” Study after study has proven this. So why doesn’t the government properly invest in… Read more »
In Adelaide we worry a lot. A mall, trams, grandstands, hospitals even roundabouts cause hours of debate. However, nothing winds us up more than someone criticising our city. We’re so defensive.
Sometimes I think we get so outraged because secretly we worry that Adelaide may actually be a backwater.
Often the “solution” that is put forward is to build an iconic building such as a tower or a fantastic or unusual museum. These are all great ideas – we should build more unusual and more controversial buildings. Interesting buildings give a city character. I like buildings that have gardens down the side and on the roof. It would be great to see some of them.
Continue reading "Is Adelaide the most insecure city in Australia?" »
Latest 2 of 17 comments
View all comments-
Diana says:
Truthfully as lovely as Adelaide is it isn’t lacking change or a Michelian star, Adelaide is lacking in history. Adelaide is lacking in small dingey little coffee shops, twisting alleys, ruins, urban legends and old buildings. Everything in Adelaide is either just over one hundred years old or new, the… Read more »
-
PJD says:
My Father, a proud fourth generation South Australian, used to say that the Eastern states, still could not cope with fact that their cities were settled with convicts and Adelaide was settled with free settlers! I think it is they who have the ‘chip on the shoulder’ and are continually… Read more »
Recent posts
The latest and greatest
Gaga’s go-go stick is too big for little minds
A woman in her late thirties leaps out of her seat in a muggy Sydney Entertainment Centre, screaming… Read more
Most commented
The talk of the town
- What voters really think of Tony Abbott's religion 278
- Nation's top scientists agree: the climate is changing now 171
- The Senate protects us from bad government 86
- Don’t bring your kids and other supermarket rules 82
- The R18+ classification is not about children 70
- Signs you may have a political ideology disorder 47
- Obama stands up Australia 32
- The great stink over cut-price toilet paper 24
- Woman who wants to be world's fattest reveals more 23
- Old age starts at 59. What? 20
Punch live
Up to the minute Twitter chatter
Tthe Harbour Bridge opened today in 1932. Got a favourite bridge memory or story? Share it here: http://bit.ly/9AEvKt#thepunch
Don't bring your children and other "rules" of supermarket shopping. Got a gripe or two of your own? Add to my list: http://bit.ly/dBWydm
Gentle jabs to the ribs
Breaking news: Something is going on
Is this the greatest ever send-up of 24-hour news? Warning: contains strong language and hilarity. From… Read more
Latest 2 of 24 comments
View all commentsAdd your comment