Tom McLean gives his adopted city of Dunedin 10 out of 10.
Anniversaries tend to focus the mind. They invite us to reflect on where we have been and consider where we are heading. This year I am celebrating a propitious birthday and propitious anniversary. It has been 10 years since I moved to Dunedin from the United States, and 50 years since I shuffled on this mortal coil.
Having spent one fifth of my life based in my adopted southern city, I have been thinking about the changes I have seen over the past decade. It has been a rather tumultuous period in Dunedin (and New Zealand) history, and we tend to focus on the frustrations and disappointments rather than the many successes. In fact, the past decade has seen some wonderful additions to our urban landscape.
In honour of my 10 years as a (mostly) happy resident, here is a list of 10 21st-century accomplishments that have made Dunedin and its surrounding communities a more exciting, intellectual, international and lively place to live.
1. Orokonui Ecosanctuary: A remarkable community effort to live up to our clean, green image, and to reintroduce into Otago some of the rarest and most remarkable creatures in the world.
An innovative welcome centre combined with attractive walking paths and the chance of encounters with previously unseen critters (some of them generous volunteers) make this a lovely and inspiring day out.
2. Harbour cycleway: For several years I lived at the top of Andersons Bay, and most days I would cycle to work. Even in the worst weather I would look over the harbour and not believe my luck, living in and biking past one of the most remarkable natural landscapes in any city of the world. I unwind after work by riding to St Leonards and look forward to the day when I can cycle to friends in Port Chalmers (or, for that matter, Mosgiel).
3. Forsyth Barr Stadium: A little controversy here, I know. But the truth is, I like the stadium. I find it architecturally appealing, and it replaced a wasteland. The neighbouring Hocken Library looks smarter than ever, and the arrival of Emerson's Brewery will make the area even livelier. The real problem, of course, is the cost: the often-discussed cost to ratepayers and the less-often-discussed cost to South Dunedin. I hope the current city council can nudge Carisbrook's developers to create something special, and I hope rugby interests will step up and reduce our city's debt (hey, I can hope).
4. Otago Farmers Market: OK, I am cheating here, but the market was still in relative infancy 10 years ago. I do not think I have missed a single Saturday market since I have been here. It is so nice meeting the people who grow the food I eat, hearing some local music, and seeing the mix of locals and visitors who support the market. In the States, most farmers markets only run half the year. Having a year-round and easily accessible market is an undervalued boon to our city's quality of life.
5. Toitu Otago Settlers Museum redevelopment: When I meet Dunedinites who still have not visited the redeveloped Toitu, I want to tear out my few remaining hair follicles. This is one of our city treasures, and, with its wonderful permanent collection and interesting special exhibitions, it deserves regular and repeated visits (I hasten to say the same for the DPAG and Otago Museum, by the way). I am still impressed by the thoughtful way the architects reimagined the Settlers Museum. A jumble of rooms has been streamlined into a visitor-friendly museum and important community space. On a rainy day I head to the Dunedin Sound room and chill out to some of the best pop music produced in Aotearoa.
6. Chinese Garden: A beautiful, contemplative place that celebrates Chinese culture and calls to mind the important contributions of Chinese New Zealanders to Otago's history, from the gold rush to the present. Its location was controversial, but now it provides a key link in Dunedin's cultural chain, between Toitu and Dunedin's latest hot spot, Vogel St. Which reminds me.
7. Vogel St: It was not all that long ago that people were suggesting Dunedin knock down all the warehouse buildings on Vogel and Bond Sts and replace them with something new. Only now can we see what an extraordinary loss that would have been. Thank goodness good sense and better taste prevailed. I am a regular at the very tasty Vogel Street Kitchen, and I look forward to further warehouse developments that, along with the long-awaited opening of a certain hotel, will extend the revival of the greater Princes St area.
8. Street art: The best in the world from New Zealand, Australia, Argentina and the UK descend on Dunedin. Of course I am talking about the 2014 Dunedin Street Art Festival and its colourful aftermath. If you spend any time near Princes St, you will see visitors (and locals) navigating the area with the latest Dunedin Street Art map. The view from City Rise has been much improved thanks to Finn Magee's cloud catchers and Pixel Pancho's sleepy young jockey. Fingers crossed for more works with a Dunedin/New Zealand theme (like the uni's latest addition, Fluke's technicolour hongi).
9. Wall Street mall: Points for removing one of George St's least appealing facades and replacing it with something interesting. Extra points for keeping our shopping malls in town.
10. Arts and film festivals: These, too, predate me, but their growth in recent years has taken these events to new heights. The Fringe Festival continues to nourish new local talent and to make inventive use of great buildings (like the Gasworks). The NZIFF's avant-garde offerings mean we get to see some of the world's best films in perhaps the nation's best setting for cinema splendour (yes, I mean the Regent). The Readers and Writers Festival and Heritage Festival are wonderful additions to the cultural calendar, and our recent recognition as a Unesco City of Literature will no doubt fuel more events worthy of much larger communities.
Now that is a list to be proud of. What other similar-sized city in Australasia could boast as much in the past decade? Great cities change with the times, but they do so by remembering and adding to the past. Despite some challenging times, Dunedin is moving in the right direction. I cannot wait to see what the next 10 years will bring.
• Tom McLean teaches in the department of English and linguistics at the University of Otago.
