But now the Hawke St car park at the back of New Brighton mall has had a major makeover.
The transformation has quietly taken place over recent months after years of angst from residents over nothing being done about car park - and who was responsible for fixing it.
The car park has been a problem for decades, but the damage worsened after the earthquakes and has been poorly maintained since.
Attempts to co-ordinate repairs to the 22 privately-owned sections of the 250m long car park have been met with failure.
But recent redevelopment plans announced for the mall appear to have jolted some of the landowners into action, filling in their gaps.
One frustrated business owner who leased a shop bordering the car park even once asked an obliging road crew to fill in the craters on her space with surplus fill.
Spokeswoman Rachael Shiels said the car park is looking a lot better, but there are still potholes that need to be fixed.
"We've been working with various landowners across the car park to pull together a bit of a comprehensive plan.
"There's been some recent tidying up, which is really exciting, but we're looking at future prospects for this space as well."
Work is due to start in the next few months on a pedestrian north/south corridor extension to Oram Ave, which will effectively cut the mall in half and condense New Brighton's commercial core from 11ha to 4ha.
"The community continues to note the car park is something that they'd really like to see worked on," said Shiels.
"So they're feeling pretty good that it's looking a bit tidier at the moment, but still see that there's work to be done."
By Geoff Sloan, made with the support of NZ On Air
