Auckland's Queen Street divides the public with travellers thinking it needs more art

Thursday, 1 August 2019

Why Auckland doesn't live up to the world's greatest tourist cities.

Some love it, some hate it. Auckland's Queen Street - viewed as 'the spine of the city' - has visitors and locals split.

On Wednesday, Stuff travel journalist Brook Sabin said the heart of the country's biggest city and its most famous street was a disgrace.

Sabin said he ran into some European tourists a few months ago who were baffled as to what they could do there.

Stuff headed out to Queen St to see if people walking along it agreed.

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French brother and sister Paul Penon, 23, and Sarah Penon, 20, said more art and entertainment was needed.

Sarah Penon, 20, arrived in Auckland from France on Thursday morning.

Penon, along with her 23-year-old brother Paul, were less than impressed with what Queen St had to offer - seeing it as more of a business area.

'Queen Street doesn't seem to be the place for tourists,' Penon said.

'I think there is a lack of art and street performers, the kinds of things we can see in other cities.'

TC Kwan is an international student from Hong Kong.

Marina Christie, 24, loves Queen Street.

He said Queen St compared to places back home as it had everything people could want in terms of shopping.

But Kwan said he noticed more foreigners on the street for shopping, whereas Kiwis only came for work.

Marina Christie, who works on Queen St, said she absolutely loved going there every day.

'I always wanted to work on Queen St so I personally really enjoy it,' the 24-year-old said.

'It's near the Sky Tower and it's nice to look at.'

Christie found the street friendly and appealing in comparison to other big city streets such as those in Sydney.

'It's very frightening to be alone in Sydney and try to find out where you're going, whereas it's quite easy to navigate Queen St here.'

Wellington resident Murray Scott, 66, said lower Queen Street's high end shops are a good offering.

Kathleen Griffins visits Queen St two or three times a week on her way to university.

She said the street wasn't great. It seemed to be improving but rubbish was an issue.

'I think even somewhere like Wellington has better main streets,' Griffins said.

'Perhaps closing it off to all traffic besides buses would help make it more pedestrian-friendly.

'It doesn't have the same vibe as a lot of the other main streets in big cities, like Melbourne, Sydney, I guess New York is quite hard to compare to but New York, even Wellington.

'Cuba St has its own distinct vibe and has a much better atmosphere than Queen St.'

Wellington resident Murray Scott said the street's offering had seemed to improve over the years.

'I am an infrequent visitor to town but I've noticed since the last time I was here that the variety and quality of shops in lower Queen St has significantly improved,' the 66-year-old said.

'It was a bit rough when I was here some years ago but it looks like there is quite a lot on offer.'

Auckland Council 'design champion' Ludo Campbell-Reid said while Queen St was the 'spine of the city', it was only one part of a huge urban transformation underway.

Campbell-Reid said Auckland was going through a complete overhaul, which was the reason for the cranes and orange cones.

There was more than 90 cranes currently on the city's skyline - more than in any city in the whole of the United States, he said.

After 60 years of under-investment, about $100 billion was being invested across Auckland and Queen St's 'time is coming'.

'Queen St is not perfect and it can be better and it will be better,' Campbell-Reid said.

The council has announced that High St, off Queen St, will be pedestrianised in a trial from October, to turn it into a 'world-class, pedestrian-friendly thoroughfare' by the end of 2022.

It also voted unanimously to 'move' towards pedestrianising Queen St but it isn't known when.

The city was undergoing a change and Queen St continued to be developed, Heart of the City chief executive Viv Beck said.

More than 15 million people visited the street in the last 12 months - which was a positive, Beck added.

Queen St, and its surrounding streets, should be looked at as a whole and they had a lot to offer in terms of shopping and dining.

Its heritage and prominence as a place to protest also showed its significance, she said.

Beck said it was nice to get feedback and agreed that more could be done to improve the street.