What To Do With Upper Hutt's CBD
The CBD mainly in Main Street is a mess and a disgrace to a town that is called a city.
But not all is lost.
For years I have been saying make the CBD a mix of retail and apartmental. In other words compact the shopping and bring people right into the precinct by accommodating them. Make it living instead of lifeless.
It seems this might yet happen.
The owners of the mall had plans to increase the size of the mall considerably. Thank goodness they have not as now the current mall is virtually filled at long last and any increase in size will remove what little is left of the outside and the CBD would become disfunctional.
I have pitched for a Jackson Street (Petone)- like operation for Main Street with the council chipping in to help (rates holidays) and encourage in improvements and converting buildings to accommodate apartments and soliciting free paint for building exterior upgrade and "group" benefits for renovations.
Tracy Bull is quoted in The Leader as saying she loves the CBD the way it is. Whew. I wouldn't be supporting her opinion.
Councillor, Paul Lambert didn't see the CBD being required much above "ordinary" when I last spoke to him about it but I think that included in the mix should be boutique type of shops that along with the other major retail players will help to attract the public from the southern Wairarapa to come and shop in Upper Hutt instead of travelling further south to Lower Hutt or further north to Masterton.
Poll: 🤖 What skills do you think give a CV the ultimate edge in a robot-filled workplace?
The Reserve Bank has shared some pretty blunt advice: there’s no such thing as a “safe” job anymore 🛟😑
Robots are stepping into repetitive roles in factories, plants and warehouses. AI is taking care of the admin tasks that once filled many mid-level office jobs.
We want to know: As the world evolves, what skills do you think give a CV the ultimate edge in a robot-filled workplace?
Want to read more? The Press has you covered!
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52.1% Human-centred experience and communication
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15.2% Critical thinking
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30.1% Resilience and adaptability
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2.6% Other - I will share below!
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