Jack Tame: Christchurch has crossed the threshold of becoming a better city than it was before

I first realised it this week, running through the city and around Hagley Park on one of those beautiful, still, cold South Island evenings.  

For me, it was a long time coming. Twelve years and three months, all up. 

Maybe others felt it earlier. Maybe others haven’t reached the point yet. I know those who’ve lived in Christchurch right throughout, who never left the city, might have a completely different perspective, and that’s ok.  

But as a Cantab at heart, for the first time I feel I can say it with absolute confidence. It’s emphatic. Christchurch has crossed the threshold. For the first time since 2010 I reckon the city today is better than it was before the quakes. 

There’s no one thing. There’s one project or development that’s pushed it past that point. It’s a collection of little things that make Ōtautahi so good. 

For starters, the city. Finally the Cathedral isn’t just lying in ruin. The remote-controlled digger cleaning up the masonry and bird crap finished its job in record time. The build’s progressing, and fast. 

Te Pae, Christchurch’s glorious new convention centre, is a stupendous venue. Across the road, Tūranga, the new library is surely the best of any big city in New Zealand. The art gallery is amazing. The Margaret Mahy playground is the stuff dreams are madeof for kids and adults alike. 

The food in Christchurch is so good. Christchurch’s old strip was seedy as, but Riverside Market, The Terrace, and New Regent Street have energy and life.  

The central city’s new shape works with Ōtakaro, the Avon River. The water’s clear and clean and meanders from the gleaming new buildings down near the splendid historic Arts Centre, and into the World-class Botanic Gardens. 

I bristle with envy when I think of all the things on Christchurch’s doorstep. Taylors Mistake, New Brighton, and Sumner have surf. Mt Hutt has snow. Lyttelton has perhaps the most interesting music and arts community in New Zealand. Hagley Oval has a gorgeous cricket ground and the Christchurch Adventure Park is the gateway to World-class mountain biking.  

There are young people in the city and they want to be there. At a time when many New Zealand universities are being forced to cut jobs, Canterbury University is hiring. This year, they tell me the university is on track for a record number of students. Domestic enrolments are up. International enrolments are up. There are students from 100 countries studying at Canterbury, from Mozambique to Myanmar to Mongolia. The number of people enrolled is up 7% at the end of March compared to the same time last year. It’s the University’s 150^th birthday this year, and the halls of residence are at absolute capacity.  

The cost of housing in Christchurch is so much cheaper than Auckland, and the quality is so much less depressing than in Wellington. It’s younger than Tauranga, more coastal than Hamilton and warmer than Dunedin.  

I know it’s not perfect. I know how much pain and stress it’s taken to get things to this point. I’m under no illusions that places out East – Bromley, in particular – have a hell of a long way to go. The sprawl North and West means the traffic can be a total pain. 

But with good leadership and planning, the city should only get better. Maybe it’s too big. Maybe it’s too expensive. But just imagine the atmosphere in town for that first All Blacks test in Te Kaha.  

Years ago when I was living in New York, I asked the city’s chief urban designer about lessons from Manhattan’s recovery after the 9/11 attacks. He had a tear in his eye when he spoke to me about the transformation he’d experienced.  

“Instead of asking yourself what happens if you get it wrong, ask yourself the opposite,” he said.  

“What happens if Christchurch is too good? What happens if you remake your city and it’s so good that everyone wants to live there?” 

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