Magical Geographies.

There is a similarity there is between a public consultation and a kindergarten play-group. So I reflected recently, while attending the Inner West Precinct Transport and Parking Plan "Have Your Say!" consultation. Stick-on postits, texta pens of various colours, and the little sticky stars and dots scattered over the tables for us to get busy with.

The grim reality is that traffic and parking questions are lose - lose, rather than win-lose situations .  And so we are encouraged to slap our  postits over a magical geography of wishful thinking, while the actuality of a 19th century street layout, and a Government-installed council determined to re-create a 19th century amenity, are politely ignored.  A street without parking, or curbs, or footpaths - this is the magical lane-way to a new urbanism, whose houses where possible are faced away into plasmic wide-screened interiors. Community becomes a matter of branding for pop-up dual-income workers, dreaming only of escape, and amenity  an uncertain expectation of future capital gain.