Kate Hawkesby: Have our CBDs seen their best days?

I see it reported that 'the Auckland restaurateur whose close to the site of Monday’s fatal bus stop stabbing is worried “people are afraid to come out to the area to eat” after the second violent attack on innocent members of the public in Albany in months.' The other one was the axe wieldng man attacking diners back in June.  

But also at the the Albany bus stop, a 16-year-old told the Police that she was randomly attacked there, getting punched in the head and having her shoes stolen. And they wonder why we don't take public transport in Auckland. But it made me think about the suburbs versus the CBD, because Auckland city's struggling too apparently.

Kate Hawkesby: Problems across the board mean we are losing our mojo as a country

 

Well it’s been a tough week hasn't it? I mean many of us are still in the post-Covid malaise anyway but bad news makes it worse doesn't it?  

We've had principals this week saying they’re worried about families who’ve just vanished due to truancy. So you’ve got large swathes of kids just not showing up for school for a variety of reasons, some of them so random, like they just don't trust the school system anymore.

You’ve got farmers infuriated by the emissions scheme being foisted upon them, which they say is going to kill farming and the communities they exist in.

Clive Bibby: Are you sitting down!

We sold most of the farm to our Iwi neighbours some time ago. Failing health and an interest in our colourful heritage combined to point what we retained of the farming partnership in a new direction.

We had to do something and here's why!

While we are greatful for the fortnightly New Zealand Superannuation payments, it is difficult to imagine people our age (76 this year) surviving on it alone - even if the home is mortgage free. So, for those of us who have (for whatever reason) not planned well enough for these twilight years, the prospects are not good - especially when something as disruptive as Covid 19 suddenly controls what happens to us all.

Henry Armstrong: Post-Covid19 Era Presents Unbelievable Economic Opportunities

Where are the so-called “experts” from the business sector and especially the university business schools, concerning our  post-Covid19  economic and social futures, for both are inextricably enjoined?

The little that has appeared in the media so far is extremely shallow and spectacularly lacking in real, innovative and profitable opportunities. Perhaps these” experts” are hesitant to express their views for fear of being exposed for the shallowness of their ideas?