Dunedin – home. When I last visited (four years ago) I was worried – the city centre seemed to be dieing a slow painful death with the likes of Penroses and DEKA (Nathans and maybe even Woollies? when I was a kid I think) partitioned off into market-like stalls, and all the big shops moving out into the southern part of the one-way system with mega-stores.

This visit was quite different though – the mega stores are still out there, and there may even be more of them. My dislike for them has changed to a realisation that they are for Dunedin’s benefit, with one big store with a wider range replacing maybe two or three little stores with bugger all selection, and replicating each other – yes, the shopper has more choice.

The even better news is it no longer seems to be killing the city centre – George Street looks busier than ever, and the replacement of the shell of DEKA with Wall Street mall is a vast improvement, tidying up the area and providing a proper environment for stores.

I can’t say however I am such a fan of the glass portion of the facade, with painted on windows of days gone by – in historic Dunedin a proper historic style facade would have been far more in keeping.

Now I see the city centre recovering so well, I wonder how far down Princes Street the benefits may be felt in the near future? Maybe not so rosy, as I have come to another realisation that distances in Dunedin are not what they seem – it may only be a five to ten minute walk from say the Golden Centre to the Octagon and beyond, but to locals this is massive and imposes an almost insurmountable barrier they cannot pass. It’s not until you spend time in big cities overseas that you realise how ridiculous this is, however with Dunedin existing on a smaller scale, it is what everyone grows up to expect.

I won’t even start on South Dunedin, but to say its future looks as grim as its past.

More to come …