Invariably as I’m walking home from work I meet at least one pair of tourists struggling to find their way around the outside of the red/rebuild zone. They carry a small map, and are usually looking for the Restart Mall, the Bus Station, or the Cardboard Cathedral. I’m always happy to stop and help. (I’m an informal volunteer.)
One thing that exacerbates their difficulty is the fact that many inner city street signs have disappeared, especially around Manchester and Lichfield Streets. This makes it difficult, even for locals who no longer have familiar landmarks to navigate by. Where have all the signs gone? Some one suggested that they may have been knocked off by large demolition vehicles passing by. Maybe the earthquake loosened them? Or perhaps they’ve been ‘souvenired’? Why doesn’t the City Council get them replaced?
Yesterday afternoon I met an Asian couple who were trying to find the Information Centre. I explained that the easiest way was straight down Gloucester Street, which was marked as red zone “no go” on the map they carried. I also explained to them that as it was after 5pm the Information Centre was likely to be closed and they would need to wait for the next morning. I couldn’t bear to send them to walk a mile only to find they were too late and I hope they found the encounter with a friendly local useful.
“It’s hard when you are on your own
to navigate the ‘rebuild’ zone.”
If we can help another human find their way that seems to be vital to our well being.
Someone creative needs to come up with some useful street/route signage that can be easily erected and altered if need be- perhaps Polytech design students or the like.
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Thanks OG for the lovely thought about helping another human find their way.
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Working in central London, I direct lost tourists regularly. They are often a minutes walk from the major landmark they wish to find (“British museum? Turn left at the lights, big building, can’t miss it…”) Although they are sometimes so close it’s laughable, I remember how overwhelmed and disoriented I was when first confronted with the place, and am happy to help. Christchurch is rather the other end of the scale, but the flatness does, I think, really disorient – if there is no Cathedral steeple to steer by, it must be hard!
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DiH – very true, although the Cathedral steeple hadn’t really been a landmark for decades, because it was surrounded by taller buildings. When I was a child it was what I ‘steered’ by, and I was confused when I returned in late 1980’s and found it was no longer visible from outside the Square.
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[…] delighted to report that our missing street signs are finally returning. At lunch time I saw a workman putting one up on the corner of Manchester […]
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[…] in March I bemoaned the fact that so many of our street signs had disappeared since the earthquakes. In May I was delighted when some of them were restored. Now the Council […]
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