Rubenerd

Our Starbucks is better than yours: keeping our cities distinctive
Author: Peter Spearritt
Date: 19 April 2006

Tourists are becoming more discerning and demanding about what makes a holiday destination desirable. Yet many developments are making our cities more uniform and homogenous. Peter Spearritt considers some of the difficulties facing the tourist industry in Australia.

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And Kerry's rebuttal:

“… The more vibrant the economy of a city/town, the more likely it is to knock down its old buildings because they are a poor economic use of space and the more likely it is to attract McDonalds and Starbucks. A stagnant economy is actually what allows our history and “culture” to survive.

I suspect you can assess the economy of a town by seeing what phase of “homogeneity” has been achieved. First test: does it have a Coles or Woolworths? Second test: does it have a McDonalds? Third test: does it have a Starbucks?

So, while we might despair about the rise of homogeneity and the loss of historic buildings, the simple economic reality is that every time we drive to a large modern supermarket with its satellite chain stores surrounded by a large carpark to do our shopping (which almost all of us do), we are driving another nail into the coffin of historic buildings and our unique culture.”