EDITORIAL

Old town begins to take on a city hue

GEELONG has long referred to itself as a city. And with a major university, and health and research organisations of the calibre of the CSIRO Australian Animal Health Laboratory and Barwon Health to claim as its own, it has fitted the bill.

Until recently, however, the skyline of Geelong has told another story.

When most people think “city”, they think tall, impressive office and residential buildings. They think vibrant street and night life, restaurants and bars that are open to all hours, culture and arts.

Geelong’s skyline has always said town. Big town, sure … but town, not city.

Driving into Geelong now along the picturesque Western, then Eastern, Beach roads, a city is finally starting to take shape. The TAC and Worksafe buildings now join the stunning domed library in making their mark on the Geelong horizon. Hot on their heels is the NDIA and new Deakin waterfront developments.

If a united delegation to Canberra next week is successful in luring Federal Government agency Comcare to Geelong, another piece of distinctively city architecture may also spring up in our CBD.

With the government agencies, of course, come people. Workers and their families, who we hope, in time, will love our town — our budding city — as much as longtime residents do. Ultimately, we hope, they will buy homes here, shop here and send their children to school here.

If Geelong is to truly come of age as a city, however, there is still much that needs to change.

We have a thriving arts and cultural scene, but it is still hard to dine out in Geelong on a weeknight past 9pm (almost impossible past 10pm), and many shops shut their doors on Sundays.

In their current guise, our muchmaligned mall and bus stop-lined Moorabool St are also, no doubt, offputting to workers from cosmopolitan cities such as Melbourne, who are used to walking through bustling, scenic spaces such as Southbank, Birrarung Marr and Federation Square.

Our skyline is growing upwards, and with it, inevitably, our food and wine scene will also grow up. Much work has been, and is being, done by the council, local developers and others to improve the look of our north-facing waterfront, our streetscapes and our CBD buildings and central spaces.

Yes, there is still growing up to be done, but thanks to the passion of our local leaders, we are getting there.