Melbourne’s city centre has lost some of its customary hustle and bustle.Credit:Chris Hopkins
The Victorian government has announced that its budget,to be handed down on Thursday,will includestimulus measures to revitalise the city, including $7.4 million for a new voucher scheme to encourage people to eat at cafes and restaurants. The City of Melbourne has added $1 million to the scheme,which allows diners to claim back 20 per cent of their restaurant tab.
But is this enough? Thetravel vouchers to regional Victoria offered earlier this year were snapped up so quickly that the website crashed,but the thought of trundling into the city on a potentially unclean tram or expensive Uber,just for a free entree,seems less exciting than a weekend away in Bright or Gippsland.
The problem might be that after being forced to relocate our working and social lives to within five kilometres of our homes,many Melburnians discovered that the delights of the CBD could be replaced by the easier-to-access joys of the suburbs.
Want to go shopping? Why go to Bourke Street Mall when you can simply shop online,or pop out to your local Kmart (if the COVID exposure site lists have shown us anything,it’s our love of a Kmart trip,equalled only by a Bunnings excursion). Want to go out? Cool bars,cafes and restaurants are popping up everywhere in the ’burbs. Just look at Preston,once derided by indie singer Courtney Barnett as a hard-to-love cultural wasteland in her ode to housing unaffordability,Depreston. These days you can’t throw a latte without hitting any number of wine bars,restaurants,cafes and craft breweries. Why would we venture into the city when all this and more is at our doorstep – and you can bring your dog?
Cafes,restaurants and bars and popping up closer to home.Credit:iStock
COVID has made many of us more fearful,and I think that is also playing into the desire to be closer to home. We are less trusting,more cautious. Public transport seems a daunting experience for those of us who have been obsessing over hygiene for the past 12 months. Mingling with too many strangers also feels extremely risky. We want to stick with what we know.
I want very much for the lifeblood of people to pour back into the city. I want to see crowds thronging the streets,and businesses reviving. But something out of the ordinary might be required from the state budget.