That’s before you look across the dozens of new apartment buildings, where the new light rail stretches out into suburban centres to Carlingford, and will later take commuters all the way to Sydney Olympic Park. There’s the city-shaping metro opening next decade, the cultural behemoth that is the Powerhouse Museum, and a pedestrian link that will connect them all to the increasingly clean river.
Need an arts fix? The Riverside Theatres complex, already host to many fine productions, is about to be redeveloped into one of the finest arts precincts in the nation.
The winning design of the new $188 million Riverside Theatres.Credit: Cox Architecture with 3XN Architects, Aileen Sage, Turf Design Studio and Bangawarra
Sport? Commbank Stadium, just a stroll from Parramatta Square, has already cemented its reputation as the best venue in NSW to watch rugby league, rugby union or soccer.
But there’s at least one thing that sets a CBD apart from a real city: the interesting. The layer of discovery, surprise and fun that entrances visitors, encourages people to spend time in public spaces, and cultivates a sense of belonging among its residents.
That’s where Parramatta distinguishes itself from, say, Macquarie Park, the sterile corporate centre-cum-science precinct with unusually large office blocks that exist between major motorways. There is nothing exciting about spending time there.
Here, though, you don’t need to look far to find something interesting. Before you leave the square, the regular chess and table tennis games are going on, with live music from young local musicians coming from nearby. There is genuinely world-class dining on every precinct. (There’s far more to be done on this front, though. We reported last week that the region is still struggling with business vibrancy late at night, despite a high variety of late-night dining options. This will come with time.)
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Parramatta has not yet reached its peak – in terms of building height and its overall growth as a city. And it’s only halfway there. The local council’s 2050 vision paints a far more ambitious goal than just being Sydney’s second-in-command: it wants to be known the world over, and it’s demanding legislative change (the creation of the City of Parramatta Act, which would give it more powers in line with what the City of Sydney has) to make it happen.
When I told inner-city councillors, developers and other sources that I would start reporting exclusively on Parramatta and the west, the refrains were predictable: “Don’t forget to change your watch for the timezone!” “Do you have your passport?”
These cynics have always sneered at the west, and there’s no sign they’ll get on board with its growth now. But ironically, while Sydney has for so long sneered at the west, Parramatta has quietly been building up a city. And now there’s no doubt where it stands.
Anthony Segaert is the Parramatta bureau chief at The Sydney Morning Herald.
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