Can't have that stadium? Fine. I'll build my own. Somewhere dumb.
The mooted E-Gate stadium - built at the railyard that lies between North Melbourne train station and Footscray Road - would seat 27,000 spectators in Australian rules mode and has been talked about for more than a year.
I can think of a few stupider places to build a stadium, but not many.
Stadia are blockers. They're massive buildings that prevent the flow of transportation - especially casual transportation like walking.
Etihad Stadium is a great example of this. Docklands would probably have worked much better had that stadium not been built - or been built slightly to the north or the south. It's blocking casual foot traffic from joining the two areas of Docklands. Southern Cross station and the trains aren't helping either, but as evidenced by the work around Collins Street, that can be mitigated with bridges and buildings that span the train tracks.
Look at where this new stadium is proposed to go. Imagine instead, a high-density living area, reaching from the river to Railway Place, and from the Docklands Highway (Footscray Road) to Dynon Road. North Melbourne's existing road grid could simply be continued, using bridges and buildings over the railway tracks. There's a great railway station right in the middle of it all, it's close to the CBD, and it would appear as if it was simply an extension to North Melbourne - which indeed it would be.
Never gonna happen though. Far too logical. We'll put another stadium there (we need another stadium?!) and bugger up that area of the city too. Seems Melbourne has simply forgotten the value of good urban planning.
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