George Street, Dunedin
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George Street is the main street of Dunedin, the second largest city in the South Island of New Zealand. It runs for some two and a half kilometres north-northeast from The Octagon in the city centre to the foot of Pine Hill. It is straight and undulates gently as it skirts the edge of the hills to its northwest. South of The Octagon, Princes Street continues the line of George Street south-southwest for two kilometres.
[edit] History
In the early years of Dunedin's settlement, much of the city's growth was on two areas of reasonably flat land close to the harbour, separated by the large Bell Hill and an area of low swampy land. The northern of these two flat areas surrounded the floodplain of the Water of Leith, a small river that runs through Dunedin. As the city grew the swamp was drained to become the new city's centre, and the hill was lowered by excavation to allow access between the two areas of settlement. A street grid was set up with the main road split in two by the city centre - Princes Street to the south and George Street to the north. Both these names, along with many of the city's other street names, reflect those in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Until the early years of the 20th century, George Street stopped at the banks of the Leith at its northern end. A bridge, built in 1903, was one of the city's few bridges to survive disastrous floods in March 1929.
[edit] Modern George Street
George Street is an interesting mix of different types of property. The southern kilometre is taken up by Dunedin's CBD, with the city's civic centre and library occupying much of the first block (the majority of blocks are 200 metres long). Beyond this is a major shopping precinct, including Dunedin's largest shopping mall, the Meridian Mall. As the street approaches the northern end of its shopping area, many of the shops have a South East Asian flavour, in part due to the large proportion of Malaysian and Chinese students at the University of Otago, some 500 metres to the east.
At the northern end of the main shopping area the skyline is dominated by the spire of Knox Church, designed by R. A. Lawson. Beyond this is a mix of older residential houses and hotels. Many of Dunedin's more attractive inner city properties are at the north end of the street, quite a number of which have been divided up as student flats. At its northern end is the entrance to Woodhaugh Gardens, a major park, which lies to the west of George Street along the southern bank of the Leith. George Street continues over the Leith, ending as it passes under the Pine Hill Extension, State Highway 1). Beyond this bridge the street leads into Bank Street, a suburban arterial road, turning to the east before reaching a major junction at The Gardens.
[edit] Princes Street
Princes Street and George Street form one 5 km-long street extending from the northern hills towards the southern suburbs, broken in the middle by The Octagon. In the years following the Central Otago goldrush of the 1860s Dunedin grew rapidly, with much of the growth being centred on Princes Street. The Exchange, on Princes Street 400 metres south of The Octagon, was the original financial heart of the city, but the CBD has drifted north to its current location on George Street. Princes Street still contains many of the city's older and more stately business properties, particularly in the few blocks between The Octagon and The Exchange. This area is also the hilliest part of the street, as it crosses the remains of Bell Hill.
The original Exchange Building, from which The Exchange takes its name, was an impressive structure that was the seat of Otago's 19th century Provincial Council. This was pulled down in the mid 1960s, and it was largely the destruction of this building that led to changes in attitudes by Dunedinites regarding the change of their cityscape. Since this time, changes to the city's older buildings have been met with vociferous protests. Today, the site of the Exchange building is the location of John Wickliffe House and John Wickliffe Plaza, both named for the John Wickliffe, the first of the two ships which brought the initial settlers to Dunedin. Despite this, the area is the site of several prominent Victorian buildings, notably former bank buildings at the northern end of the area, and also the imposing 1930s-era former chief post office, which is currently being converted into a Hilton Hotel.
The Exchange was at one time a complex intersection with two busy streets, Rattray Street and High Street. These lead from State Highway 1 at Queen's Gardens (an open park containing the city's main war memorial, close to which lies the Otago Settlers Museum) 200 metres to the east of Princes Street to the older hill suburbs to thee west. Thoughn these streets originally both crossed Princes Street, civic planning has reduced High Street at the intersection to a minor road, and John Wickliffe Plaza now covers part of the original intersection.
Beyond The Exchange lie further retail shops and some small light industrial works, and the Oval, a large recreation reserve containing cricket and football pitches.
