'In the shopping malls, conform or be cast out'*

(* 'Subdivisions' by Rush)

(Photo: Brad Hunter, Northern District Times)

Following my regular Saturday morning calls on my mother and aunt at the nursing home I decided to take a look at the nearby unimaginatively named Top Ryde City Shopping Centre where Stage One (of three) has recently opened whilst the remainder of the project has still to be completed.

There are two shopping levels open and whatever lies above them, as can just be seen in the photo, is blocked off whilst construction continues. It was lunch time and orange vested building workers wearing hard hats mingled amongst the shoppers and gawkers like myself. There were plenty of beefy looking male builders but also quite a number of scantily dressed females also wearing orange vests and hard hats. I'm not certain what their construction role would be but I pondered that their near naked appearance could at the least be a major distraction and safety hazard.

Interestingly, the Wikipedia entry for the complex lists plenty of safety issues that have dogged the project. The centre does not appear to be a good neighbour. I doubt I will want to visit the centre when all three stages are operational. The traffic lights at the adjacent intersection obviously have had their timing reset and were noticeably slower to change than when I have previously driven through. The street entrance to the parking stations is very narrow, only one lane in each direction, and will clearly develop into a bottleneck.

Basically, the complex looks far too big for the site and surrounds. And of course, it looks just like every other shopping centre in Sydney and contains all the same outlets. Why is this centre necessary when two huge centres just like it are only kilometres away to the east at Macquarie and to the west at Rhodes?