A Special Day

Welcome to the World, Abigail:  It was right here on Ponsonby Road, at the Byzantium Café, where I learned that my new granddaughter had arrived on July 7.  My goal for the day was to explore Ponsonby Road, famous in the annals of urban geography for its gentrification.  I knew I should be checking my email (not always easy in either Australia or New Zealand) so once the bus got me to Ponsonby, my eyes scanned the horizon for a café.  The Byzantium looked inviting.  It was opposite Western Park.  First, I asked if they had wifi, and they did.  I got my usual ‘flat white,’ took a seat by the door, and logged on. 

To gmail I went.

A message was waiting.

I read it quick.

And it was elating.

Abby was here.

A cute little darling.

She will need

Some moth’ring and fath’ring.

And later this summer

A little grandparenting.

  Seated at the next table were a mother and her [perhaps pregnant] daughter.  Of course, I had to share the news with them.  Then I told the proprietor, who had a little boy of his own, and showed him the pictures on Facebook.  On my way out I told the man working on his Apple at an outside table.  He had two grown sons, no grandchildren.  Too bad.  It was a beautiful, sunny morning in Auckland, perfect for exploring the urban landscapes of Ponsonby Road.  Maybe Abigail will have a chance to visit these digs when she gets her travel legs.

Ponsonby Road:  Ponsonby is classic.  The road follows a ridge that overlooks Auckland.  Slopes lead downhill in both directions, one into the city and one into the outer suburbs.  In classic urban geography, higher elevations have been preferred by the monied interests of most cities.  Sure enough, the first thing that attracted my attention was an old Victorian mansion, now being remodeled and soon to be reoccupied by a non-profit firm.  At one time, I am sure, the ridge had a scattering of these palatial residences, each with plenty of land.  At some point, though, the street car brought mobility to Auckland’s working class population and helped conquer the limitations of steep terrain.  Sure enough, there they were: the Archie-Bunker-like houses, the workingman’s neighborhoods that hemmed in Ponsonby on either side.  Many had recently been upgraded and some were in the process.  A little later on, with widespread car ownership, the suburbs spread farther out, and Ponsonby went through a downspiral that made properties affordable to bohemian and maybe some unsavory elements of society.  Sure enough, there was a fine looking church that was no longer a church; it had lost its parishioners to Auckland’s new suburbs and had closed many years ago.  Within the last two decades, a period of gentrification and upgrading began.  The downspiral was halted and the yuppies took over.  Sure enough, there were the restaurants and boutiques with their fresh coats of paint and upgraded facades.  And finally, as a rain shower began, there was the crowning evidence of the yuppified place Ponsonby has become.  Beneful, of petfood fame, was sponsoring a dog obedience contest in Western Park, with dogs and owners in their prissiest finest.   Everyone who had a dog was there and those who weren’t were jogging in the park. 

Geographically yours,

D.J.Z.