From The Hip

Some Perspective On Christchurch

I was driving around the CBD Red Zone cordon this morning. It’s a sorry sight. I thought I’d try and put what’s happening here in Christchurch in the context of other countries.

For those in the USA, imagine if the downtown areas of all these cities combined was evacuated and locked down this second, with no warning:

• New York
• LA
• Chicago
• Houston
• Phoenix
• Philadelphia
• San Antonio
• Dallas
• San Diego
• San Jose
• Jacksonville
• Indianapolis
• San Francisco
• Austin

Now imagine that 2 out of every 3 buildings in the downtown area of these cities were in the process of being demolished. Now imagine that this will take a year, and in that time, no one is allowed into the area.

If you’re in Germany imagine if the downtown areas of all these cities combined was evacuated and locked down this second, with no warning:

• Berlin
• Hamburg
• Munich
• Cologne
• Frankfurt

Now imagine that 2 out of every 3 buildings in the downtown area of these cities were in the process of being demolished. Now imagine that this will take a year, and in that time, no one is allowed into the area.

Now imagine probably well meaning, but ultimately incapable people are in charge. This is what’s happing in New Zealand right now. 

Layton

(Edit: some have asked how I arrived at this comparison. Basically comparing the population in Christchurch as a proportion of New Zealand’s total, and transposing that to a similar proportion, in the USA and Germany, using their major cities (given Christchurch is a major NZ city) essentially to give a sense of how big, and how important this is for New Zealand)