Jeff Kennett: Melbourne’s CBD not the place it used to be

It appears the city of Melbourne will never be the place to work it used to be — it’s now too hard to get to, too expensive and too inhospitable.

Maybe the city of Melbourne will never be the place to work it used to be. Picture: Nicole Garmston

The city of Melbourne is a continuing nightmare. Recent reports indicated that Melbourne was trailing all other cities on the return-to-work table.

Again, who is surprised?

The Andrews government’s two-year lockdown gave city workers the opportunity to re-evaluate their lifestyle.

With modern technology including Zoom and Teams conference calls, mobile phones and computers, many people continue to work from home.

They can avoid the time, stress and cost of driving to and from work in the city each day.

Then there’s the high cost of carparking.

Even moving around the city is a nightmare.

For instance, Exhibition St, the thoroughfare which links the north of the city to the Monash Freeway in the south, has been reduced to one lane traffic each way. Madness.

There’s a bike lane, a delivery lane, and one for commuter traffic that can often be blocked for lengthy periods.

And also massive tram stops that appear more regularly in the city than the bunch of trams they service.

For all her enthusiasm, Lord Mayor Sally Capp is overseeing the decline of the city and the decision of many former CBD workers to never return to the office.

Maybe the city of Melbourne will never be the place to work it used to be – it’s now too stressful to get to, too expensive, too inhospitable.