Joel MacManus

Today was the day New Zealand truly became a 40% off deck furniture piss country

The pie-oneer: In search of the unsung hero who invented the butter chicken pie The butter chicken pie has risen from a niche fusion food to New Zealand’s third-best-selling pie flavour. Who gave the nation this unique culinary taonga?

The butter chicken pie has risen from a niche fusion food to New Zealand’s third-best-selling pie flavour. Who gave the nation this unique culinary taonga?

thespinoff.co.nz/kai/01-12-20...

I assume you're talking about Juggernaut Season 2?

I think you're exactly right

There's a stark contrast between Living Streets Aotearoa in Auckland, a useful advocacy group for pedestrian infrastructure, and Living Streets Aotearoa in Wellington which seems to exist only to complain about e-scooters and has never found a project they actually like.

If Little takes nothing else away from Joel’s piece, let it at least be “cars are not people”

Christopher Luxon loves localism, until locals have the wrong opinions The government wants local communities to make their own decisions. The only problem – they keep disagreeing with the government.

Reposting this, apropros of nothing

thespinoff.co.nz/politics/18-...

A quote from the man who just gave Ray Chung a promotion.

While I agree with your point in general, this WCC is the clearest partisan split of any council I've seen. 6 Labour, 4 Greens, and 6 independent conservatives. There are no centrist or weird lefty independents. There are defined lines between the factions.

Andrew Little buddies up to the right In his first council meeting as Wellington mayor, Andrew Little opened a political rift between Labour and the Greens.

In his first council meeting as Wellington mayor, Andrew Little gave a big promotion to controversial rival Ray Chung and opened a political rift between Labour and the Greens.

thespinoff.co.nz/politics/25-...

How to have a ‘mature conversation’ about asset sales Christopher Luxon wants 'a more mature conversation' about selling public assets. Big daddy Spinoff is here to explain the birds and the bees of privatisation.

Christopher Luxon wants ‘a more mature conversation’ about selling public assets. Big daddy Spinoff is here to explain the birds and the bees of privatisation.

thespinoff.co.nz/politics/21-...

To save the CBD, stop calling it the CBD To succeed in a post-Covid world, city centres need to be more than 'central business districts'.

To save the CBD, stop calling it the CBD.

To succeed in a post-Covid world, city centres need to be more than ‘central business districts’.

thespinoff.co.nz/business/18-...

It's up for review but he's never been supportive of it, so I'm not hopeful.

"Make bold plans, small plans have no power to fire the imagination" - Sir Dove-Myer Robinson.

Some cities are actively pursuing growth. Others are stuck in a state of managed decline, merely cutting costs for loud existing homeowners while doing nothing to build for the future.

I'm increasingly worried that Wellington is irrevocably stuck in the second category.

The conservative minority on Wellington City Council never had the votes to kill the Golden Mile, so instead they played for time, demanding more reviews and consultation to delay it until a conservative won the mayoralty. Andrew Little has played right into their hands.

Wellington's failure to build an obviously needed upgrade to its dilapidated main streets is a damning and demonstrative example of a capital city self-immolating through incompetence and political cowardice.

My perspective is that homelessness is the greatest moral and economic failure of our time and that no government has done anywhere near enough to treat the issue with the seriousness it deserves. Is that what you have an issue with?

That's why I write about policy, because I'm interested in how we can solve it. I'm not interested in language policing. The left has wasted a lot of time inventing new ways to talk kindly about homelessness while doing little to actually address it. I simply don't see the point of that.

Most importantly, I like the metaphor because it emphasizes that homelessness is *curable*. It's not a problem that we just have to live with. We can address the symptoms and the underlying causes In New Zealand, it is an absolutely solvable problem.

It also emphasizes that homelessness is not a moral failing or a lifestyle choice. It is something that afflicts people due to circumstances outside of their control.

And yes, as I mention in this piece, homelessness affects the wider economy not just the individual.

I got this idea when I spoke with Dr Sam Tsemberis, who developed the Housing First model. He referred to homelessness as "a disease of prosperity" – because it is worse in Tier 1 cities with expensive housing markets.

I've written extensively about homelessness policy on New Zealand and have repeatedly used the metaphor of disease and cure.

I think it's accurate: homelessness can affect anyone, it takes a toll on mental and physical health, and it gets worse the longer it is left untreated.

The government’s homelessness ‘ban’ may not be as ridiculous as it sounds The only cure for homelessness is homes, but responsible policing plays an important role in manage the symptoms.

The government’s homelessness ‘ban’ may not be as ridiculous as it sounds.

The only cure for homelessness is homes, but responsible policing plays an important role in managing the symptoms.

thespinoff.co.nz/politics/12-...

A long but interesting and engaging read, with a focus on solutions.

Long read from Joel MacManus visiting Vancouver,

Inside the Canadian apartments redefining indigenous housing

- 6,000 apartment complex built on First Nations land, without needing city council permission
- Further in the article, Joel writes of the parallel in #NZ

Inside the Canadian apartments redefining indigenous housing Joel MacManus visits Vancouver, where a First Nation is building a massive complex of apartment towers on its reserve land, with no city council approval required. Could this be the future of iwi-led ...

I went to Vancouver to visit Sen̓áḵw, one of the most impressive housing developments in the world. Squamish Nation is building 6000 apartments on its reserve land with no city council permission required. Could this be the future of iwi-led housing in Aotearoa?

thespinoff.co.nz/atea/03-11-2...

Inside the Canadian apartments redefining indigenous housing Joel MacManus visits Vancouver, where a First Nation is building a massive complex of apartment towers on its reserve land, with no city council approval required. Could this be the future of iwi-led ...

Canadian apartments redefining indigenous housing

Joel MacManus in Vancouver, where a First Nation is building a massive complex of apartment towers on its reserve land, no city council permission required. Could this be the future of iwi-led housing in Aotearoa? thespinoff.co.nz/atea/03-11-2...

It's unlikely to even be debated. There are 74 bills in the tin at the moment. The odds of the fireworks bill being drawn before the next election are low.

I am! I was a huge fan for years, long before I worked here.