When I first moved to Australia my in-laws here stated I should look in Springfield for a place to live. I had the opportunity to visit Orion Springfield Central before deciding on a location to move my family and it was quite the place. Modern urban shopping mall with open-air chain stores, coffee shops, a large cinema, and pub.

I quite enjoyed spending a day there. I loved the vibrancy and luxury. It was a lively place, with crowds of people, from the well-dressed couple out on a date, to the family with children running around in the central plaza’s fountain. It’s hard not to have a good time there.

When every place looks the same, there is no such thing as place anymore. – J.H. Kunstler

But I decided against Springfield, the main factor being their complete lack of walkability.

It is clear from their marketing materials that they don’t expect their walkable town centre to be walked to — it’s a place you walk once you get there by car. I mean, I suppose you could walk there if you lived close by, but I don’t think even the most ardent walking advocate would recommend it. As you draw back and take a birds-eye view of this diorama of urban bliss you see that it’s encircled by not but bitumen; “over 3,000 carparks“.

And while Mirvac markets Orion Springfield as a Town Centre, for this type of development being central to any town is only coincidental. The only geographic considerations that were taken into account was the sites proximity to two major exits from the Centenary Highway.

Unlike the traditional town centre which was developed over decades, Springfield’s Town Centre developed over months. While our traditional town centre developed with the works of many different hands, Springfield’s Town Centre was developed by one. While our traditional town centre is parceled into lots between two hundred and two thousand square metres, Springfield’s Town Centre is one parcel of over 26 hectares.

These differences are not subtle, and are not insignificant. These colossal parcels require colossal infrastructure, and it shows in the infrastructure requirements of Springfield. Already we are seeing calls for widening roads and highways in and around the area, and it was just announced by the Labour government their plan to add an additional 650 parking stalls at the Springfield Central train station (at a price tag of $44 Million, or $67,000 per parking stall).

I am glad I didn’t listen to my in-laws, and decided on an older house in one of the older suburbs of Ipswich.