Welcome to Sunday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
It has been an interesting week for Ballarat, full of ups and downs.
The disappointment at the federal budget and the fact a host of key capital-works projects were passed over, does not inspire much confidence that this will be a national election where Ballarat will gain much attention.
The arguments for some of these projects, whether they be the last part of the restoration of a CBD icon, Her Majesty's, the development of the airport or the vital rail upgrades, were all strong, so the frustration is palpable.
At the same time Ballarat business seems to be getting on with the job, adapting and innovating to a changing world and a growing city.
If the closure of another bank branch, this time in the Bridge Mall, is symptomatic of the new ways banking is done by the majority, it does not necessarily bode a another body blow for CBD trading.
By contrast to this pessimism ( and the invariable lament around parking and urban fringe shopping centres) there are businesses who with their own approach are injecting a new kind of life into Ballarat.
Take for instance the new homewares store on Armstrong and Sturt Streets. The large scale investment into the corner block indicates a confidence that bricks and mortar retail, with some creative thinking, can offer an experience that online sales cannot match.
The bookstore which vacated the same space last year showed the same thinking; what once had the feel of a bargain book depot, now relocated to Lydiard street has the feel of a fine London bookstore.
There are many such examples of adaptability and innovation in the face of a world of so called 'disruptors' .
We may have seen a dozen traditional corner stores vanish in the last five years but the proliferation of quality cafes on urban streets highlights a consumer appetite for something more than just good coffee and a business acumen to jump at the market opportunity.
All in all, it shows again that often at a basic or High Street level, there is a talent for change as Ballarat changes.