Victoria Park Market — Attraction in Waitematā

This market used to be a really fun place. There were many venders and lots of interesting things to buy and look at. There used to be food venders that had some pretty great stuff. It was a bustling exciting place that attracted locals and tourists alike. Somewhere along the line some developer decided to make this an "upscale" boutique like market. The day we were there most recently, we were probably the only two customers in the entire market! I spoke at length to a woman who had a store there and she confirmed that the place is dead. The owners have spent a great deal of money to try and make the place "higher class", only to have it backfire spectacularly! There's an old saying, "if it's not broke, don't fix it'. This really holds true for Victoria Park Market. What was once a busy thriving place is now a...

I went there for a walk and then felt the natural call but couldn’t find the toilet. I asked the lady of the manicure shop and got a harsh l-don’t-know. I had to go to the gentleman in the music store for help. I managed to find the toilet hid in the dark corner yet needed the code to unlock the door. I went back to the music store and the gentleman kindly called the market manager for the code. When I fumbled at the keyboard on the toilet door (I am a senior citizen who happened to forget her glasses), the lady of the manicure shop appeared. She simply pushed me aside and hit the codes impatiently. Yeah, I might have a decent treatment if I had spent some decent money at a shop there. Securely coded locked public toilets? Shame on you, Victoria Park Market...

Visited Auckland and the market after many years and was quite disappointed. I went on a Sunday morning expecting a Sunday market kind of vibe but 90% of stores were shut. It used to have a humming market vibe back in the day but now it just seems like an array of corporate and chain shops with no connected marketplace vibe. Get some stalls - craft, food, and other; News stands (anyone else remember reading all the comics as a kid at the magazine shop?), encourage buskers and musicians, maybe a few heritage items or motifs. It used to be a great place to spend a morning but now it feels sterile and dead and probably had better days when it was a rubbish dump. Good microcosmic example of Auckland...