There’s been a sea change in Christchurch’s central city, not just the buildings popping up and the gravel car parks disappearing: It has become a mosaic of little neighbourhoods, each with its own personality.
The retail district is the heart walking streets and mixed-use zones have spread out from Cashel Street, filled with stores ranging from hyperlocal boutiques to high-end international brands, with spots of activity gathered around live musicians, street food and artists.
Across the river an arts and heritage district is fully fledged. Its staples are the Arts Centre and the redeveloped Canterbury Museum, but its crowning glory is a brand new high-rise in Cambridge Terrace - a development that houses contemporary international art and projects 3D installations onto the footpath.
The Victoria district has become an inner-city extension of exclusive suburbs, Fendalton and Merivale, where flashy homes and luxury accommodation are a stone’s throw from fine dining and highend boutique retail stores.
Diametrically opposite, the SALT district’s High Street offers a grittier alternative. Some of the city’s most legendary bars and cafes have established themselves here, along with uber-cool retail offerings that
