I can hear the outcry from the suburbs already. Why are we, the ratepayers, bailing out Our Place? The usual chorus of naysayers, kill joys and cave dwellers. The same squeaky wheels that killed the idea of the fifth biggest city in the country having a museum.

The same ones that will tell us we don't need a multi-purposes sports stadium, the same ones that refuse to pay another cent of rates towards growing this city, the same ones that refuse to leave any sort of civic legacy for their kids.

This week I took an international visitor to Our Place where we gorged on some of the best dumplings I've eaten and cleansed the palate with one of the finest IPAs available in town. One didn't cut it so we had two, and a couple of Japanese skewers, and we listened to the chatter around, yakked with complete strangers, laughed, listened to some music, took in some sun and bought some memento jewellery. A great outing amongst the containers, the same kind that tower over our wharves and skyline, the same one's that feed our economy.

There's a delightful symmetry going on here. If I was on the city council I would be asking Our Place how much they need and I would give it to them. The most exciting thing to happen downtown since Bottomley Spots et al.

I Goldsmith, Otumoetai.