Perth, where I live, has a superb climate. Everyone who lives here knows it. To my mind, April is the most magnificent month of the year and this year, April weather has extended into May. Ridiculous amounts of mild/warm weather and blue skies.

It’s commonly held in marketing circles that the WA Tourism Association is not the sharpest axe on the block. If I were them, I would be talking up the climate of the place and encouraging the reporting of cloud statistics, which reflect well on our fair city. To help them out, I’ve constructed a prototype here (generous, I know). Cloud cover is normally measured in okta. Zero means cloudless, one means a trace of cloud, two means a clear day, six means a cloudy day and eight means complete cloud cover. I’ve constructed the Complementary Okta Scale which allows you to measure blue sky. 8/8 = solid blue sky. 0/8 = no blue sky. So here are the last 39 days:

The stats across the 39 days average out to a number that the Bureau of Meteorology define as a “clear” day. There were 4 days that individually would fit the category of a “cloudy” day. Not hard to cope with, since these days were all 25 degree-ish. You could always stay indoors.

To pick a completely random basis for comparison, here is the Melbourne data over the same period:

Here’s the Perth maximum temp over the last 38 days; maxima overwhelmingly between 25 and 30 degrees Celcius (77 and 86 Fahrenheit).

Minimum temps: between 10 and 16 degrees (50 and 59 Fahrenheit)

Wind averages 10.5 kph (6.5 mph). I think the official classification is ‘pleasant’. And relative humidity averages 46%, officially, ‘very bloody pleasant’. Okay, maybe not official.

Rain – only 5mm on the 14th April. We all took the day off.

It’s an entertainment precinct which is down on its luck. The most visible sign of that is, um, the signage. Barricaded shopfronts, peeling paint, old decaying signs. Not to say there aren’t some well-presented businesses; the Dome, Oliver’s Restaurant, The Elephant & Wheelbarrow, the Brass Monkey all have attractive street presentation. Yet well-established businesses like Kakulas Bros, the Greek Taverna, Nandos, Cinema Paradiso, The Re Store and Tony Barlow, have faded signs, missing letters and facades that signal neglect and indifference. To me, those businesses degrade the precinct; they have the capacity to lead and they don’t.

Without a strong commercial interest group or re-development authority there is only local government to rely on and the City of Perth probably have other planning priorities. Left to its own devices it will continue its slow decline as the City of Perth foreshore develops and the western suburbs snare all the stylish restauranteurs.

If you had a brief to market the area you would need the authority to compel businesses to conform to presentation standards. This would include making signage fit its surrounds. Ageing brick buildings can accommodate painted signage, but big tin signs just look crap.

From presentation standards you would progress to coherence and then ambience, events and promotion. Let me just deal with coherence. I’d create 4 destinations. The Backpacker’s Quarter, The Mediterranean Quarter, The Asian Quarter and the Arts Quarter (which would include fashion).

Now you have four identities you can build on, each in a defined area, each of which can be separately marketed. You’d theme each quarter; street furniture, signage, art and walk trails.

Yes, it’s possible. Yes, the government would need to spend some money. But without an intention to create a focus, the slow decline will continue.