How Pokemon Go nearly destroyed a quiet suburb
After the release of Pokemon Go, an Australian suburb experienced a sudden influx of players.
It was 9 on a Wednesday night and dense crowds of people had gathered in a public park. The low rumble of casual conversation could be heard throughout, punctuated every 10 minutes with a loud, excited cry of "Oh my god!"
It was not a festival. There was no special event happening. Hundreds of people had flocked to an otherwise ordinary park for the sole purpose of playing Pokemon Go. Named Peg Paterson Park, the area is located in a suburb named Rhodes, situated 30 minutes away from Sydney's central business district.
Described by its residents as a normally a quiet suburb primarily populated by families with young children, Rhodes saw an upsurge in visitors in the last few weeks thanks to Pokemon Go. And although the influx has since been stemmed with the removal of three PokeStops, the area is still recovering from the impact of the game.
Many players flocked to the area following reports that Peg Paterson Park was a hotspot of rare Pokemon--partly due to the three overlapping PokeStops which frequently had lures activated, creating an area nicknamed by players the "Safari Zone." Hundreds of people regularly turned up at the park despite the cold weather; Sydney is in the midst of winter, with reports that the city is being hit with near-record levels of cold spells.
GameSpot quizzed players in the park, with some claiming to have travelled more than 20 kilometres (12.5 miles) via public transport to scope out the area, drawn by the rumours of rare Pokemon in the area. The reputation of Rhodes as a Pokemon Go hub spread throughout Sydney via social media and mainstream news channels, which triggered an influx of new players.
"I've had times when people yell and run across the street because there was a Gyrados there. At 2 a.m., people were yelling near my balcony for no reason... they don't care what time of night it is, they just do it," John described to GameSpot. Following complaints about noise and an increased amount of litter, the local council installed signs asking visitors to refrain from being too loud, and placed additional garbage bins around the area. The signage also asked the park's attendees to restrict use of play equipment to children, and to refrain from smoking too close to the playground.
Due to the increased traffic, a fire truck had difficulties reaching an apartment where a fire was occurring one day and some motorcyclists had taken to riding on footpaths to get around the congestions. Police officers were brought in on some evenings to help control the surge in traffic. Last weekend, the council shut down entry to a particular street to help ease congestion. The increased numbers of cars has also meant less parking, with residents reporting incidents ranging from parked cars obstructing driveways to non-residents illegally entering private carparks.
"The driveway entry to my apartment complex [was] partially blocked on a daily basis, especially in the evenings... cars will often illegally park in the half-space of 'no parking' on either side of the driveway, resulting in their tail or front end obstructing cars entering and leaving the complex. So when you're exiting the driveway, not only is visibility up and down the road almost non-existent, but one must cross into the opposing lane while turning in order to avoid the illegally parked car," Tom described.
Locals have also reported break-ins to private car parks, with Pokemon Go players allegedly parking in spots reserved for residents and/or disabled parking spots. The local council reported issuing over 250 fines to enforce parking violations.
"We have written a submission to Niantic asking for the removal of two of the three PokeStops in Peg Paterson Park, Rhodes as we consider the volume of both traffic and pedestrians to be potentially dangerous," the local council's general manager Gary Sawyer stated in a press release.
Tom described the sudden change as "strange, even a little surreal."