POLL: What would you do if Durban City was regenerated?

Durban City holds some of my best memories. In fact, it is a love affair. 

It all started at an early age, around 6. My grandmother lived on the Victoria Embankment, and I would often visit her. Her flat was on the first floor of a 3 storey building. I loved visiting her. We spent our days playing gin rummy, and when we wanted to get out we would take a walk to the City Hall to feed the pigeons. 

She also owned a full collection of Punch annuals- and I grew up reading them, and devouring their satirical cartoons. 

More than this, I was free to explore the grounds. It was my first steps in engaging with the city. Years later, when I was about 9, she moved to a flat at the end of West Street. This flat has no grounds to explore, so the streets became my new range. 

I would walk to the beach, swim, walk back. Head off to the arcade, play games. I would saunter off to the public library and do my projects. I would roam aimlessly, often drifting down dodgy back alleys. 

As I grew older, the City became my happy place:

•  Galleries- where we cultivated our love of art, but where we first went because we heard they had snacks and free wine; 
  
• Bookshops- where I purchased my first banned books, 
  
• Bars- where we go to watch alternative SA bands and where I was arrested for being underage by the security police; 
  
• Record Shops- where I was exposed to some of the wildest music ever; 
  
• Clubs- that defined the underground and progressive music scene in Durban and for a while, South Africa. 

I ate my first Bunny Chow on the streets, loved going to Grey Street, and hanging out at the Natural History Museum. I would spend hours at the train station- the very train station that my friends and I would start catching trains to Johannesburg each year to buy records and books in Hillbrow, and to party at some the best alternative and rock clubs in South Africa. 

Each chance encounter defining me. I miss My City.

So would I move back. eThekwini are embarking on an ambitious regeneration program. I want to know if you would ever consider returning.