as a slum (or 'decadent area' as they were termed in the 1930s by the city council) newton was seen as an area of biological and moral contamination. the routing of the motorway system through the gully in the 1960s was seen as ideal; people would relocate to new areas to live healthier lives and auckland's traffic problems would be alleviated. it wasn't foreseen that the motorways would have a devastating effect on retail trade; the symonds street shopping area was badly hit. previously the main centre for furniture shopping for the auckland region, (tylers, grace brothers, the maple, smith & brown, and jon jensen) the symonds street retail trade went into a serious decline and virtually disappeared as a retail hub; its business association collapsed in 1976 and has only recently (2012) been revived.