Hmm, it seems like it was perhaps not engineered for large numbers of pedestrians, but it still seems like the article is a bit hyperbolic (that said, I’m an Australian and don’t know the area, and am going off things like Google Street View and maps).
It looks like there is a road, “Patterson Plank Road”, that actually has a footpath, and has a speed limit of 40 (presumably miles per hour, so 64 kph - about the same speed as most arterial roads in Australian suburbs), and connects to the local area. Then there is a “Rd A Plaza” that seems to go around the outside of the complex, that has a footpath for most of the way, up until there are vehicle barriers. From that point, there is a wide grass verge that looks relatively well drained, and runs all the way to the start of the car park (which presumably has to be walkable to the actual entrance). It would take crossing a 4 lane road that seems to mainly serve the stadium, and isn’t well engineered for pedestrians (no pedestrian refuge islands or anything) - but people do that all the time in Australia and areas are still considered walkable.
Now if the intent is to make it harder to access on foot specifically so they can increase profits (create a problem for people and then sell them the solution), then it is possible they’ll throw up more obstacles. I think Americans might be much more tolerant of what is called ‘drip pricing’ in Australia (and is illegal), where a low initial price is presented, but then lots of additional unavoidable expenses are presented (see also, some American retailers apparently exclude taxes from pricing, many Amercian hospitality providers underpay waitstaff and then demand that customers pay a ‘tip’ or ‘service fee’ that wasn’t reflected in the menu price, and so on). In Australia, the law that is for sales to consumers, the total price has to be displayed up front at least as prominently as any other price - so unavoidable additional charges from the same (or a related) company wouldn’t fly.
Hmm, it seems like it was perhaps not engineered for large numbers of pedestrians, but it still seems like the article is a bit hyperbolic (that said, I’m an Australian and don’t know the area, and am going off things like Google Street View and maps).
It looks like there is a road, “Patterson Plank Road”, that actually has a footpath, and has a speed limit of 40 (presumably miles per hour, so 64 kph - about the same speed as most arterial roads in Australian suburbs), and connects to the local area. Then there is a “Rd A Plaza” that seems to go around the outside of the complex, that has a footpath for most of the way, up until there are vehicle barriers. From that point, there is a wide grass verge that looks relatively well drained, and runs all the way to the start of the car park (which presumably has to be walkable to the actual entrance). It would take crossing a 4 lane road that seems to mainly serve the stadium, and isn’t well engineered for pedestrians (no pedestrian refuge islands or anything) - but people do that all the time in Australia and areas are still considered walkable.
Now if the intent is to make it harder to access on foot specifically so they can increase profits (create a problem for people and then sell them the solution), then it is possible they’ll throw up more obstacles. I think Americans might be much more tolerant of what is called ‘drip pricing’ in Australia (and is illegal), where a low initial price is presented, but then lots of additional unavoidable expenses are presented (see also, some American retailers apparently exclude taxes from pricing, many Amercian hospitality providers underpay waitstaff and then demand that customers pay a ‘tip’ or ‘service fee’ that wasn’t reflected in the menu price, and so on). In Australia, the law that is for sales to consumers, the total price has to be displayed up front at least as prominently as any other price - so unavoidable additional charges from the same (or a related) company wouldn’t fly.