A local mayor described it as a "varicose vein". A NSW Business Chamber Executive Patricia Forsythe said that the road is "one of the least attractive commercial areas of Sydney". Former NSW premier Nick Greiner thought the road looked "like Beirut on a bad day". The "Sydney Morning Herald" writer Elizabeth Farrelly described it as "filthy, noisy, sclerotic and dull". On a lighter note, Tess De Quincey, an Australian performer/director said, "Every chapter of Sydney's history has been written on Parramatta Road." A Sydney Morning Herald editor said that whilst the road is "ugly in parts, drab in others, and generally unpleasant", it is still "fundamental to the economic and social viability of the greater city".