I blame both social and mainstream media - which drive engagement by painting bleak pictures of just about everything. I
I visit Melb CBD often (from overseas) and honestly find it busy, and vibrant and hardly what I'd call a grotty dump, and very different to the reports and claims on social and MSM. Earlier this year, happy to walk around there at 10pm (on a Friday night) with my 13yo nephew and zero concerns.
I think we have rose tinted glasses view of the past. When I was at Melbourne Uni in the late 80s/early 90s, the CBD was (generally) a no better place to be (if not much worse) than it is today. There were still plenty of homeless and/or druggies around then, there was a lot of violence on King St, there was often tension with the police, loads of demonstrations and the place was pretty dead after dark other than around the Russell St/Bourke St corner and the top end of Collins St. Walking along Bourke St from Spencer St station to Elizabeth St to catch the tram back to campus on a Sunday evening - the place was deserted and a ghost town.
Probably the one area where it a dump compared to what it used to be is that Russell St/Bourke St area - which was insanely busy with Hoyts, Greater Union and Village, all which have been long gone. But the rest of the CBD? Different place altogether.
