What cheeses me off

[dajop]

I never thought I would ever warn people about visiting Australia but Melb CBD is such a grotty dump now. Wonderful arts and culture but not the most liveable. Where does this behavior stem from?

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.

 

[MARTINE]

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.

YMMV
I lived there in the inner city for 40+ years and - you are right - I should have articulated that I have noted the change living there continuously until I left. We can agree to disagree about whether the homeless/druggies and fights in King St are no different to now. When I was at uni 70’s/80’s we went to King St all the time as the current ‘gentleman's clubs’ were actually places to listen to Music and dance (Inflation/The Underground)
I never knew anyone who had a home invasion either.