North Dunedin resident Nigel Chang, who was making the most of the sunny weather yesterday by taking his dog George for a run around the North Ground, said he had nothing against students, but enjoyed all the open space when they were gone.
It was much quieter at this time of year and it made it easier for him to find an empty park.
"It’s better when there is less people, I reckon, especially as far as walking the dog goes.
"The less people, the easier it is for me to walk him because when he runs up to say hello, people get scared.
"But he’s only running up to say hello."
Mr Booth said the area used to be a "burglar’s paradise" until Campus Watch started patrolling it and put up security cameras.
It was not as quiet as it used to be because of summer school bringing the university students back earlier, he said.
University students Mae Gilmour and Izzy Parsons-Dyhrberg have had to stay in Dunedin over the summer to work on their postgraduate degrees.
Ms Gilmour said although it was a lot quieter, it was also a lot less "feral" with the majority of the students gone.
"We park on Castle St because all the parks are free and it’s nice not to walk home over broken glass and rubbish," she said.
However, they would still prefer living somewhere warmer if they could, they said.
"It’s too cold still.
"Summer is much nicer in the North Island.
"It was really hard to come back down after Christmas," Ms Gilmour said.
