There are many things to be grateful for when it comes to our location and how fortunate we are to be here.
Unfortunately, isolation and providence does not automatically mean we are in paradise, as much as it might appear that way to less lucky people living in communities and countries overseas which are crowded, stricken with poverty or torn apart by violence.
It is embarrassing, shaming in fact, to think Dunedin, our small and hospitable city, has a nasty streak.
It is even more mortifying to write the phrase that it has mean streets.
Like anywhere with people, though, the antisocial, selfish and ignorant minority spoil things for the vast majority of residents going about their daily lives.
It does not seem to matter how few people might live in a place, there’s still a percentage of hard-core unpleasantness.
Dunedin folk pride themselves on their great city. It is an ideal size, relaxed and accessible, with a beautiful physical and built environment, has a strong arts and sporting culture, lots of restaurants, bars and cafes, and has good schools and the country’s oldest university.
While 135,000 people is still a lot, the city manages to retain its sense of intimacy.
You would be hard-pressed to visit the centre of town and not bump into someone you know or at least see somebody you recognise.
That shared sense of belonging to somewhere special and worth looking after was clear for all the country to see recently when an estimated 35,000 people joined forces to protest about the government’s proposed cuts to the new Dunedin hospital.
Yet, just a few weeks on, here we are with headlines about a malevolent underbelly making residents, especially young people, feel unsafe walking the streets of their own city.
We’ve all known for some time that the Moray Pl bus hub is not a particularly salubrious part of the central city to be hanging about in. That is despite the amount of foot traffic at any time through the area, security patrols (now to be fitted with body cameras), and the neighbouring Dunedin police station.
People have reported ongoing threats and intimidation against others waiting for buses, with alcohol being consumed, knives being brandished and drug deals taking place.
The nadir came with the fatal stabbing of 16-year-old Trinity Catholic College student Enere McClaren-Taana on May 23 in the bus hub.
A survey of 1300 Dunedin secondary students has now revealed 45% of respondents say they do not feel safe in the central city.
This is even worse for schoolgirls, 55% of whom feel unsafe there.
The survey also highlighted an extremely concerning situation in which teenage girls report being sexually assaulted or harassed while in the bus hub or around the inner city.
Dunedin Student Council president Rohan O’Shea, who carried out the survey with Trinity principal Kate Nicholson, told the ODT some of the personal written testimonies were "enough to bring you to tears".
The abuse ranged from cat-calling to significant intimidation and threatened assault.
What a dreadful state of affairs to have going on in the middle of our place. Perhaps the new security arrangements with First Security will make a difference.
It is a shame that the Otago Regional Council says staffing levels and hours will not change with the new provider.
The police say they will take seriously any reports of harassment or sexual intimidation.
It is pleasing that officers are now a more visible presence, with regular patrols in the bus hub, along George St and throughout the inner city.
The Moray Pl bus hub is hardly Brooklyn or the South Bronx. It’s not even Queen St, Auckland, early on a Saturday morning.
It should never have become this bad. This is a dark and deepening stain on Dunedin’s reputation as a safe and friendly city.
Things must change, and quickly.
