Most hands went up in a class at Nelson College, when students were asked if they thought Nelson CBD needed to change.
“It’s really boring, there’s no point going there”, one of the year 10 students said.
Most of the activities on offer – mainly shopping and eating – required money, so didn’t last long, others in the social sciences class of 14 and 15-year-olds said.
Shops lacked variety, with restaurants the only place for them to go at night, when the CBD was “dead”, some said.
The town needed things that were “free and fun” to do, one student suggested.
A food court and more markets, or night markets would also draw people in, along with more public spaces, others said.
Lime e-bikes and e-scooters could make the city more inviting, as well as wider footpaths and biking corridors, some said.
More “green environments” around shops and cafés would encourage people to stay there – hanging flower baskets on their own weren’t enough, one said.
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Nelson College students tour Nelson’s CBD, highlighting ways they think it could be improved to help bring in more young people.
Asked if central Nelson offered enough to make them want to live here in their 20s, many weren’t sure.
Arturo Neale was among those who doubted it.
He wanted to live in a big city, and cities overseas were more comfortable, cheaper and fun to live in, he said.
Teacher Richard Brudvik-Lindner said the teenagers’ comments reflected the general disaffection with the CBD he had heard from students over the last eight years, when he started teaching them about the evolution of cities.
“It’s just really obvious that there’s nothing intentionally created for them, or very little,” he said.
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Nelson College student Arturo Neale says he can’t see himself living in Nelson in his 20s.
Two years ago, Brudvik-Lindner started a course in which year 10 students re-imagined the city centre.
Ideas last year included pedestrianising the main street (Trafalgar St), introducing colourful road crossings and interactive places, for people to play music, games, exercise and create art.
Most of the students stood by their ideas, as a way to help liven up a CBD some described as bland.
Pedestrianising Upper Trafalgar St had revitalised that area, now a central point for people to gather, often with music and “a good vibe”.
While closing the entire length of Trafalgar St to cars might not be immediately achievable, Upper Trafalgar St was a model that could be extended to the next block down, Nikau Adams said.
“And if we keep seeing an increased frequency of people, I think it will be wise to replicate that again and again.”
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Nelson College students in Nelson’s CBD for discussion about what’s wrong with the CBD, and ideas for fixing it. From left, Bruno Page, Alex Taylor, Ryan Thelin, Tyler Hutchinson, Fynn Roberts, Finn Bryant, James Matthews, Nikau Adams, Jay Brixton.
Others liked the idea of wider footpaths on Trafalgar St to allow for things like seating and food carts, even though it would mean reducing car parking spaces.
While some businesses feared removing parking spaces would reduce access for customers, research overseas showed an increase in foot-traffic sales when sidewalks were widened, they said.
Introducing a multi-storey car park could minimise the amount of car parks needed in the CBD, allowing for more public spaces, and areas where people could walk and bike, one student suggested.
A main complaint among the 15 and 16-year-olds was a lack of places where they could socialise.
Nelson CBD catered mainly for older people, being a place where they could walk around and shop, Fynn Roberts said.
“Everyone wants to come into Nelson, and then they get here, and they don’t really know what to do,” Tyler Hutchinson said.
“At the moment, it’s shops or Timezone or the movies … not places that you can go, just sit down and hang out, play some boards games,” Ryan Thelin said.
Such places could be trialled as “pop ups” around the city, like the youth pop up park next to the library, he said.
There were several empty spaces in the city that could be turned into youth spaces, Hutchinson and Bruno Page said.
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Nelson College students Bruno Page, left, and Tyler Hutchinson say empty spaces like this one between Bridge St and Wakatu Square Carpark in Nelson CBD, could be developed as an area for young people, to help attract youth into the city centre.
An unused alleyway near Trafalgar St, between Bridge St and Wakatu Square Carpark, could become a small basketball court, or have seating and artwork, they suggested.
Having a collection of smaller activities would help keep young people in town, Hutchinson said.
If not a basketball court, painting footpaths and crossings were “small things that can easily be done without any negative consequence,” to brighten up the city, Page said.
Alex Taylor and James Matthews were among students who created a case for colourful crosswalks last year – with the students presenting their projects to civic and business leaders.
“You could say that we were a bit disappointed that they just didn’t take it and go with it,” Taylor said.
A town he and Matthews visited in North Carolina in America had colourful crossings, making the town feel vibrant and increasing safety, he said.