I thought it might be time for a love letter to Wellington.

I lived there for nearly 3 years in the 90s when I was working in the old Broadcasting House in the shadow of the Beehive.

I first lived in Petone taking the train to work down the side of the harbour. Coming from trainless Auckland this was very exotic and European. Except in Europe, you would watch dolphins frolicking in a harbour from a train.

Then I moved into a little apartment in Hill Street, cheek by jowl with MPs separated from the families during the week. It was the first time in an apartment. Again very exotic and European.

From there a house in Thorndon and then a 2 bedroom apartment in Mt Victoria. From both places, I rode a bicycle to work. Why? Well because I could. It was flat and safe and of course, I was saving money.

I say all this because a new study by the University of Otago has found if other cities adopted a more sustainable transport system like the capital's, their residents would be in better health and get more physical exercise.

Lead author, Dr Caroline Shaw says Wellingtonians use more public transport, walk and cycle to get around and other cities have no excuses for not adopting similar systems. After all Hamilton, Christchurch and Tauranga are flat enough. I’m always amazed that more systems like Wellington haven’t popped up elsewhere.

But good on Wellington for historically investing in this stuff. You can say that again. The Hutt Valley line was built in the 1870s. The Johnsonville Line in the 1880s. The Johnsonville line is a work of art considering the hills. My partner, Helen, grew up with trains and the Johnsonville Line because she grew up on Simla Crescent.

In the 90s, she moved back to Wellington to live with me and continue her studies at Victoria University. Again to save money she walked up the hill every day. She always says her bottom was never perter than her days at Vic.

Which brings me on to the hare-brained scheme to drop Victoria from the name of the university.

They want it known as the University of Wellington. That’s because there are at least 5 other Victoria Universities in the world. One in Victoria, Canada and one in the state of Victoria in Australia. The uni reckons that students and consumers of their research gets confused about where it comes from. Well, as the columnist Dave Armstrong has already pointed out, they can’t be very bright if they can’t figure this out.

What’s ridiculous is the university’s name is already Victoria University of Wellington. But to drop the Victoria after 120 years of branding is a ridiculous idea dreamt up by some marketing graduate, who probably got their jumped up degree from another university.

To drop Victoria is a sleight to every graduate, and part of a race to the bottom that in my book will adversely affect the reputation of the university. They run the risk of becoming perceived as a new university. One without 120 years of excellence. How can smart people be so dumb?