Well Nelson is not in the top 10 for growth since 1926 -
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/ar...ectid=11472908 - but it seems to have been growing consistently in recent years - see eg figure 5 on page 18 of this link -
http://motu-www.motu.org.nz/wpapers/13_07.pdf
My guess is Nelson remains slightly isolated and wages are less than some other cities; personally I think it has a really lovely hinterland and Nelson gets good sun for NZ but as a city I think it is just good not great - doubtless some from Nelson will disagree!