sofistek

I haven't often read much about Hamilton on this forum. Does anyone know of good and bad areas to live around there, within 30-40 Km?

Roger

Hamilton doesn't look like the most enthralling city in New Zealand however it has an International Airport and is not toooo far from beaches. However Cambridge isn't far, has nice scenery, a pleasant river and a good place to rear kids - I am told.
Roger

Gill and Rob

It is also the home of the Waikato Rabbit Club. They hold their shows in Rukuhia Hall, next show Feburary and Rob and I will be doing the teas and coffees.......well it keeps the kids happy !!!!

Gill

Phil & Karen

I'll back up the post about Cambridge. We were there last month and it is a really pleasant place. I asked in the real estate office about 'bad areas' and he said there weren't any. Obviously some were more desirable than others due to age, size etc but he said there weren't any areas that he would recommend people not to live in. We found a lovely school just out of town called St Peters, had a look around for our daughter and we were all well impressed. Although it is a private school the fees are less for the year than for one term here in the UK! Its only about 22 kms from Hamilton and 10kms from the airport.

sofistek

Thanks for that, Phil and Karen. Cambridge sounds like an ideal place, in some respects. I drove through it twice and it looks a nice place. It's also an art and crafts centre which is good for my daughter and wife. It's certainly a place we'll consider (if I end up working in Hamilton).

Does anyone know if there are colleges in the Hamilton/Cambridge area that do art courses? I think I spotted an art college in Hamilton but couldn't find any details.

Hamilton itself is in a flat area. Though it's not far from more undulating and hilly parts, are there some more geographically interesting areas to live?

Ngaruawahia (how is that pronounced?) is located near the Hakarimata Range. I read that it's also the Maori capital of New Zealand. Would that be a good place to live?

jandjuk

I lived in Hamilton for about 8 years... I loved it.

Personally I wouldn't live in Cambridge or Ngaruawahia...

Cambridge - absolutely nothing wrong with it but it is small and I like having at least a modicum of cinemas, restaurants, and shopping, which Hamilton has. Cambridge is not far away though - and is certainly a nice middle class type place to live. It's a horsey industry kind of place...

Ngaruawahia is near some ranges - but then Hamilton is not that far away anyway. Ngaruawahia is "roller door" country - ie the shops have roller doors on them to protect from break ins. Pronounced 'na-ra-wa-he-a'.

In Hamilton, some of the nicest areas are in the north, eg Pukete, Flagstaff, Chartwell - some nice new subdivisions, and it's where the city is expanding. Also Hillcrest near the university is quite nice. Most of Hamilton east is mixture of students and academics, though there are a few rough streets. Most parts of Hamilton are fine - though there a few dodgy areas here and there.

Compared with UK cities, it has limited shopping etc, but then so do most NZ cities. For NZ, it is relatively flat, but it is very easy to get out of town on the weekend, and head to Raglan, Tauranga, Taupo, Auckland, or Ruapehu for skiing.

Historically Hamilton has a bad rep as 'boring', but I wouldn't hesitate to live there again. It's a very 'easy' place to live in - big enough to have the amenities you need, small enough to not have traffic/housing problems. Plus you have Auckland not far away.

Also they're gradually building a proper dual carriage way from Auck to Hamilton, which will increase property values, and bring Auck closer still.

You do have to remember NZ cities are SMALL by UK standards. So if you are used to big city UK life, you want to continue anything like a version of that lifestyle, I wouldn't go anywhere but Auck, Wgtn, or ChCh.

There's Waikato Polytechnic which has arts courses.... Waikato University do a few too

sofistek

Thanks, jandjuk. That was a very informative post. It sounds like I wouldn't be disappointed, if that's where I end up. And there is a good possibility of that. I should know in a day or two.

Pollster

There is a great zoo at Hamilton!!


umm - that's all I know about the place - except my sister goes there on shopping trips sometimes!

jandjuk

I really like the Hamilton gardens too...

they have gardens from all around world. Japanese garden, English garden - heaps of others I can't remember now! Really interesting - I think they were building an ancient Roman style garden too.

and I'm not even in to gardening in the slightest! Usually bores me to tears....