Hamilton life

Old Sep 3rd 2016, 8:27 pm
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Default Hamilton life

Hi guys,

New to this forum. I'm hoping for some advice, please.

I might have a job in Hamilton, and I just had a few questions about the city.

More about me - I am a 26 year old young professional. I would like to be in an area that is surrounded by other young professionals, with access to good bars/pubs nearby. Not a huge nightlife fan but equally I am not a married person with kids.

My questions are:
- what is Hamilton like for young professionals? Are there a lot of them? Is it easy to meet other young professionals and enjoy going out/travelling/beach trips together?
- how far away are the good beaches?

Additionally, is it worth commuting from Auckland to Hamilton? I really want to live in a young environment as all my life I have lived in small towns that are meant for those of retirement age and as such I really want to be surrounded by young people again! Also as a side consideration, I am single and would really like the opportunity to meet other young professionals

Thanks a ton!! Please let me know if you want to know more )
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Old Sep 4th 2016, 12:18 am
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Default Re: Hamilton life

Originally Posted by Vanilla90
Hi guys,

New to this forum. I'm hoping for some advice, please.

I might have a job in Hamilton, and I just had a few questions about the city.

More about me - I am a 26 year old young professional. I would like to be in an area that is surrounded by other young professionals, with access to good bars/pubs nearby. Not a huge nightlife fan but equally I am not a married person with kids.

My questions are:
- what is Hamilton like for young professionals? Are there a lot of them? Is it easy to meet other young professionals and enjoy going out/travelling/beach trips together?
- how far away are the good beaches?

Additionally, is it worth commuting from Auckland to Hamilton? I really want to live in a young environment as all my life I have lived in small towns that are meant for those of retirement age and as such I really want to be surrounded by young people again! Also as a side consideration, I am single and would really like the opportunity to meet other young professionals

Thanks a ton!! Please let me know if you want to know more )
I think you need to have another really good look at Hamilton, have a look at a map, do some basic research and think again.

Hamilton is definitely not the kind of place where you will find 'young professionals' - it's basically a student town with lots of surrounding farm land. Good beaches are miles and miles away on the opposite coast. It's status as a 'city' is somewhat overrated and it doesn't really come up to par of a large town in rural UK setting.
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Old Sep 4th 2016, 12:27 am
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Default Re: Hamilton life

Originally Posted by Bo-Jangles
I think you need to have another really good look at Hamilton, have a look at a map, do some basic research and think again.

Hamilton is definitely not the kind of place where you will find 'young professionals' - it's basically a student town with lots of surrounding farm land. Good beaches are miles and miles away on the opposite coast. It's status as a 'city' is somewhat overrated and it doesn't really come up to par of a large town in rural UK setting.
Hi,

Thanks so much for replying.

I did Google Map the place and realised it might fall just on the wrong side of a daily feasible commute from Auckland. I am not very good at looking at Google Maps for things like whether it is full of a young population or not though, but now I know.

Would you recommend a commute from Auckland? Google Maps is telling me it is 1.5 hours. Which is not too difficult for me (plus I enjoy driving). The only problem is whether it might become a struggle if I have to work long hours.

I have heard people commute from Hamilton to Auckland so vice versa can't be too bad??

(Please give me some good news lol)

Or indeed, are there any places nearby that I could commute from?

Thanks
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Old Sep 4th 2016, 12:39 am
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Default Re: Hamilton life

Originally Posted by Vanilla90
Hi,

Thanks so much for replying.

I did Google Map the place and realised it might fall just on the wrong side of a daily feasible commute from Auckland. I am not very good at looking at Google Maps for things like whether it is full of a young population or not though, but now I know.

Would you recommend a commute from Auckland? Google Maps is telling me it is 1.5 hours. Which is not too difficult for me (plus I enjoy driving). The only problem is whether it might become a struggle if I have to work long hours.

I have heard people commute from Hamilton to Auckland so vice versa can't be too bad??

(Please give me some good news lol)

Or indeed, are there any places nearby that I could commute from?

Thanks
If you're going to live in Auckland then you may as well work in Auckland, it's bad enough getting around Auckland without adding in the extra miles to Hamilton on a daily basis. I don't suppose a Hamilton salary would support Auckland living anyway- at least not in an area where there are beaches and 'young professionals'.
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Old Sep 4th 2016, 12:43 am
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Default Re: Hamilton life

Originally Posted by Bo-Jangles
If you're going to live in Auckland then you may as well work in Auckland, it's bad enough getting around Auckland without adding in the extra miles to Hamilton on a daily basis. I don't suppose a Hamilton salary would support Auckland living anyway- at least not in an area where there are beaches and 'young professionals'.
Ha ha please go ahead and give me a job in Auckland, I would move in a heartbeat! The salary is not my current question or problem at the moment, nor is where in Auckland I would live. Although, the more south I am, the better I guess. I am still not sure whether you think a commute to and from Auckland is feasible?
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Old Sep 4th 2016, 2:06 am
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Default Re: Hamilton life

There are as many young proffesionals in Hamilton as youd expect from a population of 150000 people. And it seems to me many from Auckland are moving down there (and by all accounts enjoying it). Why not move to Hamilton initially and then reassess? Would surely make your move easier. From somewhere in Sth Auckland like Flatbush the trip would be anywhere between 1 and 1.5 hrs. But then again there will be just as many young professionals in Hamilton as Flatbush or Papakura.
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Old Sep 4th 2016, 3:15 am
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Default Re: Hamilton life

Originally Posted by Vanilla90
The salary is not my current question or problem at the moment, nor is where in Auckland I would live. Although, the more south I am, the better I guess. I am still not sure whether you think a commute to and from Auckland is feasible?
Sorry if it wasn't clear I think a commute from Auckland to Hamilton is an absolutely mental idea; and for it to be remotely possible you absolutely do have to consider what salary and where you can afford to live. You can pretty much strike out almost all of the South of Auckland, as most unlikely to find anywhere that meet the brief of being surrounded by other young professionals, with access to good bars, beaches or pubs nearby. I don't know what you do but I think Wellington would be a better option.
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Old Sep 4th 2016, 5:12 am
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Default Re: Hamilton life

Originally Posted by Vanilla90
I would like to be in an area that is surrounded by other young professionals, with access to good bars/pubs nearby. Not a huge nightlife fan but equally I am not a married person with kids.
That describes Ponsonby in central Auckland, or possibly central Wellington. I haven't come across other parts of New Zealand that fit that description.

Originally Posted by Vanilla90
My questions are:
- what is Hamilton like for young professionals? Are there a lot of them? Is it easy to meet other young professionals and enjoy going out/travelling/beach trips together?
- how far away are the good beaches?

Additionally, is it worth commuting from Auckland to Hamilton?
I have only spent a couple of nights in Hamilton and I am an old married man so wasn't thinking in terms of what it would be like for young people when I was there so can't really answer from that perspective, but the thing to remember is that New Zealand is a new country and has little in the way of long-standing traditions so what a place is like now might be completely different in one or two years' time. I read recently that Hamilton has the highest number of PhDs per head of population in the country. I expect that they are all agri-tech because all the large companies that you see around the town are large agricultural concerns.

As a city Hamilton is often on the receiving end of stand-up comedians' jokes. I didn't think it was too bad and has the potential to turn into a decent place but it hasn't quite got there yet.

I think that the commute from Auckland to Hamilton is too far. Plus I would question what you would get by living in 'Auckland' - there are a small number of parts of Auckland that have what you are looking for but most of it is one large sprawling suburb that contains only people that have returned home after a days work and are not leaving their house again until they leave for work the next day.

Go to Hamilton and raise the bar there! (You might be a bit lonely at first though).
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Old Sep 4th 2016, 9:40 am
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Default Re: Hamilton life

Originally Posted by Vanilla90
Hi guys,

New to this forum. I'm hoping for some advice, please.

I might have a job in Hamilton, and I just had a few questions about the city.

More about me - I am a 26 year old young professional. I would like to be in an area that is surrounded by other young professionals, with access to good bars/pubs nearby. Not a huge nightlife fan but equally I am not a married person with kids.

My questions are:
- what is Hamilton like for young professionals? Are there a lot of them? Is it easy to meet other young professionals and enjoy going out/travelling/beach trips together?
- how far away are the good beaches?

Additionally, is it worth commuting from Auckland to Hamilton? I really want to live in a young environment as all my life I have lived in small towns that are meant for those of retirement age and as such I really want to be surrounded by young people again! Also as a side consideration, I am single and would really like the opportunity to meet other young professionals

Thanks a ton!! Please let me know if you want to know more )
I work in the Tron - just 5 mins out of the city between Glenview and Rukuhia but I don't live there. I'm over the hill in Tauranga 100 KM's away.
It is a young city and well known for it's student population.
Yes there are some young professionals but there are heaps more students. I see many small groups of both whilst I'm out and about during the day between work shifts or if I'm staying overnight because of work. I see many groups meeting up in the cafe's for breakfast/brunch etc. There are many bars and restaurants in the city (I've been in many ) and it is a decent night out but nowhere near as busy and as mad as anything you've experienced in the UK for example. It's pretty quiet really. Student night midweek is about the craziest it gets.
I'd say if you can meet some likeminded young professionals you'd be sweet as there's loads to do - socialising, sports - especially on the river and nearby Lake Karapiro, The Base for shopping and the cinema, golf courses, go karts, archery yada yada!
The nearest decent beach is at Raglan 45-50 mins away to the West. Renowned for being a surf beach so a bit rough and windy which is the norm for NZ's west coast.
A much better beach for sunbathing or surfing and a full range of other watersports plus a full beach resort can be found in the opposite direction where I live in Tauranga. Mt Maunganui is the best beach resort in NZ and the main reason why we live where we live as we are within 15 mins drive of it.

Auckland to Hamilton commute is an insane idea. Nobody lives in Auckland and commutes out to go back home. Normally it would be the other way around. People are leaving Auckland in their droves to escape the high prices and crazy traffic to live and relax in places where there are less people, less cars and much more affordable property and then commute in to Auckland. If you don't have to live in Auckland - i.e. because your job is there then a lot of people would advise you to steer well clear!
Depending on where you lived in Auckland you are talking at least 1.5hrs each way in potentially busy traffic. This will get better as SH1 is being upgraded and the 7 sections from Hamilton all the way through to Southern Auckland should be completed by 2024. This will cut heaps off the travel time if you were to live in Auckland and commute to the Tron but up to 8 years away yet.
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