Zigzag

Hi! Everyone has been talking about North Shore Auckland, and I'm definitely going there, if we decide on Auckland!

Has anybody got any info on Christchurch and Wellington?? Just if i'm going to research this all properly, i need to check out house prices/schools/wages etc in all those places!

Thanks

happynz

The houses (sheds) are pretty much a muchness, same-same, six of one half dozen of the other. They just cost more in Auckland. Commutes in Auckland can be a chore.

I've never lived in Wellington so I'll pass on commenting.

Christchurch is flat, easy to get around and is the primary city for the South Island. This means it has fairly good services for a a not very big city. As far as wages go I think it really depends on which line of business you are in. The schools here are pretty good in my opinion. But success in school is more down to the parents' attitudes towards education, no matter where you live.

Zigzag

I agree to some extent about the schools, what is discipline like in schools? One of the issues I have with schools in UK, is that there is NO discipline!!

Wilma & co

Hi Zigzag. You could have a look on Trade me at house prices in all the areas you're researching - www.trademe.co.nz. Lots of the estate agents seem to advertise property there, as well as private sellers.
For schools, I did a lot of trawling through the reports on www.ero.govt.nz/ero. Like OFSTED - has no. of teachers & pupils, ethnicity, decile ranking and the latest report on the school. Also try www.schoolzones.co.nz when you've narrowed it down a bit, as some (?most) schools have enrolment zones. As far as discipline goes, the primary that my kids go to seem to be quite hot on the type of behaviour that they expect from the kids. As happynz says, if parents take an interest then the kids tend to do better, and the school encourages parental input.
Good luck with the search!

Zigzag

Thank you!!

Zigzag

You know how everyone wants to live in North Shore if you are in Auckland?

where would you want to live in Wellington & Christchurch??

happynz

To the south east, Sumner has turned into a bit of a Brit enclave. The Port Hills must be nice as it is an area with really expensive real estate. Out on the flats Merivale and Ilam are full of old money and wannabe hi-so (high-society). North of that is Burnside which every Asian wants to get his kid into as Burnside High School is perceived to be a top class school. Avonhead is fairly solid middle-class -- many of your neighbours will be named Kim, Park and Lee. Koreans love that suburb.

Some of the eastern suburbs towards the beach can be kinda scruffy, but there are some that are pretty okay such as some new developments around Travis Country off QEII Road and near QEII sport centre.

Of course there are the outer suburbs and towns that are less than a half hour into town such as Rolleston to the southwest and Rangiora to the north.

Really, Christchurch has all sorts of areas that might catch your fancy. Up to you to decide which is best.

TeamEmbo

Do you know what Parklands is like, please?

happynz

Parklands is solidly middle-class.

CAN2NZ

I can't believe what I just read about suburbs in Christchurch. It didn't sound too good. I live in Ilam and it is not wannabes. You are rude.

People very much live in areas of the city that offer the best schooling opportunities for their children. Asians, of which I am not, value education highly and are quiet neighbours. One third of the students our our primary school, Westburn, are asian. The Westburn school is a decile 10 school meaning that those families in the highest 10 percent or earners send their children to that school. It has a very high achievement level, a super music programme with three Suzuki classes, achieves well in sport. It is great and is fairly representative of schools in the area.

Our son goes to Burnside. It is a very big school and is made up of four schools under one. The school has lots of resources, has a superb music and arts programme and achieves highly in academic competitions. The school offers lots of resources to students. One of the benefits of going to Burnside is if you student has learning issues, the school has the resources to deal with them.

You should read the ERO reports for the schools in areas that you might be interested. You can send your kids to a low decile school like Freeville which is almost exclusively white, but there will be little in the line of music and other developmental programmes. The kids can then graduate and go to Aranui high school. The main emphasis for graduation is life skills.

People have mentioned Parklands. You can also look at Tumura Park and areas like those on the east and North side. Your schooling choices are not that great. Keep in mind that most of the people living in those areas drive their kids to other schools.

So to the harsh comments posted. I can only say that the ethnic situation is over stated and made to sound so negative. The schools are the best on the north and west side of town which explains the higher house prices. You won't seem to get lots for your money in these areas. That is what we have found. There are lovely properties, but they will be expensive.

Other benefits to the Ilam, Burnside, Avonhead area is the proximity to very nice parks and sporting facilities for the kids. There are football, rugby and tennis clubs. We use these and find it very nice. The cost is reasonable too.

One thing about the area is that when north west winds blow, the planes fly just to the south of Memorial and so there can be what seems like relentless air traffic.

We are building in Rangiora. There are a certain number of people from this forum and British people not on this forum who live there. The town has 10,000 and all the services you need. The time to travel into the city is 30 minutes outside of commuting hours, longer during commute. Roading has not kept up with traffic. Property sizes are available in the larger sizes, though they are shrinking, but you could build your home and save about 60,000 over what you would pay for a house in the city. It would be of a higher standard as it would be new and so worth the drive at the trade off of not having quite the easy access to the amenities of the city.

You will find that if you live on the fringe of the city the drive in can be longer than you wish. That goes for Halswell, Aidenfield, and then much further out Rolleston.

The best thing to do is to come, rent a holiday home while looking for a rental. Then, when you are ready and have life sorted, buy a house. It will seem hard to take this time before buying, but that is part of moving. You could work faster like our British friends around the corner who paid $50,000 too much for their house. But you decide. Don't let people put you off what you want to do.

You will find as was said earlier that houses in many of the cities are much the same. That is true, and the description as sheds is not totally unfair. The houses are cold and damp. Marketing heaters and dehumidifiers seems to be a growth industry.

Please feel free to PM me for dispassionate agenda free and colour blind advice.

happynz

Yeah, sometimes I am, but I fail to see where I was being rude in what I posted above.

Yes that's true. That's good. Where do you see that I posted anything negative about Asians?

Harsh? What?

That's true enough.

That's nice.

Uh-huh.

wimsy

we live in sumner chch.....you better be rich if you want to fit in around here, very snobby (most) people would rather find out what car you drive, what you earn than who you are...would rather live in Linwood and thats saying something....cant wait to move!

PM me if you want an honest view of the suburbs in christchurch.

jennifer45

OMG! Not a 'kiwi' enclave then?

Lenmil

He he he, same the world over is it not. We lived in Avonhead (Toorak Ave, 2004) and liked it. But most Kiwis called it Asianhead. Some nights i would walk home from work. First i would go through Hagley Park as it is just fantastic. Miss that a lot actually as well as when we stayed at the Millbrook 60 Motel in Merivale, i uesd to walk to work there as well. Motel was small and very basic but it did the job. The wifey used to meet me at Hagley Park some times and we would just sit next to the river enjoying the park. Thing is we would get birds (mostly ducks) come and sit next to you totally unafraid of you. Brilliant.