Perry Groves

We are heading for Wellington. As a family of 4 with 2 young kids can anyone recommend an area that would suit us?

MOSO

I would recommend the Kapiti coast - because I live here!

We're in Waikanae, a small town just north of Paraparaumu. The weather is much better than Wellington, less wind, less rain and definitely warmer. It's also flat so the sections/gardens are larger and house prices cheaper. The beaches are long and although it's not golden sand they're beautiful and the kids can paddle/surf safely. Waikanae has 2 primary schools (with another about to be built), 2 supermarkets, a great park and an outdoor swimming pool complex where the local kids spend ALL summer and can swim for $1. There are 2 secondary schools in nearby Paraparaumu, as well as the main shopping centre.

The downside is the 45 mins commute, although coming from the UK you may not care and the views are far better! The tracks are currently being electrified up to Waikanae so are about to improve.

If you want to be closer into Wellington, but on the coast side, places like Plimmerton, Whitby are nice but there isn't a decent secondary school in the area. If you don't want to be coast side, there's always Upper Hutt.

Closer into Wellington, I'm sure other people will be able to comment better. We orginally looked at Karori which has good primary schools, but it's very damp and cold in winter up in the hills and now we're glad we didn't move there. Lower Hutt is another option and about 30 mins commute on the train. It has a mixture of areas, and quite a lot of industry so it's what suits you really.

Wellington is a fab city, small but it has a great atmosphere and the waterfront area is really good, especially with kids with plenty of park areas and Te Papa of course. When do you get here?

KevinS

Hi, We live in Whitby it is a 20km drive to Wellywood and about an hour at 7am to 9am or 25 mins any other time. As MOSO said it is cheaper the further away from Wellington central you live, you also get bigger plots of land with the houses - but the commuting will soon get tiring, unless you can work from a local town. Don't know about schools too much, some friends of ours suggested that the level of education wasn't as good as the UK - but both my daughters were beyond school age when we came over (unfortunately as it is easier to make friends with children at school) - Open2view is a great source of Real Estate listings - both rental and for sale, I would look at renting first. Also the houses here are not the same as you are used to, most pre-1980 have no insulation in the walls and usually one source of heating in one room. All new houses being built have to be double glazed now, but heating still seems to be an option ( it can drop to 3'C at night and be 8'C during the day!!). So have a really good luck around before you buy..
The area will obviously depend on how much cash you have, the lifestyle you expect and local schools, I think they are assessing the schools now.

Good luck

cleverchap

I would look at renting for a while before deciding to buy as I know of a few people that have fallen in love with the Kapiti coast (big sections/cheaper houses) and then quickly regretted the commute.
Caution on the 'all new homes have double glazing' statement as thats only true if the plans were approved after 2006 (I think). If approval was before that date then the house can built today and not need double glazing.

simonmarkellis

It's going to depend on whats important to you most as areas can differ and each has something different to offer and make appealing... i'm up the coast between Wellington and Paraparaumu in Whitby, it has good schools for pre college age, the beach is five minutes away, plenty of open space, excellent local amenities, CBD is only 1 hour door to door by public transport...

kiwi_allens

hi just thought i would tell you a bit about upper hutt, we are about 30min drive from wellington city but there is a train and bus station whitch are very good. the shopping isnt to bad we have a small mall but lower hutt is alot better. we arent in walking distance to a beach but you can swim in the hutt river there is a swimming complex called h2o extreme. in the summer months we go to a outdoor pool the water is only knee high but it has a slide our 2 year old loves it, its free and we have a bbq/picnic. there is alot of parks dotted about. dont know too much about schools as we have just put our daughters name down to go to kindergarten.we are renting at the minue 3 bedroom house $350 a week but we are wanting to build our own house in a couple of years. if you go on www.trademe.co.nz they have houses to rent and buy (its like ebay). if you would like to know anymore let me know. and good luck wherever you decide to live

crap coffee

just avoid Te Aro. Its a sh!t place.

I like Petone, Lower Hutt. Khandallah. I like posh area.

If I had kids, Queen Margaret college or Chilton St James school - only two options I'd consider. From my experience, I'd avoid public schools here.

janeyk

we lived in Churton Park which was a 30 mins most at 8.30am commute out to Newtown 20-25 mins into CBD, The area is slghtly out from Welly but has park a really good school and had local shopping facilities in Johnsonville and Tawa,
you need to watch where the sun sets as this could also have a big effect also wind tunnels

Charlie Paynter

Pukerua Bay is also worth considering, being easily commutable by both train and car, and also has a great beach and fishing.

irnbru14

Its a hard one to suggest when everyone has different ideas on what are they key criteria for what they want from the area they live.

There are a lot of good areas in Welly for families, you need to consider your commute to work, school zoning, local amenities, amount of space you want, how much you can afford on rent/mortgage.

Around town I would suggest areas like Ngaio, Khandallah, Wadestown, Seatoun, Karori (its nice but can get a bit damp/cold if you are too far up the hill), Kilbirnie. Most of these areas at least have some local shops/cafe/restaurants and are not too far from the CBD via Bus or train or car.

Further out, Johnsonville and Churton Park are probably the next area for growth of housing areas, but are a wee bit further out of town, and you get a lot more house for your cash.

As others have mentined, up the Kapiti Coast or over towards Petone/Hutt City are quite popular for families again as the cash goes further on what you can afford to live in!

Browner_

I wouldnt argue with what MOSO has said about the Kapiti Coast.
However Wellington is where it pretty much all happens, and if you like watching football,rugby,cricket or music or arts or socialising in general, then you might find yourself commuting into town at weekends as well as during the week. Its certainly too far out for me. If you like chilling out on the beach doing nothing, or going gliding at weekends then you would prefer Kapiti no doubt.

Im not sure many unpretentious kiwis would try and sell Upper Hutt to you, so nor will I.

I think Plimmerton or Whitby is as good a compromise as you will get, unless you really want the 'town' lifestyle of living in Wellington itself.

As for buying a house, be very very wary and read all the other threads on the subject before you even think about it, a large potential for disaster is there.

KazUK

The northern suburbs like Tawa are meant to have some high decile schools
Tawa college is a decile 9 (10 is best)

its only 15km out from Welly CDB if thats where you work

it has a couple of train stops as well if you wish to use public transport

The houses are not to expensive either so it alright all round

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tawa,_New_Zealand
http://www.tawalink.com/intro.html

Good luck

Perry Groves

3 months time. I will be working near the centre of Wellington.

Perry Groves

Long term I am looking for areas with good schools. I am planning on renting somewhere short term when I arrive.

Dewb09

Have a look here its become my bible!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...lington_Region

Dewb