Gun4Hire

Have to agree about the shacks in Wellington, pretty bad, surprising that they never sorted it out over the years as Auckland have. They never really went through any sort of mass renovation or building boom in Wellington which is a shame because it's a nice little place apart from than that. There are one or two nice suburbs places like Kelburn and Karori have some nice houses. Also Eastbourne from memory had some amazing houses and is really lovely in the summer, ferry ride into town though. Don't necessarily commit to anywhere specific if you are arriving in the summer because winter can be a cold and damp affair and it s quite a different place.

Wow people do seem to be worried by the threat of earthquakes, perhaps understandable given the present turn of events. If you were concerned I'd consider giving Wellington a miss, the biggest surprise about Christchurch is that it wasn't Wellington.

Wooly_Cow

Its perfectly natural. The thing is there is a lot you can do to prepare and reduce the impact. The first and most importnat of these is to choose where you live. Of course you could choose to aviod earthqauke prone regions but assuming you don't the construction of your property and the underlying soil conditions are crucial....hence my reference to the maps. Suburbs were mentioned like Seatoun, which although close to the water, the city, and with a nice beach and flat (which is rare in Welly), it is basically built on sand! This means a shake like Chch and you will get liquifaction like they got in Avonside. On the otherhand looking at areas that maybe aren't so popular like Newlands, you will see a low risk from quakes.....

Especially if you are buying....it's best to be informed....not necessarily sacred or worried but informed and prepared.

drrobert

I live in Wellington. A major earthquake will hit - it's just a question of when. In common with the other British expats I know here, I think about it much more than the locals do! Wellington is a fantastic city, and I couldn't think of a more helpful bunch of people to weather an emergency with. However, I do suggest some precautions:

Since we spend over half our lives at our home, and just under a third at work, making sure your home and workplace are reasonably safe is sensible.

Home:
1. Live in a 1 or 2 story wooden house - ideally, one with a solid concrete foundation or a continuous concrete perimeter foundation. Avoid a brick home (they collapse). Steel roofs are preferable to clay tiles, as they are lighter. Fortunately, most Wellington homes are wooden, with steel roofs, so this is an easy criterion to meet!
2. Choose somewhere built on rock rather than on sand or loose soil. In practice, this means avoiding the very flat areas. The flattest areas (e.g. Kilbirnie, Petone, much of Lower Hutt) are alluvial plains, so will suffer from the most ground-shaking and liquefaction. In addition, there is the risk of tsunami for those areas near the coast.
3. Avoid very steep slopes, as there is a risk of landsliding. The kind of slopes which have landslides during winter rainstorms will also be at risk in an earthquake.
4. Take sensible precautions - keep 20L water/person at home, together with 7 days' food, medicines, torches, batteries and a battery or clockwork radio.
5. Secure large items of furniture to the wall (or at least don't put your child's bed within falling distance of an unsecured heavy wardrobe), secure your water cylinder, place heavy items on lower shelves etc.

Work:
1. Try not to work in a pre-1976 concrete building. From 1976, the building codes improved dramatically. The codes continue to improve, so generally, more modern buildings should fare better! For multistorey buildings, steel is the best material (it is lightweight and flexes). Unreinforced concrete and brick are the worst materials (they are heavy and brittle, so collapse).
2. Have a plan to get home in the event of an earthquake. If you have a long commute, you could find yourself stranded several days' walk from your family. Consider keeping some sensible shoes, a waterproof, any medicines you take and a water container in a small pack in your car or at work.
3. Persuade your workplace to be prepared! A workplace should have emergency 'civil defence' cupboards with the basic supplies I outlined above for the home.

There is plenty of official information available. Here are some useful links:
- Wellington Combined Earthquake Hazard Maps - try to live in the dark blue areas!
- NIWA computer simulation of a repeat of the 1855 tsunami - tsunamis of this size occur roughly every 150 years in Wellington. The video illustrates why you shouldn't live in Lyall Bay/Kilbirnie/Rongotai!
- Government advice on preparing for a civil emergency

DennisBergkamp

didnt want to start a new thread

What is Brooklyn like? How long would it take to walk to the city centre/Thorndon area?

I'm looking at areas that are max 30 mins walk to Thorndon where i will be working

The areas i'm looking at are Brooklyn, Thorndon, Northland, Mt Vic, hataitai, Mt Cook and Te Aro
I know its a lot, but i guess for now i need to keep my options open
I've got 2 viewing lined up so far - 1 in hataitai and 1 in Thorndon

Wooly_Cow

Hataitai is nice. Think about Miramar and Seatoun ....they are great suburbs. Very close to the city (not quite walking but short bus or flat cycle ride). Thorndon tends to be pricey

JohnThePom

You can walk from Brooklyn to Thorndon in half an hour, it would keep you fit, the hill up into Brooklyn is pretty steep.

WP

DennisBergkamp

How steep we talking here?

I want to keep fit. If its too much i could just get a bike, or bus it if feeling lazy

drrobert

Fairly steep if you go up the road, very steep if you walk through Central Park, or via other green belt walkways. Wellington is one city where a mountain bike rather than road bike makes sense for commuting - if the hills don't get you, the wind will!

Brooklyn Village is lovely, and very convenient for town, but be aware that some of the houses in the bottom of the valley (eg on Ohiro Rd) get little sunlight. Also, the area up on the next ridge (ie around Ashton Fitchett Drive) is a very long and steep walk or bike ride away, with few buses - you really need a car if you live up there.

Charismatic

Well I lived in and around Wellington for a while and here is my (probably worthless) opinion from best in the region to worst:

Grade 1 :
City propper suburbs
Lower Hutt
Waikanae (in fact that whole coast is pretty good once you get past Haywords hill road)

Grade 2 :
Paremata
Upper Hutt
Khandallah
Johnsonville
Stokes Valley
Pinehaven
Hutt hills

Grade 3 :
Porirua
Wainuiomata
Taita/Winegate

Before anyone gets stroppy with me there are exceptions of course there are exceptions like new develepments around Paremata harbour and others. Except for the last 3 I'd happily live almost anywhere.

DennisBergkamp

Might have a rethink on Brooklyn if its too steep
So far got viewings in Hataitai, Mt Vic and Thorndon/Northland areas

DennisBergkamp

Hi,

I got another viewing lined up in Roseneath. Looks a nice area, but is it impossible to walk into town (Thorndon)?

Looked on Google street view and Pallister Road goes right through some bush!

Browner_

Roseneath to Thorndon is a bus ride rather than a walk for most people, but if you are keen you could do it, it would be mostly a waterfront walk.

Palliser Rd is one of the main routes to the peak of Mt Victoria, so its pretty steep in places. Id head downwards and walk along Oriental Parade.

Id certainly prefer Roseneath to walking back up to Brooklyn, it would take a cable car to get me up there!

DennisBergkamp

i opted for Brooklyn in the end
I walk to work and bus it back

Wooly_Cow

Good choice - hope you enjoy it there.

IrishNeal

Sorry to join this thread late but I am looking at renting or even buying a small place in Wellington East.

I am currently renting in Island Bay which is great but quite scruffy and getting cold! (Hope my landlord can't read this!)

I am looking at places like Seatoun, and Miramar.

Anyone got any ideas of good streets and areas. I can afford about $500-$550 a week and need only a 2 or 3 bed place because I work from home and need a study and hope to have family and friends from Ireland , UK and Germany staying eventually.

My current rental runs out at end Oct. so I have some time. Just looking at options at the moment.

Oh and I am thinking about getting a dog but that will depend on the rental situation.