wakeyone

Hi guys, maybe a little early but looks like a possible move to Wellington is on the cards very early next year, was wondering where the best areas are to live/rent?, best places to avoid?......Whats the norm for driving into Wellington, as in driving times, trains etc? Ideally somewhere near the coast would be great, thoughts please, getting excited!!!!

Gun4Hire

Hi, You don't need a car in Wellington, because you can walk everywhere, it is very compact. Oriental Bay or Mount Victoria are really nice with a very short walk to the CBD or Courtney Place.

Boopy

We live north of the city up the coast. It's gorgeous, lovely seaviews & heaps of sunshine. There are park & ride at the rail station all the way up the coast from Wellington to Kapiti. Many people commute daily & live out of the city.... it's far cheaper! If you want info on particular areas just pop me a PM.

wakeyone

Many thanks.........Really not sure if its a city centre apartment or a beautiful house near beach, lol. One extreme to another i know. Oh well, looks like I may be coming over last week in Oct, so will have a good look around.

DennisBergkamp

I'm going in 4 weeks time to Welly
as i work in city centre i'm looking at Oriental Bay, haitaiti, Mt Cook, Thorndon, Brooklyn and maybe Te Aro areas

Gun4Hire

Mt Victoria is quite nice too, Brooklyn is up on a hill but without a great view.

Boopy

Just be careful with properties in the city... most are very damp & mouldy. Welly has high humid conditions. make sure you get a north facing place, so it'll have heaps of sunshine, cos that will basically be your heating system, if you great a dry home. Try to also get large windows, to let more sun in.

Shazmoo

i'm moving out in dec, im lookin all over. my bro lives in evans bay but im workin in low hutt, its a bloody mine field, were gettin there and stying in a hotel & campin for first moth till we find somwhere, check out trademe.co.nz and gumtree xx

Boopy

I'll help you shaz... did you loose network earlier on... you disappeared!

Shazmoo

Yea my laptop is playin up!! Now im drunk and gig to bed *hiccup*

Speak sson Dee xx

janeyk

Also beware of the hills as sun light can disapper quickly, Wind tunnels we bought a house backing onto a reserve in churton park great sunlight etc however it was a wind tunnel and we managed to sit out for an hour all summer!
Friends of mine lived in Kaori which is lovely self contained suburb not far from CBD however mobile phone reception was a nightmare

luvwelly

Mt Victoria is overpriced and scruffy.
Oriental Bay is overpriced but very nice - bad in a Tsunami though!.
Hataitai has a mixture of property ranging from student stuff to large family mansions and has good cafes and you can walk down hill onto Oriental Bay;
Mount Cook is a bit scruffy and studenty;
Thorndon is expensive and on the fault line, handy for CBD;
Brooklyn is nice and not too expensive but you wouldn't want to walk back up the hill too often - it does have a great view if you go far enough up (wind turbine) - very good in a Tsunami!;
Te Aro - only one I don't regularly go through.....a bit Mount Cooky I think...

you could keep costs down a lot by just moving slightly further back in to places like Wilton, Northland or in eastern suburbs Miramar etc etc
Karori is known for being cold and damp and lacks views;
If you are renting it's best not to have fixed views just go on what's available within your budget that you fancy at the time, when you arrive.

All of these are very central suburbs - many people go further out if they are buying family homes.

drrobert

If you want to live on the coast, the main options would be:

Oriental Bay, Roseneath. 5-10mins drive or a short walk to city centre. Can be very expensive.

The South Coast (Island Bay, Houghton Bay, Owhiro Bay). These are about 15 mins drive from the city centre, 20-25mins by bus, 30mins cycle.

Lyall Bay/Evans Bay. Up to 20mins drive from city centre (factoring in the extra traffic through Mt Vic Tunnel), or 25mins by bus. Lyall Bay is close to the airport (so can be noisy in places).

The Miramar peninsula: Seatoun, Karaka Bay etc. 25-30mins drive, 35mins by bus. Can be expensive.

The other options are outside Wellington City, so the commute involves taking a train (with attendant delays and engineering works - see metlink.co.nz for timetables) or a drive on a motorway. This leaves you more susceptible to traffic problems at peak hours.

Petone: less of a wild coast, more of a long esplanade facing the harbour. Would have to tackle the Hutt Road to get into work. 20min-40min drive depending on traffic?

Eastbourne: Small town on harbour, lovely views, very quiet. Can drive (30-50mins?) or take a ferry into the CBD to work (not that many ferries run, so this could be restrictive).

Porirua: e.g. Titahi Bay, Pauatahanui. Some lovely coastline. 30-45min drive to city depending on traffic. Porirua shopping centre is horrible, but some of its villages are great.

Boopy

I love the mall at Porirua, so it's each to their own! Off peak drive to City Centre from Porirua is no more then 15 mins. Porirua is a city, made of from a number of suburbs. Like everywhere it has it's nice & not so nice areas.

Wooly_Cow

It's a very emotive subject as everyone has their favorites.

My best advice is to rent somewhere central for a few weeks and have a look around for yourself. The added cost of furnished or managed appartments will be more than of set by an easier settling in period, not having to worry about furniture , and being able to pick you own place at lesuire.

Housing here can be so bad that you really need to look before you commit to an area.

BTW if earthquakes and tsunamis are a worry, you can get detailed maps from the council showing the relaitve risk for each area - if you look carefully you can assess down to street level.

BTW2 - commuting in Wellignton is a breeze from virtually everywhere mentioned on this thread so far