[Mamee & Co]

Well DH and I reached a compromise on location having done a lot of reading.

He knew that I wouldn't enjoy somewhere as big as Auckland. I saw the picture of the flights into Wellington (eeeeek) but he wouldn't go as far south as Dun Edin (good Scot that I am!) so have currently settled on looking for work etc. in Christchurch.

Don't know when we will be arriving yet. ITA is good to go says Agent...but we have hopes to be there by Christmas.

Have twin 7 year old boys so starting to think about locations in the area for living, what are good schools etc. The Agencies I have spoken to are still fairly sure, even in the recession, that as an accountant they should be able to place me so here's hoping all goes according to plan.

So is there anywhere or anyone willing to give me the lowdown on Christchurch, schools, good places to live, shops, costs, broadband availability etc. etc.

Will be the four of us, plus dog and cat (hopefully...though a the cat may desert...our neighbour feeds it better than we do...I refuse to buy posh cat food!)

Many thanks

Mamee

[Mamee & Co]

:wah

Must have asked the wrong questions!!

I know many of you like Christchurch so maybe I should ask the other way round, areas that you don't like, any schools you would avoid etc.

Where should we be looking at?

Many thanks in anticipation

MAmee

[icemaiden]

Hi - I don't think you have asked the wrong question and am surprised people haven't come back to you. If you do a search on Christchurch, though, there is tons of information will come up. If you ask something really specific, people will definitely come back to you. Good luck with all your plans. OH and I are planning to make the move this July (house sale permitting!!).

[Janey]

Give us chance we have only just woken up! not that I can help you! Certainly in wellington plenty of jobs for an Accountant, Auckland from what I have been told not so much not sure about CC

[BkyMonster]

Hm, didn't see this the first time around.
No idea on schools though I gather that the Riccarton area has some good ones.
There are nice houses in every suburb but not all the suburbs are that nice ;) IMO.
I prefer the Riccarton/Merivale/Ilam/Fendalton etc side of town. (W/NW).It's central and has good access to most things.
We just recently moved from Linwood/Woolston area, and while both areas have nice streets...I'd rather not be living there without living in one of the nice streets (which you have to pretty much be on the ground to figure out what they are IMO).
Broadband is available all over the city afaik. We have Vodaphone (90 for 20g and basic phone) but Telecom, Telstraclear and Orcon are also available. Orcon is month to month, the rest are contract.
Shopping is pretty good all over ChCh IMO. There are lots of malls and shopping centres. Most malls have grocery stores and there are plenty of smaller grocery stores in the shopping centres as well. I actually like the Northlands Mall best I think, but mainly because it's a bit hard to get to and the least crowded of the bigger malls. We live right by Westfield Riccarton and it's ok, but quite popular. We used to live by Eastgate and it has some ok stuff but not one of my favorite. The Hub at Hornby is so far my least favorite. :(

Finding a rental with a dog will be a bit trickier than with just a cat but you should be able to do it. Private landlords may be a better bet than agencies depending on how much you are looking to spend per week. For a nice 3 Br on the west side of town you can probably expect to pay 350+ week. I don't see too many houses for over 400/wk actually. We have a nice (if slightly old) 1br and we pay 210/wk. I'd recommend if you can, if you don't find a place right off or need to get into a home asap to get something with a month to month tenancy until you find a place you like in a part of town you like.

HTH

[lindreth]

Sorry for piggy backing on the thread but we're interested too. Currently planning to look in the CBD area, St Albans and Riccarton. Proximity to Hagley park is a big bonus. Also thinking sometimes of Sumner and Cashmere, but have to weigh up the commute time. We also want to live within walking distance of most things.

Cheers

Gareth

[seattle]

I would say that the best areas for schools are Merivale and Fendalton if you want to be close to CBD. If you don't mind a bit of a drive- I would look at Cashmere along in the port hills- or the beach areas- Sumner, Redcliffs, and Mt. Pleasant.

What we don't like about Chch is the boy racers, the lack of heating in the houses (poor construction- even in the high end areas). And although we haven't been here for a winter- a lot of people complain about the smog (due to woodburning fires) in the city area (thus some people swear by the hills and beach areas). Although there is supposedly a ban on these open fires- but not sure if they will be enforced.

Good luck!

[BkyMonster]

Cashmere is also very nice, and really shops all over so you'll be in walking distance of something most likely. If commute time wasn't an issue I'd say I'm also quite fond of the Belfast/Redwood area.
Not as familiar with the Marshlands/Parklands areas but nice when we've driven through for TradeMe pickups :D

[westi]

Mamee and co. I think your original question was maybe a bit vague, it would be helpful to know what kind of environment you are looking for: Do you want to live by the sea, in the country, in the city ? All of these things are easily accessible in ChCh so if you could narrow down what you are looking for it will be easier to give specifics.

We didn't have any trouble finding a rental that took a dog, there seem to be quite a few ads on www.trademe.co.nz that allow them. I'd suggest the best thing you could do is find some sort of temporary accommodation for around a month when you first arrive so that you have the chance to look at all the different areas and decide where you want to settle. Schools start the new term in February .

[Mamee & Co]

Many thanks for the responses. I am sorry, I probably was vague with the questions. Honest Janey I waited a week before chasing and I realised that I must have done something wrong coz everyone has always answered pretty fast!

DH wants to live by the sea, if there is a nice affordable area. We ideally would like to not have a mortgage when we buy, if at all possible...depends upon so many things..selling the house here for starters. We would also like to be in good catchment area for school...but do you get good and bad schools? Or does that not matter?

I think maybe what I should have asked is are there any areas that are no-go areas...need people on the ground to asnwer that one. It is difficult when looking at houses on the net to gauge and are there any no go schools or would the kids be happy anywhere.

The Realtor's seem to make a big deal out of the Christchurch School for Boys..but it is better than anywhere else?

For me I would prefer to be miles out in the sticks, but what are commuting times like. Having lived in the coutryside here I hate commuting in towns though and quite happy so long as the car is moving IYKWIM.

Sorry...I am probably going to ask loads and loads od questions over the next few months.

Mamee

[veronica]

avoid arunui, bromley and linwood east as definates. there is an alternative school in the city that is called discovery, that is something that would have interested me when our kids were small. I don't think that one is area affected and it is still a state school. If you want to be near the beach the north beach, south shore are ok. some people turn their noses up at new brighton, there are also the beachs to the south, sumner and around goveners bay area (expensive) and the further out areas to the north ie Kaipoi.

We live on the edge of the city/linwood and have been fine here. yep there are aspects of the area that aren't ideal but we have had no problems and have good neighbours. Overall have got to say that I really enjoy being in Christchurch.

[Moorf]

For me I would prefer to be miles out in the sticks, but what are commuting times like. Having lived in the coutryside here I hate commuting in towns though and quite happy so long as the car is moving IYKWIM.

We live in the sticks, having also lived in Sumner and North New Brighton. We now live out near Sheffield/Springfield. Even though we are 55km out towards the Alps, it takes hubby less time to drive to work than it did living in either of the two seaside resorts I mentioned above. In fact, last week we stayed with friends in Sumner on a weeknight and hubby commuted to work and said it was awful compared to what he's now used to - ie. it took him longer to get to work and was stop/start all the way (what you'd expect from a town commute) whereas he leaves our gate and does a speed of 100kmph all the way in until the city limits with virtually no other cars on the road - which is so for the vast majority of the journey - and with nothing but fab views to distract him. It takes him 40 mins to get back from his office which is further in town near airport route, yet took him nearly an hour from Sumner the other day. So distances can be relatively little, depending on the route you're taking.

Just our observations. HTH.

[benandclare]

We've lived in Cashmere, Opawa and Parklands and all of them were cool places to live.
Parklands was our fav as close to sea, golf course and Bottle Lake for biking and good local shops. Cant comment on schools as no little ones of that age.

Decided to move out to " the sticks " to live the Kiwi dream, i.e build a house on a few acres and rear some steaks for the BBQ.

Our commute into city is going to be about 35 mins tops :nice1

[ljrobin]

We live in the Mt. Pleasant area, 15 minutes driving to town, 20 min. by bus, 5 minutes drive to the beach. Most homes have some kind of view. The school is good, walking distance for our girls-less than 10 minutes(it's uphill). We have good shops in the village of Ferrymead. There are loads of walking paths that lead to walking tracks in the hills. The air is clear and clean. We love it. The one problem we have to consider, like all those out this way, is high school. We have decided on an all girls school, which are all in town. This could prove challenging depending on where they go. If you have boys, Boys High is a public high school with a good reputation-my husband is an "old Boy". You do have to live in the zone to get in, or it can come down to a ballot. Same with a couple of the public all girls schools.
Hope that helps.

[jkhosking]

The Agencies I have spoken to are still fairly sure, even in the recession, that as an accountant they should be able to place me so here's hoping all goes according to plan.
Mamee

Hi, my wife and i are moving out to ChCh in July/Aug with our 2 kids so therefore found this post interesting - However, I just wanted to highlight again one of MayMee's questions (see above) regards finding an accounting role in ChCh.

We were originally planning on going to Wellington just for the safety of finding work, but are much more keen on ChCh - so are just going to take the chance and hope we find work once we arrive, (I am also an accountant).

Anyone know what the chances are of finding an audit/ accounting role in the current economic climate?

Cheers

Justin

[Bozeman]

Everyone will have different criteria. We moved into Avonhead because we like the primary school, the quiet neighborhoods, the cosmopolitan aspect of the area, the proximity to my place of work and to the airport (I travel frequently). This side of town also puts you closer to the mountains (we are skiers and hikers) while still allowing an easy jaunt to the beach. The biggest factor was the schools. We visited at least a dozen decile 9 and 10 schools and met with the principals in every case. While we didn't see a vast difference between the schools, the schools in Avonhead (Avonhead, Westburn, Merrin) just clicked with us.

[BaggiesFans]

We live in the Mt. Pleasant area, 15 minutes driving to town, 20 min. by bus, 5 minutes drive to the beach. Most homes have some kind of view. The school is good, walking distance for our girls-less than 10 minutes(it's uphill). We have good shops in the village of Ferrymead. There are loads of walking paths that lead to walking tracks in the hills. The air is clear and clean. We love it. The one problem we have to consider, like all those out this way, is high school. We have decided on an all girls school, which are all in town. This could prove challenging depending on where they go. If you have boys, Boys High is a public high school with a good reputation-my husband is an "old Boy". You do have to live in the zone to get in, or it can come down to a ballot. Same with a couple of the public all girls schools.
Hope that helps.

Is that drive into town at rush hour ? Do you know if there are any good preschools in your area too?

[stuart h]

Hi there do you want to live in the city or small town outside city? look at Rangiora Kaiapoi Woodend which are small ish towns that are in easy reach of the city and have good schools etc

[clarice]

Sumner is the nicest beach area. We rented there for a year when we first got here, can be expensive but prices have come down a bit now. We are in Cashmere now up the hill, quicker to get to work from here - Sumner is just one road out and gets busy in the morning. We can drive from here to the beach in 15 mins anyhow. Chch Boys High is (apparently) best school in NZ also was told Shirley Boys good too. St Margarets for girls. But I don't know personally, just going on what people here have told me.

[winka]

CBHS is one of the best but not THE best in NZ, I know I went there for awhile back in the day.
CBHS is good if you are into sports esp Rugby,many All Blacks over the years from there.

If you can afford it, St Andrews college or Christ College are the top and I think Kings in Auckland.

Sumner or Pomner as some now call it (since apparently there are so many 'poms' living there coming out with their £'s) is in my opinion the nicest part of chch to live if you can handle the morning commute and traffic jam on the way into the inner city.
Merivale and fendalton are the two most overrated suburbs,very affluent but all built on swampland and cold and damp in winter time.
Many folk that live in these areas suffer from extreme cases of big fish small pond syndrome and an overinflated sense of self worth :laugh

Cashmere is another great area:nice1