[The Bolers]

Hi everyone,

My husband and i are emigrating in July and hoping to fix up a rental accomodation fairly quickly as I'm pregnant.

We've been looking at areas - I've chosen Kelburn and my hubby has chosen Seatoun. Any views on where may be better to live.

I'd like somewhere that is fairly sunny (to cut heating costs!) and to be within a reasonable commute to the CBD

Pls help

thanks

Jenny

[Wooly_Cow]

Well the first difference will be price! Seatoun is one of the most expensive suburbs. Kelburn whilst not cheap is closer to the university and so that much more affordable. As for warmth, Seatoun always gets sea breezes (understatement), and depending where you live, looses the evening sun early especially in winter. I don’t know for sure but I suspect Kelburn also looses the sun as it is on the side of a north hill.

As far as commutes are concerned….you could walk from Kelburn into town my mate does – but gets the bus back up hill. Seatoun is a bus ride away but this only takes 20 mins if you get the frequent express busses.

Kelburn is that much higher than Seatoun so the temperatures are lower. For a good idea look at the temperatures especially at night on the BBC weather site.

Kelburn is where the Wellington weather is measured (being the home of the Metservice here), http://news.bbc.co.uk/weather/forecast/95 and Seatoun is close to the International airport. http://news.bbc.co.uk/weather/forecast/1990 . You will see in many case at least a 3 degree difference, in some cases more (this Sunday night for example is forecast to be 2 degrees in Kelburn and 8 degrees at the airport…that’s the difference between snow and rain!.)

Finally I would advise if you can NOT to commit to a long term rental until you have seen the suburbs and houses. There are many nice suburbs, and those even out in the Hutt Valley or Porirua are easily commutable (less than 45 mins). My advice would be to get a short term holiday let and look around.

…Kiwis are masters of making photo’s of rental houses (and those for sale) look really nice …but you really need to check them out, especially with a baby on the way.

[tigerlily]

Both are reasonable commutes, but Seatoun is much longer. One of the longest commutes you can have and still be in the city of Wellington (see what I mean on a map). However, I like Seatoun, for a family it has some nice features- it's flat compared to Kelburn. Both have good playgrounds and schools. Kelburn rentals will more "student" focused, and I don't think that is a good thing, though they will be cheaper. Plenty of other nice areas, keep your eyes open for Karori, Khandallah, Brooklyn, Haitaitai... lots of choices. When you are looking for a rental you want to pick the best house (heat, sun, insultation are nice) you can, and that might turn out to be somewhere with a longer commute.

[kiwi.]

I lot of people like to claim that property they're selling or renting is in Kelburn, when in fact its in Northland or Highbury or Aro Valley. People like to be able to say its in Kelburn as it tends to sound more attractive thatn the other suburbs I mentioned. Also watch out for some of the shaded areas or valleys in Kelburn as they can be pretty dark and damp. Kelburn can be very reasonable and also very expensive, all depends on location. Kelburn is one of the places I'd like to move back to, but only if I was able to find and afford a place in a good location.