[olivia]

hi all,

i am new to this although i have been reading your posts for a few weeks and they are very helpful. we are moving to christchurch at the end of the year and my OH will be working in burnside. we are looking at either the suburbs to the north, i.e burwood, parklands, redwood or moving out to either prebbleton or lincoln. does anyone know what these areas are like? i have a 16 month old boy so not too worried about schools yet.

olivia x

[Aydon]

Lincoln is a lovely little place. Got everything you need in a very small area. We are renting in a new subdivision 1.5k from the centre. It's 20 mins to The Warehouse on Blenheim, about 30 minutes to Hagley Park, 45 minutes (At "Rush" Hour) to Merivale. Not sure where Burnside is though.

[olivia]

Thanks. We have friends who live in Darfield and they told us Lincoln is a lovely place too. Burnside is up by the airport so i think the commute for my OH wouldn't be too bad.

[Aydon]

Airport is 25/30 minutes from Lincoln. Don;t know what you do, but Lincoln University is nearby for Secretarial work - there;s also the Landcare place in Lincoln as well. It's lovely :)

[tonyb]

we too have thought about settling in Lincoln when we come out in Oct / Nov. I will be working at The Princess Margaret Hospital nr Casmere. What would the travelling time be like from Lincoln?? Also, what are the house prices like in Lincoln?

Regards

Tony

[katandbob]

we too have thought about settling in Lincoln when we come out in Oct / Nov. I will be working at The Princess Margaret Hospital nr Casmere. What would the travelling time be like from Lincoln?? Also, what are the house prices like in Lincoln?

Regards

Tony

when we were looking at areas, the Lincoln rentals started at $450 a week (4brm). was interested in Lincoln as I thought my youngest would be able to go to the Uni, as did most of the decent areas.

Rolleston and Prebbleton were slightly cheaper for a smaller sized house at $375 for a 3brm at Prebbleton and $425 at Rolleston - both new houses - Living was open plan and the double garages were bigger than these. the bedrooms were smallish but you could get a double in Just.

Rolleston is one huge development site where most of the rentals are, the shopping areas/parks were still being built when we looked around in June.

I Liked the Prebbleton one, but it would have felt crowded when we had 2 teenage boys living with us and the bedrooms wouldnt have fitted tv/pc's in them for them to have their own space.

Hope that helps, check out Ray Whites for rental/sales I have found that they tend to have a more realistic price basis for what a house is actually worth to say Harcourts - whos prices tend to be either not mentioned or high.

I was told by the guy we bought the car off to stay away from Nth Brighton....Freezing winds hit it - otherwise it would be as popular as Sunmer, and some of the inner suberbs (he lived in Hornby and said it was a nice place 40 yrs ago) ..he said you had to drive through S -H -! -T (look at the suberb names on a map, you get his drift) to get to some where nice! :roll ...

Oxford and the rural villages are nice, if you can live with the commute.

happy hunting

Kat

[Aydon]

We are renting a 4 bedroom house (3 double bedrooms, 1 single that we have a sa study). 900m2 land, 206 m2 house - en-suite, 2 car garage, gardens landscaped and kept by a company - $390 per week. Very good value. the house 2 doors down from us is for sale - similar spec at $450,000.

Don;t know the distance or times to Cashmere but couldn;t see it being more than 35-45 minutes. Everywhere is so close here - I keep forgetting and usually end up arriving about 25 minutes before I need to be there!

I would keep away from Rolleston - imagine Milton Keynes and you wouldn't be too far off. PRebbleton is a nice area about 10 minutes nearer Chch. Also Halswell seems nice. Tai Tapu is near Lincoln but is a lot more expensive. West Melton is a good place - seen a few places there relatively cheap.

[Moorf]

Agree with all that Aydon wrote above about Rolleston "Town of the Future" as it's called (I can only assume they mean that sometime in the future it might resemble a town) - just not my cup of tea.

West Melton is expensive imho when you can go 10 mins further up the West Coast Road and pay less. Go another 20-25 mins along to Darfield and you'll get lots more for your money but you'll be looking at a 45 min trip or so to Cashmere Hospital, albeit without seeing a car for 30 mins of the trip at 100km/hr.

I would also add in places like Kaiapoi/Rangiora north of Chch - commute can be a little busy. South Shore if you want to be near beach but not pay Sumner prices. North New Brightons freezing winds? Perhaps on the front itself, we lived there (through last winter) inland from beach a bit and it was no windier than Sumner (where the wind whistled round our rental). So much depends on your location along any of the Chch shore areas so I wouldn't totally discount it - having said that, I don't think the schools are up to much in the Brighton area :no and it is very tatty in place, but it's one of the fastest rising houseprice areas and there are lots of new builds and renovations being done which is always a good sign.

Check out some of the areas around where DebnJohn live say Waimari Beach area further north up the coast from North New Brighton.

Agree, Hornby isn't the most salubrious of areas - very industrial, busy and always looks tatty and dirty (thru my eyes).

An often overlooked area is Opawa - there's a Steiner school there and many families live there for that - but there are some gorgeous houses along the river there and it's good for town.

There's always the areas over the Port Hills such as Gov's Bay, Diamond Harbour (if you like a twisty turny drive to start your day!!). Lots of people like Lyttleton but the drunk Russian sailors and noisey working port put us off. That and the steep roads and losing the sun in the afternoon!


Oxford / Cust / Ohoka - lots of people commute into Chch from there too.

Again, "areas" are down to personal preferences and your personal needs - and here in NZ you find houses of all types, sizes, state of repair, types of inhabitants, all in the same localities at wildly varying prices. Check out all the areas before you discount them :nice1

[olivia]

we've already been warned off rolleston by our friends over there. they compared it to a massive estate we have near us which put us off.

[jen1]

:) We are thinking of moving in February/March next year. My OH will be working at The airport as an Area Radar Air Traffic Controller any ideas for places to live. I have looked at Fendalton/Merivale. Any Views?

[Moorf]

Hi Jen

What are you hoping for in your ideal location? Big garden? Quiet location? Views? Coastal? Hillside? 15 mins commute? Half hour?

Schools?

Some answers to the above will help folks in Chch give you some pointers :nice1

Moorf

[jen1]

Thanks,

We have got 2 kids (5&2) so need to be near good schools. I like the older style houses but will need decent heating. A big garden and garages will be good. I think I want to live in town/village community.

I would like:
- to be able to walk the kids to school, park, friends
- be near other people
- possibly run a holiday rental as well
- have a house I like the look of!!

OH would like:
- to cycle to work!!!!sometimes (he will work shifts so not in rush hour)
- garage for his Lancia
- garden - to mow I presume!
- a nice looking house!

The kids would like:
- be near school and friends
- have a good park nearby
- be able to go to the beach (day trips would be fine or holiday rental that I run!)

Any suggestions would be welcome and rental contacts, as we would probably rent to start with or ideas on the holiday rental idea.

Thanks for any help

[jodieinchch]

everywhere in Christchurch is a pretty short drive away to a beach so don't worry about that one. The suburbs around the airport- burnside is the closest (I think), Fendalton, Merivale, Ilam, Avonhead, etc. All very close.

[jen1]

Thanks for that. Location for us depend a lot on schools and closeish to the airport. I think we will aim to rent in Fendalton/Merivale for a at least a year. Babysitting, I am sure we will be in contact!

[jodieinchch]

Well next year I'll be living in Avonhead, Christchurch, with my own car, which is always a good thing. So nowhere is too far! Fendalton and Merivale are great areas from what I know. Heaton Intermediate School is a decile 10 school, which from 3 weeks teaching placement I did there, was great.