[kirkandliz]

Hi All - A newbie here posting for the first time but this forum has been amazing in the assistance it can give - so thank you all already!

Right a question :roll

My family and I are looking to emmigrate and Wellington is looking favourite as most of the Telecoms work appears to be there and I may have a couple of work contacts.
But where to locate to initially - in terms of recomended suburbs or areas? The family consists of me, the OH and our two boys (five and one) so we would be looking for a family orientated area. Initial rent should be up to / around the $350-400 mark.
I would not want too long a commute but then again we don't want to be in the city centre so that magical balance would be nice

Along side this can anyone reccomend and good infant schools - maybe with references to areas above

Nice broad opener for the first time!

[sarahw]

Hi & Welcome!!

There's plenty of child friendly suburbs - if you're looking outside the city, then Khandallah (5-10 mins from City centre) , Johnsonville (15 mins from City centre), Tawa (20 mins from city centre), Whitby (25 mins from city centre), Plimmerton (30 mins from city centre) - (timings are approximate & allow for traffic - on a clear run Whitby-city can be done in 15-20 mins etc.) & sure there's plenty of places in the Hutt are good. Tawa has a good school for older kids (which you'll obviously have to think about before settling in an area because of catchments) - not sure about infants schools.

We live in Paremata (next to Whitby) - lived in Whitby for the first 6 months after we moved here & loved it (only moved for the fantastic views of Paremata & proximity to railway station) Whitby has a toy library, a library, Dr's, Dentists, Plunket (child care place), plenty of estate agents! and a few shops & a pub overlooking a little pond (called a lake!) with ducks for kids to feed & plenty of play parks & a few schools - I think there's 4 schools including a private school - just 5 mins from 2 v. nice little places to eat & a newly opened boutique cinema at Pauatahanui - as well as a beautiful inlet (fantastic for water sports) & sports fields/skateboarding park for kids. Great fish & chippy & a real community feel. Also 5 mins drive from Plimmerton beach & not far to Kapiti coast - fantastic beaches & places to visit on weekends with kids. And 5 mins from Porirua city with 5 screen cinema, swimming pool, gym, shopping centre & 'mega centre' - home furnishing & electrical shops & several large supermarkets - very handy!

Plimmerton, gorgeous, gorgeous - bit longer commute because of the Paremata roundabout - although things have got better there due to road work, you still get a bottleneck somedays which put us off moving there - you can get much more for your money on the other side of the bridge (i.e. Papakowhai, Whitby, Paremata), but the beach & views are lovely - has again a villagey feel - few cafes/restaurants & there are schools & mainline station but not sure how many schools - someone else can probably fill you in.

Johnsonville & Tawa feel more like small towns than the villagey feel of Whitby, but have plenty of amenities - we have friends living in both that are really happy with the areas. Not closeby to sea though which is why we didn't choose to live there, but if you're not bothered about that they're good suburbs.

Khandallah - v. nice area - close to the city - fabby views, pricey because of it & very exposed to the wind because of the views!

But... I was at the parents show on the weekend... the Government review schools - they gave me a card with details... here's their website - check under publications & you can pick the suburb: http://www.ero.govt.nz/ero/publishing.nsf/Content/Home+Page

Check http://www.trademe.co.nz (nz bible for buying everything secondhand (kind of like e-bay) - including houses & rentals) for rental prices & details in each area.

Good luck!

[Smiler]

Sarah

You should really think about becoming a real estate agent. :D

Kirk and Liz

Welcome to the forum. :cheers:cheers

[kirkandliz]

Sarah
Thank you for the info - just the sort of thing I was looking for - but very good of you to supply so much info - Smiler is right you should consider becoming an estate agent :)

My BH (Better) really does not like being in city centres so it is great to have advice on what the suburbs are like!

If being close to a beach was thrown into the equation - as well as the family requirements - do you have any further reccommodations?

Kirk

[Smiler]

Kirk

Beach wise there's Island bay, Breaker Bay and Lyall Bay all facing the Cook Straits, Melrose is over looking these although you can loose the evening sun there and buses into CBD. As you enter the harbour, there's Seatoun and Worser bay with a nice beach at Seatoun.

Eastbourne on the opposite side of the harbour is more expensive (although I've seen decent rentals for around $400-450 but gets all day sun in most places (and the odd landslip) and there are more bays along that shoreline such as Days bay, mega 'spensive, Point Howard etc all with buses and a ferry across the harbour from Day's bay to the CBD for $220 a monthly pass. The beach at Eastbourne and Days is great.

Plimmerton is a fab beach and Paremata and Whitby as Sarah says, looks over the inlet which is gorgeous and a short drive to Plimmerton beach and Pauatahanui is the same.

A bit further up the coast say 45 mins commute, is Raumati Beach and Paraparamu too, both long sandy beaches catching all day sun and opposite Kapiti Island, a nature reserve. Rent gets cheaper up here unless you are on the beach front but you should manage a decent rental a couple of minutes from the beach for around $3-400 a week. Trains take around 45-60 mins in from Kapiti station.

HTH.

[sarahw]

;o Estate Agent?! I don't know if I'd like cheesy photos of me all over the newspaper & for sale boards!! Heh!

Smiler's given you some other great options - I forgot Eastbourne - its lovely!! Another place we would have lived if the pocket would have let us! Lots of little shops & restaurants & a pub that does excellent pizzas! - Days Bay is lovely (and so is the CoBar restaurant there!) Fantastic views of the city.

Kapiti coast has great beaches - there's also Pukerua Bay just before Kapiti coast - reasonably priced houses - just up the road from Plimmerton. We love Paraparaumu - good shopping centre & beach that just goes on for ever - good dog walking beach - fantastic views of Kapiti Island & loads of little cafes & bistro type places.

[kirkandliz]

Thanks Sarah, Smiler

I'm in discussions over how far I'm going to have to commute with OH - she does not want a city life, which I agree with, but I don't want to be too far out of things so a nice compromise will need to be found.
Personally a nice area, with good facilities and schools etcand not too caught up in the city would be ideal
Your feedback is great in that it can give us some ideas but also, it is handy to know which area's to avoid.

[sarahw]

Hi,

Areas to avoid... you'll get a feel from a drive around. Definitely Cannons Creek, Central Porirua, Waitangirua, some areas of the Hutt aren't very nice. Some people say Titahi Bay isn't very nice, but I have friends who live in fab houses there & its a bit of an up & coming area - give it a few years. Close to the city there aren't really any bad areas (correct me if I'm wrong) - the house prices kind of ensure that! But If I was to be looking I'd probably avoid the Uni areas - the one area I wouldn't want to live in is Newtown, no offence to anyone who lives there, (it is being regenerated & house prices are on the rise) but just doesn't appeal. Basically, most places with a beach are nice & you'll definitely get a feel from a drive-through.

We drove through Paremata on our first visit & it was the one place that we both commented 'I could live here!' - when we moved here we kind of gravitated towards the area, but did look elsewhere too - we went with our gut - rented for 6 months to make sure & then bought a house. I really recommend renting for a few months to ensure you make the right decision - its not dead money - it could save you a heck of a lot of money in the long-run instead of buying straight away as some of our friends have done & then being stuck in an area that you're not as enamoured with a few months on...for years due to the cost of estate agents fees!

Good luck!

[Smiler]

I like Titahi Bay and the houses there. I've a friend who rents a quirky 4 bed house there with a fab view of the harbour and a bus route at the top of the road, all for $325 a week.

Then from Porirua station you can get the train into CBD.

I'm with Sarah on the gut feeling, you'll know............and renting is a brill idea to save huge financial mistakes.

When we were planning to come here (from rented place in UK) OH insisted we would not be buying a house for at least 2 years. :wah at the time I disagreed with him and thought I'd change his mind ;). But I'm glad we've rented for the past 11 months and it's given us the opportunity to live in some nice places here (and the UK) while we look for where we want to settle.

Some friends of ours came here 10 years ago, never having been. On the plane from AKL to Welly, they saw a property paper, picked a house and saw it the next day. They moved in 2 weeks later and are still there. On the other hand friends that have bought within 2 months of arriving, know they've made a mistake and spent an awful lot of money on a house they don't like now and had building probs.

I'm not saying who's right or wrong, just some examples really.

[kirkandliz]

Can anyone give an idea of commute times into the CBD from some of these suburbs arounds Wellington?

Places like Whitby sound ideal, Johnsonville and Tawa sound like great family areas
- the OH is loving some of the descriptions of the Whitby area as she really does not want to be in the city. Good schools are a must.
I'm not too bothered - I just need accessability to the city and have access to amenieties not too far away.

But I will have to do the commute wherever we are so was interested to know if anyone can give some guidance?
General ideas from differing suburbs around Wellington would be handy
Here in the UK I drive everywhere but I don't mind using the train - whatevers easiest! How is the public transport? Could you count on it day in day out?

[StevieD]

Am I glad I found this thread!! Welcome to the forum Kirk and Liz!! :nice1

Stevie and Jan

[sizzlingbadger]

Commuting is fairly easy from Johnsonville and Tawa, have a look at www.tranzmetro.co.nz Trains run fairly frequently and you can (usually) depend on them. Really wouldn't consider driving either from the Hutt Vallies or Whitby it would take ages as both motorways merge making a very long queue.

My OH used to commute by bus from Churton Park, suburb between Johnsonville and Tawa and it used to take him at least 40 mins in rush hour, after that it used to take me 10-20 minutes into CBD.

Make sure you also have a drive up to Pinehaven, Silverstream in Upper Hutt. Not too close to the beach but both lovely suburbs with good schools.

[Anita & Marco]

Did anyone mention Karori already?
I live there now and although we are only a couple I think it is great for kids as well - and there are good schools here.

And I think Newtown is a lovely area of Wellington - one of the most diverse areas should say. I can imagine that someone who loves to be surrounding with people who are all a bit the same, would not like living there.
And maybe it is not a nice area when you have kids - I am not sure about that.

Cheers,
Anita