[Emms]

Hi there

Please can anyone who knows wellington give me any feedback (positive or negative) on the following suburbs that I have now got on my short list

Normandale
Maurigaraki
Whitby
Khandallah
Johnsonville

This short list is meant to be based on family type suburbs with high standard and accessable primary/intermediate schools, bush type plots of decent size, not too built up and commercial and a with good community spirit.

I also have job possibilites in Auckland and fancy Titirangi in the west and Howick in the east. Any feedback here would also be great

many many thanks for any relpys to get another 'where to live' thread

Emma

[Nienke]

I live in Titirangi and I really love it here. It's very village-like, has a lot of trees and bush areas. It's not as subdivided as some of Auckland's suburbs.
There are several very good primary schools and one good intermediate school.
There are some very nice beaches at appr. 10 to 15 minutes drive from the village (Cornwallis for instance is very beautiful).
"West is Best" as they say around here.... :D

[jubjub]

We live just along from Howick, nice beached, good schools, most are decile 7 and above. You dont always get large plots in the best areas, because of the amount of subdivisions. But we did see a few that backed onto native bush when we were house hunting.

There are lots of parks and recreation areas around, including Lloyd Elsmore park which has clubs for just about every sport going.

Howick village itself has some nice cafes and restaurants, although the clothes shops can be a bit dated in the fashion stakes

You are not far from either Botany town centre, or the new Sylvia Park for shopping too.

Howick, in the main is populated by Chinese. European descent folk & South Africans, they showed the split in the paper a few weeks ago.

[Carol]

Hi there

Normandale
OKish :confused: .....primary school OK

Maurigaraki
Quite nice - primary school really good - just about to get a new principal - very strong in ICT

Whitby
Very pretty - we lived here when we first arrived - 4 great primary schools - disadvantage for us - not directly on the train line - and the zoned High School wasnt what we wanted for the kids - if I told you there are 17 buses leave Whitby every morning taking kids to private schools in the Hutt Valley that should give you a few ideas.

Khandallah
Lovely area - nearer to Welly - actually quite "posh" (hope I dont offend anyone!!) local primary school - Cashmere Avenue is fab.

Johnsonville
"Less posh" - loads of shops - quite a busy little town centre - schools OK

Sorry to be so "to the point" - but hope it helps anyway.

[sarahw]

Hi,

Howick village lovely - nice places to go out at night - Botany has good shopping, but I'd rather live a bit firther out towards the beach since there are postage stamp gardens - some massive lovely looking houses but when you have hardly any space to let the kids run round it seems a bit pointless & it seems quite busy there (some of the houses we looked at with friends who have moved there looked right into their next-door neighbour's houses!!).

Normandale - no idea

Maungaraki (think you made a typo) - nice family area - some good views. Not far from Lower Hutt/Petone with good shops. I think there are some bush plots.

Whitby - lovely - houses from 30 years old to new - the older area is the nicest with larger sections - some fabulous views over the Pauatahanui inlet. Newer part of Whitby feels like rabbit warren - big houses crammed in - just drive round to the opposite side of the inlet & look back on Whitby - you'll see exactly what I mean. Great amenities - small local shops - chip shop, pub, library, hairdressers, video shop, Dr's & Dentists, supermarket, newsagent/post office, pharmacy, cafe & couple of dairies (loads of estate agents!) Playparks & lake for kids to feed ducks. Not too far to drive from Hutt Valley, Kapiti Coast & the city, close to Porirua shopping centre. Close to beaches at Plimmerton & Mana Foreshore. If you like watersports - sailing, windsurfing, waterskiing, jetskiing, kayaking on the inlet. Good community feel - our daughter will go to one of the primary schools in Whitby area, but for secondary we'll have to see at the time.

(We lived in Whitby for 6 months when we first moved here - now living next to Whitby in Paremata - absolutely love it!).

Too far to walk to train station but tonnes of busses & loads of people drive to the train station & park up for the day (free parking at all train stations).

Khandallah - easy commute to city - expensive houses with fabulous views - great school (primary), pub & take-aways/small places to eat. Section sizes v. expensive for large one, but can be found. On the train-line. Very exposed to wind.

J'ville - good family area - reasonably priced housing, not too far to commute to the City. Shops, couple of pubs, plenty of restaurants & fast food places. The town centre is a bit commercial. Plots are average size - some large, some small.

Have you been to these places & like them all? or are you trying to pick an area blind? My suggestion is to come over for a reccy trip if you haven't already - we took one look at Paremata as we drove through & both of us commented that we wanted to live here - and here we are!! You'll get a lot from a drive-through and immediately will know whether you want to live somewhere or not. Do rent for 6 months at least to make sure you haven't made a very expensive mistake - the money is worth it in the end.

Good luck!

[Brijan]

We settled in Khandallah and love the house and veiw but it is a posh area!
Whitby is a lovely area with quite a few English residents
JVille has some really nice parts and some average areas
Maungaraki and Normandale can be a bit of a problem travelling if you work in Wellington

[Emms]

Thanks everyone

you have been massive help

can't wait to get over now and see for myself

no doubt be back on here in the mean time thou

cheers one and all

Emma :p