Wellington - Where to rent?

[Gaz 1060]

My partner and I are considering moving to Wellington for work and wondering what areas to stay away from and what areas to consider for a rental. We both will be working in Central Wellington but don't mind living out in the suburbs as would need a garage for the cars and garages seem to be a rarity in central places - well according to Tardme anyway.

TIA

[adams202 1]

I used to live in Northland, great suburb. About a 10-15 bus into town. Lots close by supermarket,parks & schools etc.

Worth a look anyway.

Wellington is a mint city - I miss it

[e30ftw 410]

Brooklyn is pretty good, quiet suburb just south of the city. 30min downhill walk into the CBD, or 5 / 10 minute bus.

Lyall Bay and Mirimar etc are nice places, But probably a nightmare for the morning / evening commute to and from work.

[skidz 197]

My partner and I are considering moving to Wellington for work and wondering what areas to stay away from and what areas to consider for a rental. We both will be working in Central Wellington but don't mind living out in the suburbs as would need a garage for the cars and garages seem to be a rarity in central places - well according to Tardme anyway.

TIA

So, the thing about Wellington is that everybody swears by the part of town they live in. It just depends what you want, and if you need to travel to work (and of course, where work is). Bet is to spend a few days here beforehand and just check things out. prevailing wind is northerly, so everyone wants shelter from the northerly but all day sun. Closer you are to town, the harder to get garages and the more you will spend; the further out you are the longer it takes to travel anywhere...

But it is a great city to live in.

[_ethrty-Andy_ 2132]

So, the thing about Wellington is that everybody swears by the part of town they live in.

dead right.

no real bad areas i can think of close to CBD, they more out Porirua and to the north of Lower Hutt (yes thats a towns name... lol). Miramar has planes if you are light sleeper, but you would get used to it i guess.

[KwS 2425]

Im in Kelson now, and have lived in Johnsonville and Redwood/Tawa.

Love Redwood, massive houses, lots of house proud home owners and generally just a good quiet neighbourhood. Rentals are expensive and few. Will be looking to buy a house there at some point in the future.

Tawa seems ok for the most part, but the closer you get to Porirua the more average it gets.

Johnsonville was OK, always seemed to have localised rain there though. The advantage there is they have a "mall", take aways and restaurants.

Im liking Kelson at the moment, seems a little hit and miss in some places but the street im on is OK. No supermarket, shops etc (other than the "four square") so have to go to the hutt for shopping.

What we have found here that makes a big difference from CHCH (where we previously lived), is that you cant really class one suburb better than the other.... you kind of have to work block by block. You can be in a great block, lovely houses, nice people etc then drive a couple of streets away and you have graffiti, boarded up houses, long grass etc.

We had real trouble finding a nice place, in a good area with a decent garage. We also needed the criteria of finding a place with additional OSP (so needed a garage and OSP).

Edited April 26, 2013 by KwS

[kingkarl 136]

Hataitai/roseneath/evans bay is good, close to town but feels like its removed from the hustle and bustle.

Mt Vic is also nice. Even closer to town and with lots of sun. You'll be lucky to have a backyard or a garage though.

If you don't mind living a bit further out I always thought Karori was nice - Much more suburban and very good value.

Newtown is cheap. OK in spots but a ghetto/open air mental asylum for the most part.

Personally I'd avoid kelburn/Northland having lived there. A lot of it is of students in dumpy houses who have no respect for neighbours ( I was one of them) and really nice properties which are horrendously expensive. If you chose the latter you run the risk of former.

It really depends on what you plan on doing for transport. If you get a carpark with work or plan to pay for one ($60+/week) then I'd say move further out, Johnsonville, Mirarmar, karori, Ngaio, even the Hutt etc. If you will be using the bus, stay closer in. I almost only lived in the CBD and it would have been nice to have escaped that madness each night when I went home.

I don't have any experience with the trains but that's another option if you want to be even further removed.

[kiwi535 538]

thats one thing about Wellington that is often overlooked by out of towners.We have two good rail lines into the city ,from waikanae through paraparaumu,porirua tawa and into the city.The other is From Upper Hutt down through the hutt valley and into the city.The Wellington bus service is pretty good for commuters too.As you have already stated you will find it difficult to get a double garage,They are there(or tandems garages,but rare.Much more common out inthe suburds jville north,lower hutt and north. out where the housing stock is 70s and newer.Closer in most of the housing is 50s or older,when garages where rare.There is also a rail line from J ville in to town but its only a smal line .The trains also run in from the Wairarapa.People come in from 100 k away

If you wan to know about commuting in welly go here http://www.metlink.org.nz/.If you can get near a bus route or rail station half the hassle of commuting by car is gone.(Of course public transport has its own hassles)

Edited April 26, 2013 by kiwi535

[Gaz 1060]

Thanks guys. I have spent a decent amount of time in Wellington but it's a bit hazey from my student days haha. I'm not too fused where as long as it has a garage for the car and all the bits I have however my girlfriend is a bit more picky.

Nothing is set in stone at work yet but it does give us a starting point of where to look should we get the tap on the shoulder.

[Neal 543]

Hatiatia worth a look. 10 Mins from the city and good chance of a garage.

I'm one of those Porirua types that ThrityAndy warned you about