Dunedin - Neighborhoods - Family, walking friendly

We're a family of 2 adults, 1 baby, soon to be 2 babies. We're relocating from Nelson to Dunedin for the second baby, and will try to stay there for a while.

We want to rent a house or apartment, and are wondering what neighborhoods would best fit us.

Here's what we'd like:

1) Within ~30 minutes walking distance of city center and the botanic garden.

2) Preferably not too hilly, since we'll be with a stroller. (I know this might be difficult in Dunedin)

3) Neat, quiet neighbors. (So, not those trashy student streets.)

4) Warm (for the babies); I guess this means we need sun, unless we can safely rely on heat pump and/or oil heaters.

Which neighborhoods would you recommend?

I've heard Maori Hill mentioned repeatedly as a nice place, but that's up a hill. We drove up it once a couple months ago. I don't remember if there was a nice sidewalk (or trail) into town or not. Saint Clair is supposed to be nice, but that's a bit long of a walk to city center.

How often does it get frosty and icy in Dunedin? And when does, are those steep sidewalks unsafe for a pregnant women with a stroller? Can people rely on buses in those conditions?

We lived in Dunedin for 4 years, started off outside town, on the way to Waldronville. It is a 20 minutes drive into town, but a lot longer to walk, so probably not the right place.
Maori Hill has a good reputation, but a fried who used to live in Dunedin and now lives there again reckons it is one of the coldest places!
The problem you might have is that you would like to be close to the Botanical Gardens and the towncenter, but since the nicer areas (in my opinion), without that many students, are on the other side of the CBD, it might be either- or.
I personally think St.Clair is one of the nicest places around, it is close to the beach, you have quite a good bus system - of course the walk to the Botanical Garden takes a bit longer. On the other hand you can walk along Portsmouth Drive, there is a walk/ cycle way into town.
We lived in Andersons Bay for the last two years, a very sunny place, but again, a bit further out and on a hill, as well.

The hills, if you are on the right side of them, might, on the other hand, be good for catching a lot of sun- very important in Dunedin!

Maybe you could have a look at trademe- if you are not looking especially for a house and garden, I remember there were some apartments closer to town which, at least from the photos, looked like they were modern and new?

About the winter/ ice..., there are some days where places like Maori Hill get snow and ice and the buses don't run, you very rarely get any snow or severe ice on the flat. There were days were there was frost on the sidewalks, but as soon as the sun comes up, it will be gone.

Good luck with your search- do you have the opportunity to spend some time in a motel or something like that and look around for the right place?

Thanks for the info!

I've been looking at lots of houses on trademe, and the sheer number of options is overwhelming! I know from experience that it's hard to get a "feel" for a place based on photos, so that's why I wanted to get some first-hand advice about neighborhoods.

We'll be staying in a hostel for a couple weeks at least, maybe even a month or so, while looking at places.

How are the rental agents down there? Are there any that you'd recommend (or recommend against), or are they all pretty much the same?

We rented through century 21 and ...., actually forgot the first! Our last place was a private rental with the landlord living about 30m up the road from us- a lovely elderly couple, who used to live in that house and raise their 4 children there, before they built another, slightly easier to manage, house! We had absolutely no problems with them and I would go for a private rental any time again, to be honest!

I can't really recommend any agency or warn you, we did not have bad experiences. Except for the fact, that the last agency thought they argue about two days rent with us, after we left the house in a 100% better condition than when we moved in :uhoh, but after some open words they saw our point:D.
Considering the fact that we arrived in Dunedin as total strangers without any income and without any knowledge about the rental market etc. the agents were all quite helpful, I have to say!

If you're staying in a hostel, make sure to go and look at different neighbourhoods at different times of the day to see where the sun is!
Another suburb which came to my mind would be Roslyn, apart from the fact that it is on the hill, as well......

I've noticed that there are a lot of real estate agents in Dunedin.

Does it make sense to contact real estate agents before hand, asking them which houses fit our profile? Or will that just waste our time?

We found that in Nelson, real estate agents were unhelpful, indifferent, and often downright rude; we ended up renting directly from an owner, which worked out very well for us. Are the real estate agents in Dunedin nicer, smarter, and more customer-oriented? Or is it a duck duck goose game like in Nelson?

Thanks!

Where do the professors in Dunedin tend to live? Do they live near the student area (north of the octagon)?

Real estate agents- the ones we dealt with were ok nice, I think..., and seemed to be helpful enough, as well..., a lot comes down to personal impressions.....
Probably it can't hurt to contact different agencies, leave your profile with them and see if they come up with something helpful, but at the same time I would try to look for myself. I think that renting privately has some huge advantages, but someone else might prefer to deal with an agent.

I don't know that many professors.., we know someone who lived in Musselborough, another lecturer in Maori Hill, someone who works at the hospital in St.Kilda.
So I guess it has more to do with your idea of how long you wish your commute to be- and of course someone with a family would have other preferences than a single person.
I am pretty sure that none of them lives in the actual "student areas" like Castle street, though:exit

Roslyn wasn't too bad when we visited Dunedin. I think most places are hilly though. There seemed to be a reasonable range of places to walk to in Roslyn though. Sun exposure is going to vary by street though I'm afraid.

An agent wrote me back and said the following areas were the most family-friendly and popular:

- Roslyn
- Maori Hill
- St Clair
- Andersons Bay
- Musselburgh
- Mornington ( Some areas )

Looking at a map, it seems like Roslyn and Maori Hill are closest to the Octagon. The others seem quite a long walk away.

We talked to a couple of Dunedinites last night. One of them recommends we check out the areas north of the botanic garden (near Baldwin St). I don't know much about that area, and haven't seen many houses for rent there. Is that still part of the student ghetto or is it too far away from the University to attract them?

As far as I Know there are some student flats still north of the botanical garden, in the Baldwin Street area. But, and this is my opinion only, you have to be extremely careful with where you go there as the hill takes at lot of the sun away and there are some places which don't get any sun in winter at all. But having said that, you will find these places more or less throughout Dunedin, because it is so hilly.
We lived in St.Clair ("border' of) for a year and the house was freezing cold in winter, as the lounge/ kitchen area had about two to three hours of sun every say during the winter months. Would we have been on the opposite side of the road, it would have been different.....

I guess that you will find people who love where they are in every part of the town, it all depends on what your expectations are.
As mentioned before, a friend of mine said that Maori Hill is one of the coldest places, because of some winds, as far as I remember..., but it is definitely one of the more pricey areas and has a good reputation, as far as my knowledge goes.
St.Clair, St.Kilda and Andersons Bay are definitely further out, but not inaccessible.
If you try to research the areas beforehand by looking at Trademe, for example and then, when you're actually in Dunedin, try to go to different areas at different times of the day, that should give you a pretty good impression, I think?!:)

We are in Dunedin now, looking for a place.

Yesterday we drove around Roslyn, Maori Hill, North West Valley, and Opoho. We found that some of the streets were so steep it was scary in the car! And other places were very shady (and cold) while the houses on the other side of the street, valley, or hill were sunny. And there were nice houses right next to run-down houses. So picking a house based on neighborhood is not going to work very well here.

We did find one house up on Signal Hill Drive, about 15 minutes' walk (down) to the top of the Botanic Garden. The views were great, and the neighboring houses were all very nice, but the walk up to the house was very long and steep.

Is the Opoho neighborhood good? I don't hear it mentioned very often.

We are thinking about renting a house in North East Valley, near Chingford Park. It's on the flat, about a block away from North Road.

Anyone know about that area?

Hi, Opoho is nice, and sunny too, although up a big hill as you will have noticed. Near Chingford Park is okay, but you will find that the sun doesn't really get there too much if you are on the left hand side of North Road looking northwards. A chum of mine loves living in NEV despite the cold. I have other friends who love living in Wakari (with children too), but I quite living up the hill in Dalmore/Pine Hill.

Too cold for me down there!!

Brrr.

@Denali . . . how's your move to Dunedin thus so far? My bf & I are also gunho about this city

Loving it!

Dunedin is much more our style than Nelson, at least at this point in our lives.

We love the diversity of people, the lush vegetation (much more hiking-friendly than in Nelson), the excellent college radio, the cheap food, the museums, etc.

The only "bad" thing is the cold, but we got used to that within a month or so. It rained a lot a couple weeks ago, but since then it's been nice and dry. We're loving the cool, crisp weather. Definitely beats the constant winter rain of the US Pacific NW!

Welcome here denalipop!

I am living now for more than four years in this place and I am still loving it. Did you now settle in NEV? (@ sary: As far as I know Chingford Park is still part of NEV not Opoho.)

Re climate: What I like about Dunedin is that it generally does stay cold during the day. Even after -5 in the night you may expect around +10 at lunch time. That is something very different to Europe.

Yes, we settled in NEV. The flat makes for easy walking. We walk to the gardens almost every day! :)

(You probably arrived too late for the last one.) Over the previous two years from November until May there happened to be the following series: "Sunday Bandstand performances in the Band Rotunda at the Dunedin Botanic Garden". See here for the most recent one http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/events/gi...nday-bandstand to get an idea what is on offer. It is very much anticipated that it will be repeated again.

Denali, I'm really happy for you that you're loving Dunedin! I just hope my bf and I will be able to get there . . . period! We were also thinking about NEV . . . if you don't mind, I might pick your brain regarding the area, economy, job market . . . I hope that's not too much of a liberty with you . . .

In regards to weather, I also had lived in the Pacific NW (Seattle), my bf in Michigan, so no, we don't mind cold weather at all. In fact, it'll be so welcome after living in the desert (Tucson, AZ) which we both despise!

As the Kiwis say, "good on ya!"

Cheers,

Cara

Is anyone familiar with Middlemarch? My bf is awfully fond of the country and it seems quite nice . . . how far is it from downtown and are there houses available for rent?

Hi CaraLee,

Middlemarch is about 1 to 1.5 hours of drive from Dunedin. It is more like a tiny village rather than a town. Check it out in google maps or zoomin.co.nz. Looks like there are almost as many streets as houses there ;-)

The scenery around Middlemarch is really breathtaking. Especially if you drive in there from Dunedin: at some point you can look over the valley with the Rock And Pillar Range as a backdrop. The contrast between the flat fields and the rough and harsh mountains made my photographer's heart jump out of enjoyment. Just imagine early morning sunrays on the fields in the valley and some sinister looking clouds over the surrounding hills and mountains; simply awesome!

Every now and then some rentals in that area turn up on trademe. I wouldn’t recommend settling there, though. At least not in your first years in NZ. It is just too small and remote.

If you really want to live in the countryside I suggest you look at the Taieri Plains west of Dunedin. Not as spectacular as Middlemarch but you still have agricultural fields and some hills as backdrop. Near Saddle Hill might be nice. It is only a short drive into the city, you have the ocean near by and the weather tends to be a little bit warmer there than in Dunedin itself.

The Otago Penisula and the area west of the entrance of the Otago Harbour offer some more 'remote' places with beautiful scenery as well.

Cheers,

Moritz.

The only reason to live in Middlemarch is farming. There is just not very much - and there is not very much happening.
"Taieri Plain is warmer" yes, but only in summer; in winter it is colder than Dunedin CBD. Is is already the first step from Coastal Otago climate to Central Otago climate.
You could go further up to Ranfurly. That is quite remote, scenery more spectacular than in Middlemarch, but at least it is a township.

Goodness but your replies were so prompt and quick . . . Moritz and Ralf, thank you very much for your input . . . I prefer to be in NEV but my bf wants something closer to the country but obviously we need to be where there are actual jobs. Thanks awfully both for your imput!

Cheers!!

Another question (sorry, I should research on my own, but figure this might be more accurate): can anyone recommend some great, successful bakeries? I don't mean large, corporate run businesses but rather "mom & pop" owned ones? I'm a baker/pastry cook by profession and would like to get people's personal opinions on them.

Any input would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers! :cheers

Cara :clap

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Originally Posted by CaraLee

Another question (sorry, I should research on my own, but figure this might be more accurate): can anyone recommend some great, successful bakeries? I don't mean large, corporate run businesses but rather "mom & pop" owned ones? I'm a baker/pastry cook by profession and would like to get people's personal opinions on them.

Any input would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers! :cheers

Cara :clap

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Hi Cara,

You might've already done this, but maybe start a new thread rather than adding a question to someone elses post as you're likely to get more people looking at it and answering. :)

Yes, I have thought of that but I'm not able to do that . . . do you suppose it's because I'm still new to the forum?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CaraLee

Yes, I have thought of that but I'm not able to do that . . . do you suppose it's because I'm still new to the forum?

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Hmm shouldn't be. If you go here http://www.enz.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=16 and on the left hand side, under the tool bar there should be a button for "new thread" and you should be able to post from there. Hope that helps :)

:nice1Thank you . . . I'll give it a shot!

CaraLee -

NEV has been nice for us, with the flat walk into town and Chingford Park right there. However, we're on the shady side, and when it gets cold outside, it very quickly gets cold inside.

I know you've been told a million times (as I was) that kiwi houses are cold. Well, they are! In the States, we never stayed in a house without insulation or double-glazed windows, so had no idea what it would feel like. Now we know. It's one step above camping, in terms of temperature. You're given the choice of either freezing or paying enormously high electric bills. Our bill for the first month here (not even winter) was $400 NZD, and that's for a small house with us being very stingy with the heat.

So my point is, if you chose NEV, or any shady area in Dunedin, be prepared to pay lots of money to stay warm!

That said, the actual weather seems nicer in winter than Seattle. It's cold, but so far it's been mostly dry rather than drizzly, and that makes a huge difference. So if you like being outside year-round, it's a definite upgrade!

You were wondering about farmland... We just visited Mosgiel for the first time yesterday. It reminds us a little of Skagit County, and the other counties north of Seattle, where there's farmland with hills on one side. The landscape is kinda picturesque, but the town of Mosgiel itself is small without being charming. Kinda like Richmond is to Nelson. Didn't do it for us; we strongly prefer Dunedin itself.

You might want to consider starting in town, and then working your way out. That's our plan. NEV, as green as it is, is still a lot more urban than where I grew up. Yards are small, smog is heavy, and your own neighbors can be rude, especially when they are in a car! (Kiwi drivers are incredibly impatient and rude; that's another stereotype that has proven true many times over!).

However, we plan to stay in NEV to learn about the town and university and meet people... And then at some point move further out, to where we can have more space for kids, animals, volleyball nets, etc. But it would be really rough to start off isolated, before meeting anyone or learning "the system". Something to think about when making your arguments for NEV.

T

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Originally Posted by denalipop

So my point is, if you chose NEV, or any shady area in Dunedin,

...

It's cold, but so far it's been mostly dry rather than drizzly,

...

where we can have more space for kids, animals, volleyball nets, etc.
T

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NEV per se is actually not shady, it just depends on which side you are. And this relevant for all areas in Dunedin!!

The winter so far is a quite warm one this year . Not many nights with frost yet.

Properties in Dunedin with enough space for a volleyball net are rare. Especially considering it shall be flat, sunny, etc. However I wish you luck!

T,

Thanks for the response! My main concern is trying to find baking jobs (I'm looking into a work study program) and to live in an area where it's not too far away from the CBD but also have some privacy where our neighbors aren't literally a foot away from us!

We chose Dunedin because of its smaller population and because the last time I checked (within six months) there were job opportunities in the baking industry. Of course, should that opportunity dry up, I suppose I could always fall back on administrative work.

How bad is the smog and rude driver issue? I was born and raised in Southern California and somehow I get the feeling that those two issues won't be as difficult in Dunedin. We currently live in Tucson, AZ and talk about rude drivers! Actually, the drivers aren't so much rude as they are stupid and pull all sorts of stupid acts (i.e. not using a turn signal, turning right from a middle lane, driving 55 mph in a 35 mph zone, driving 45 in a school zone) so I'm used to rude. The smog here in Tucson is also mixed in with dust (we do live in the desert after all) not to mention very hot weather (triple digits).

We so need a better quality of life, where it's more slower paced, surrounded by beautiful scenery, and a cooler climate.

Again, thank you for all your input and I just hope that everything's coming up roses for you and yours.

Warmest Regards,

Cara

Cara Lee, I just read the last pages of the thread...., we lived in Dunedin for four years, but on the other side of the CBD, and I have not have that bad experiences with rude drivers. A lot is coming down to personal experience, I guess, and that is just mine.
As for the smog- yes, in winter when everyone operates their woodburners, there is some smog in the area, but, again, it might be worse in the NEV- side of town, because the wind can't take the smog away as easy as near the open sea.
We lived up in the area of Tunnel Beach Road for a year and when I drove down to St.Clair to drop the kids off at school we could see the smoke wavering, but I never thought it was too bad.

Regarding the cold houses and the non- existing insulation- yes, it gets freezing inside a lot of times and when it is wet, it s even worse. We experienced all sorts of different houses (three in 4 years), and learnt quickly how important the sunny side is for the well- being!

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Originally Posted by CaraLee

How bad is the smog and rude driver issue?

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Smog is generally not an issue in metropolitan Dunedin. There are very few very localised spots that are prone to smog. These are - of course - the few valleys here, e.g. NEV or Leith valley. However nothing compared to Alexandra for instance which again is much less than you experience in Europe.

Rude drivers as in "boy racers" happen but very often. The typical Kiwi driver is careless in a sense that they are driving as back in the seventies - not much traffic and we'll all manage - somehow.

Wow, thanks all for the advice . . . I'm really not worried about rude drivers and smog because after all, I can't imagine NZ being worse than the U.S. especially Tucson, AZ where it seems to be the "Appallingly Stupid & Moronic Drivers" capital of the Nation!