Rangiora Reviews

[Moorf Junior]

well, things have moved on a little for us here i the UK, to a point where we can actually start looking seriously and asking some genuine questions about how/what/when/where etc. The first of probably many questions, and some may of been asked before, is about the location we are interested in - Rangiora.

We visited my sis back in Dec 05, and instantly fell in love with the Christchurch and Canturbury area in general. We visited many of the towns around the plains but never visited Rangiora, the closest we got was Oxford. Rangiora to us looks like a big enough town for the schooling (we have two girls, 8 and 11), big enough for the usual shopping requirements of a busy family of 4, big enough to feel like your not out in the sticks, small enough to not feel like a city, close enough to Christchurch for work, close enough to both the sea and hills for those days out, big enough for all the usual ammenities, etc, etc.

We would be very interested to hear from those who now live in Rangiora, either with or without kids, and to read thier opinions of the town. If possible, some pictures would be great as the net is a little thin on the ground for pics for Rangi. We'd love to hear about things like places to live (and not to live if thats the case), what the schools are like, the parks, the high street and the general feel of the town etc. I'm quite open to negative points too

Thanks,

Mike & Mia

[wilson182]

Hi Mike and Mia

We originally hail from Portsmouth in the UK, which is a very busy city. When we first came over, being city folk, we loved Christchurch city as it felt quite spacious and open in comparison. However, having now lived in Rangi for approx a year and half I feel quite claustrophiobic when we venture into Christchurch city!!!!

We are a family of three and love living in Rangi. As you mentioned, its close enough to the city for convenience - although the closest we venture in these days is probably as far as Northlands Mall. Generally we only go into the City centre on a rare night out. The high street has most things you need, one problem for me (being on a budget) is the only supermarkets in Rangi are Woolworths and New World. Countdown is in Kaiapoi, the closest Pak n Save is Northlands Mall.

big enough to feel like your not out in the sticks, small enough to not feel like a city, close enough to Christchurch for work, close enough to both the sea and hills for those days out, big enough for all the usual ammenities, etc, etc.

That pretty much sums up how I feel about it. Traffic into Chch is not normally a problem, with the exception being (of course) rush hour into the city.

The Waimakariri (Rangi, Kaiapoi, Ohoka, Oxford, Loburn, Woodend etc) and Hurunui (Amberley, Leithfield etc) Districts in general are growing. Rangiora's nickname is "Pommiora"!! And there are plenty of us about. There are a couple of new developments in Rangi and a huge one just north of Woodend called Pegasus Town and the first stage of that is well underway. http://www.pegasustown.com

You may have found this already, this is the link for the Rangiora website http://rangiora.com.

You have a few schools to choose from:
Primarys
Rangiora Borough School
Southbrook School
Ashgrove School
New Life School
St Josephs School

High School
Rangiora High School
Kaiapoi High School

Our daughter attends the Borough school and we are very happy with it. They recognised that she was slightly ahead and have put her forward a year to keep her challenged. They also have a before/after school care program which is very handy for me. I have heard that, unofficially, Ashgrove is considered to be the better school, LOL - I can't confirm that though!!

The ammenities are OK, nice big library, good cafe's a couple of good pubs/eateries, we even have a Farmers!!. If you look at the Rangiora web site, the purple building in the first pic is the town hall/cinema Not quite to the standard of Hoyts cinema, but plenty good enough.

I hope this helps,

Debs xx

[Moorf Junior]

Hi Debs,

I'm familar with Portsmouth and know what you mean. Were just along the coast in Worthing, and never venture into Brighton as were not city lovin' folk. Christchurch in comparison felt quieter than Worthing!

We have a dog which we hope to bring with us, how far away is the hills and beach by road, and are the parks in Rangiora dog friendly? We are considerate and responsible dog owners with regards to leashes and poo, not sure what bylaws atc there are in Rangi as far as where you can or cant take a dog and if it changes with the seasons as it does here in Worthing.

[wilson182]

Hi guys

This will be a usefull link for you, http://www.waimakariri.govt.nz/services/dogs/index.htm It lists where you can and cant go with dogs. We don't have one so I'm probably not going to be much help. One thing though, Rangiora is beautifully clean - the regions dog owners are much like yourselves, very responsible.

There are plenty of beaches to choose from with the main two probably being Woodend or Waikuku. Both have playgrounds and Waikuku has a splash pool in the summer. Probably about a 10mins clear drive from Rangi.

There are lots of parks, reserves and childrens playgrounds scattered around. Dudley Park is in for some major developments in the next few years. At the moment it is a large park and skate park. It is marked as being upgraded to a District playground, which means the council will build a playground to cater for kids of all ages. Dudley pool will also be upgraded in one way or another. At the moment it is closed as it is an open pool in need of major refurbishment. It was planned to be rebuilt and redeveloped into a covered pool, to be finished May 2009, but the recent local elections brought a change of Mayor and Councillors and they now want to revisit the whole project with a view to bringing costs down. We need something though, because the pool at Kaiapoi can't cope. Although, as an alternative we could all pile into Helens Spa Pool

Just out of interest, have you tried looking a Rangiora and surrounding on Google Maps? It would give you an idea of the area and the layout.

Debs xx

[Moorf Junior]

oh, believe me, i think i could qualify to be a Rangiora taxi driver - i've been studying Rangi from the air for the last year several times a day! You could give me a steel roof colour and I could tell you how many there are in any given street! Problem is it just doesnt match photos.

Sounds like Rangi is quite dog friendly, and theres nothing in that link you posted that gives us any concern - it all seems pretty common sense.

Roughly how many Rangiorians are there here?

[wilson182]

This is from Wikipedia:

As of the 2006 census the population of the urban area was 11,868. There were approximately 4,500 more people living in the surrounding rural area. The urban area has seen a growth rate of over 10% in the last five years, while the rural areas have seen population growth in excess of 25%, a trend which has continued.[1]

(Must be all those poms buying their 10acres blocks )



Ill post some photos soon - is there anything in particular you want to see??

Debs

[Moorf Junior]

Ill post some photos soon - is there anything in particular you want to see??

Err, i'm not sure to be honest! I suppose maybe a park, err, a view or two? Not sure what we want to see, it was kinda if anyone happened to have some - gives us a taster of what it looks like from ground level rather than from orbit for a change!

We appreciate your offer, but really, dont go out of your way.