Paraparaumu

[Tui2too]

Is there anyone on the forum living there who would care to write and share their experiences ? Or pm me ?

We are possibly moving to Wellington in early 2009, and I am considering Paraparaumu as a place for us to settle. From all I can find on the internet it seems ideal...but I'd love an insider's perspective!

We are a family of five, I'm a stay-at-home mom with three kids (aged 7-16) and OH would need to commute daily into the CBD by train. We understand it is about an hour's commute which he seems agreeable to ... we've also considered the Wairarapa but that seems a little further out (and more expensive to commute from).

[Helsandfamily]

I don't live there but have visited once or twice an would consider moving there. The rail link is very good, and it has a nice shopping center, and the beach is lovely. IMHO

[Steven & Ann]

Pros

More chance of larger sections, friendly, good services, rapidly being developed, investment in roads, rails and car parks, lower humidity than some places, more healthy, beeches, walks, cycling, cafes, beeches, micro-climate, no particular high risk areas, property likely to inflate fast in the medium term, mainly flat, local bus services, rail station, lifestyle blocks.

Cons (depending on what upsets you, and what you are comparing with)

Not geered up with lots of options after midnight, longish commute to Wellington CBD, not many pubs, no marina, shortage of employment opportunities for OH other than retail and usual local industries, no A+E overnight, we live there

Steve

[Tui2too]

Thanks the pros list sounds all good and nothing bothers me about the cons list!

When I search 4 bdrm houses under 400K in the Wellington area and then rule out the areas with not so good schools I am left with Kapiti...so I'm kind of putting all my eggs in one basket! ;-)

I checked the library website and it looks good too (another plus!)
I'm happy to see recycling has begun!
Are there things to do for a stay at home spouse (book clubs, yoga etc)?
Are there some nice gardens? Walking trails?
I've heard traffic is bad...is it really bad? I am not a 'city' person at all and Para will be our first city-living experience in a long time, so hopefully it has more of a small town feel?
Does it seem a walkable place? (I loathe driving)
Is there a community feel ?
Does it feel isolated since the road is reputed to be bad?

I have a million more questions (LOL) if anyone cares to describe more here or pm me I'm hungry for details! :-)

[JasonS]

we live in paraparaumu beach and feel it is just right for us. we moved here from the suburbs of phoenix, a city of over 3 million people, and feel that this town has just the right amount of people. so, when people say the traffic is bad, it is nothing compared to what we were use to. sitting and waiting in queue at the main roundabout, off hwy 1, where traffic seems to back up the most, for five minutes is no big deal in my book.

the other nice thing is that most of the shops that you would need to buy many things at are right here in town, cutting down on travel. that is important to us with petrol prices going up. plus, depending on where you lived, you could walk to the shops. it takes me 15 min to walk to downtown paraparaumu beach, or to the beach.

DH takes the train to the CDB everyday and actually enjoys the times on the train relaxing, or sleeping, and even socializing with the regulars. i take the train as well to my part time job in poriua and i also enjoy the down time while on the train as well as watching the scenery.

we bought a house that is located between paraparaumu beach primary school and the college. which we felt was perfect so our kids will be close enough to walk to both schools. there seems to be a fair amount of families here and plenty of kids. since this use to be a big retirement community, there are many older people as well. and that is all good, most are extremely friendly.

there are a few walking trails and tramping trails near by, including along the waikanae river, queen elizabeth park, and otaki gorge is about a 20 minute car drive away. and of course, there is the beach to walk along as well.

it does not feel isolated here because the towns of waikanae and raumati are right next to us and wellington is about a 45 minute car drive away.

as far as clubs for SAHM, i am not sure. i was a SAHM when we first arrived, but i now have a part time job to keep me occupied while the kids are at school. plus, having a part time job was a good way for me to get out and meet some new people.

anyways, i hope i have helped to answer some of your questions. if you have more, PM us.

laurel

[Tui2too]

Thank you so much Laurel! It is great to get a north american's perspective too!!

We want to live within walking distance to primary and secondary schools too. Does that mean the train station wouldn't be walking distance? I have a million questions so I'll pm you tomorrow! I'm just up now at 1:30 AM with a sick kid..so glad I checked the forum too!

[tigerlily]

I live in Wellington, but I really like the Kapiti Coast. Parapara does not feel like a city to me. It feels like a town. The biggest draw back that I see, as a family, is that OH would have that long commute into the CBD. But the property prices out there sure are better, and Wellington is still available for visits when you need them. There are some places about half way out of Wellington that I also like- Plimmerton and Whitby are about 30 minutes by train (which is a nicer way to commute than car IMHO).

[incredible hulse]

Thanks the pros list sounds all good and nothing bothers me about the cons list!

When I search 4 bdrm houses under 400K in the Wellington area and then rule out the areas with not so good schools I am left with Kapiti...so I'm kind of putting all my eggs in one basket! ;-)

Hi - You'd be lucky to get a 4 bed up here for less than 400k to be honest - if it is I suspect you would be very disappointed when you see it. I would see that as a very bottom price and would think upwards of 500k would be more realistic

[Steven & Ann]

Dont recall a book club, but I am aware of DIY coffee clubs via various forums. You can Walk North and South, but not a lot of routes. If you want to start a club you probably could with a little advertising.

Like many places outside Auckland, its not so big that there is an endless number of options for walking and riding, etc., so you may struggle if you want lots of different walks. But you can drive to plenty of places where you could walk for days if that your thing, especially going east towards the Hut. Gardens are called reserves here. Some are basic with swings and grass, others can be good for 2-3 hour visits, especially if you are prepared to drive to them.

Traffic can be a real pain at the Raumati end. Sometimes there is a traffic Jam and I have to wait for 4 cars at the junction with the state highway. Some of the locals wont pull out in less than an 8 second gap, frustrating to those of us who learnt to drive in London. Much of north Paraparaumu feeds into one road near the shopping centre, which can have 30 car queues on exceptional days.

Driving to Wellington is no real problem till you get to Tawa, Johnsonville. Traffic is bad on rainy days. The real issue would be a bad crash, as there is only one viable route at some points. A three Helicopter crash can set you back two hours (only had one of these). I once got stuck behind a house on a truck on the way to an early flight. Nearly missed the plane, but the pilot was also late. Figured out he was the one behind me hitting the horn.

I generally leave Raumati at 7:35+ for 8:30 at the CBD edge. I work unusually long hours and the train timetable doesnt work for me.

Incidentally, bar the holiday weekends and rush hour, the roads are relatively empty. We don't plan on travelling with the traffic on one of the big holiday days, as you might spend a few hours in queues.

The whole Kapiti coast has less of a city feel than most of the rest of Wellington. The roads can be wide, as are the footpaths and burns. The area can be particularly green. It has no CBD, just light industrial areas and the retail centres. The 3-4 big schools are the largest employers, followed by the council, the hospital (no A&E), the two call centres, the police, the fire station, retail units, doctors, dentists, family businesses, butchers, bakers and candlestick makers.

Kapiti attracts a large number of retired people and young families, and probably therefore slightly more stay at home mums. Like anywhere in NZ, striking relationships can be difficult. Many of the locals families have both parents working, so I guess this may be a good thing for Kapiti.

I don't think there's a potted community here beyond the normal ones, the school gate, the coffee shop, amatuer dramatics, bike clubs, bowling clubs (crown + ten pin), golf club and yacht club, and Gym sessions.

You are "isolated" from Wellington. Many south Wellingtonians won't commute beyond the CBD, and to most - Kapiti is a holiday destination. It means you don't bring most of the work relationships home. Conversly if you do end up knowing local work colleagues that can work for you. You can find however that most of what you buy elsewhere you can get for the same price or better locally. We shop in Porirua or lower hutt for the variety occasionally.

The lifestyle blocks can get a bit isolated, I suspect. Possibly not a great strategy if you have social kids, with all the driving you will do.

Its worth knowing Kapiti is for you before you buy. We have noticed a few migrants never settle and head to Wellington to reduce the commute or go back overseas . But for others its also the place they would most likely move to next.

Kapiti is very walkable. Bring a hat for the sun. Encourage the kids to walk, but expect to be called out to get them home occassionally. It attracts older people because its particularly flat, rare in Wellington and the surrounds. That makes it easy to get around. Some other wellington locations cant be safely walked by children because of the absence of a footpath.

Not sure of house prices, other than they range from $165K for a small wreck, to $4m for film directors. Waikanae is cheaper, but has less facilities.

[Tui2too]

Steve and Ann, Thanks for such an informative post!!

"The whole Kapiti coast has less of a city feel than most of the rest of Wellington. The roads can be wide, as are the footpaths and burns."

What are burns? I'm guessing what we call the shoulder of the road?

"The area can be particularly green. It has no CBD, just light industrial areas and the retail centres. The 3-4 big schools are the largest employers, followed by the council, the hospital (no A&E), the two call centres, the police, the fire station, retail units, doctors, dentists, family businesses, butchers, bakers and candlestick makers."

LOL about the candlestick makers! What is A&E ? I saw it in a previous post and took it to mean arts and entertainment but with the word beside hospital it got me wondering accident and emergency???

I guess I'll be starting a book club then LOL

OH and I are seeing this as a pre-retirement move away from the ice and snow of Canada...so it sounds ideal so far! I take your point about not buying right away, I imagine we will rent in the short term to make sure Para is for us. We will be anxious to get settled, get the kids into schools, and we won't want to throw too much away into rent (we find nz rents exorbitant!)...so I'm trying to do as much virtual leg-work as possible before getting there! :-)

As far as I can tell from the online real estate listings there are quite a few houses under or around 400K that seem just fine for us. Are there bad areas to advoid?