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Thread: Palmerston North opinions?

  1. #1
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    Default Palmerston North opinions?

    I have spent a fair bit of time in the all North Island university cities except Palmerston North, which I have never visited. Can anyone who lives or lived there or thereabouts give me their opinion?

  2. #2
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    haha I love it here. But what are you looking for? What is your reference point and I'll try to tailor my answer to be more suitable for you.

    (and I'll respond more when I have more time- I have to get ready for class).

  3. #3
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    I have a little bit of time so here we go.

    Palmy is the major city in the Manawatu region which is mainly known for agriculture (dairy, sheep, and beef farms). It's a pretty flat city with wide streets (great for cycling). However the shopping is not great, and things can be hard to find here.

    I find it very pretty here, but it's nothing spectacular compared to other places in NZ. This is good in my opinion because we really don't get a lot of tourists around.

    When Uni is in the population almost doubles. The night life is alright, not great, not horrible (IMO). There are a lot of student bars, but a few nicer more adult bars.

    The weather is bipolar. You can never tell what's going to happen. The forecast may say sunny and warm and it will end up rainy and cold. It also can be grey and rainy at one moment then sunny and blue skies in a few hours. The wind can also blow a lot.

    There's not a lot of good live theatre IMO. There's one movie cinema which gets the good movies eventually (12 screens in total I think??). There's one major museum (Te manawa) that I admit to never having been to.

    There is a local rugby team that has a good following but doesn't seem to do much (I could be very wrong on this, but I don't follow it very closely). It's a good area for sports. Sport Manawatu is a great resource. They know just about all the sports going on- so if you're looking for something particular, they're a good place to start. There's also a number of good hikes in the area.

    There's several stores that you can get imported foods at. (Davis trading, Steve's Bulk barn, The New World on Pioneer) I tend to look for Root Beer and Dr. Pepper once in awhile.

    It's a pretty quiet city, especially in summer. If you like hanging out with friends, doing dinner parties, occasionally seeing movies etc. It's great. If you're a student it's really easy to make friends. If you're not it can be a bit difficult to find friends, but if you're open and friendly it'll happen. People here are nice, but because there are so many students they seem to not try to get to know new people very quickly (in my experience, but I'm a student).

    If you like culture and a fantastic night life then you should either not live here or budget for trips out of town.

    Wellington is about 2 hr drive away
    Napier is also about 2 hr drive away.
    Taupo is about 3-4 hr drive away
    The closest beaches (Himatangi and Foxton) are about 1/2 -3/4 hr drive away.

  4. #4
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    Thanks for the info.

    One other important thing as far as I can see: it's a cheap place to rent or buy a house.

    I'm also guessing that because of the university and regional hospital there's going to be a fairly steady influx of people from the UK taking jobs; would be that correct? That's something that's helped me to settle in other places I've lived.

  5. #5
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    There are some people from the UK, but I haven't come across as many here as I have other places. It may just be the circles I run in though.

  6. #6
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    We have been in Palmy for 5 months and like the area also.

    We would agree with everything that is said so far.

    One thing to note on the cheap housing is that a lot of that housing is marketed towards students and can be in rather poor condition. Poor students don't seem to care I guess We had to shop around for a couple of days until we found something to our liking. There is lot more flats to rent on the market in November and December after all the university students move.

    If you are looking to buy it is relatively cheap compared to the rest of the country especially if you live outside of town in one of towns about a 15 minute drive from here like Fielding.

    It is not a tourist hotspot but there is still lots of good stuff to do around here, especially if you like to do stuff outdoors. The beach is only about 30 minutes away, and both the Ruahines and Tararua mountains are nearby if you like to tramp like us.

    If you have any specific questions, let us know.

  7. #7
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    The town has a bad reputation among New Zealanders. It is certainly not a town I would consider an "aspiration destination," ie, somewhere I would travel halfway around the world to move to or visit, without a good reason.

    The very polluted Manawatu River which runs through Palmerston North made the national news again today: http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/poli...y-river-stench The weather is certainly bleaker and rainier than places further north. The non-student residents seem poorer than people in more populated areas. It's definitely not scenic in the way that many places in NZ are. It's not a college town the way Americans envision college towns -- ie, you rarely see flyers in town or at the university for lectures, concerts and more life-of-the-mind-oriented public gatherings.

    That said, Palmy's really not that terrible. There are a fair number of restaurants. The city council does seem to try to improve things; the central square is kept in good repair, there's a nice library and an extensive aquatic complex. Housing prices are lower than other places.

    The town council is about to spend another $200,000 to convince NZ'ers that Palmy is not a bad place to visit or live.
    Last edited by sweetpea; 27th February 2010 at 04:34 PM.

  8. #8
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    ^Probably true concerning affluence;

    http://www.enz.org/new-zealand-incomes.html

    Wellington 1,351
    Auckland 1,265
    Canterbury 1,214
    Taranaki 1,197
    Bay of Plenty 1,180
    Waikato 1,164
    Tasman / Nelson/ Marlb / West Coast 1,161
    Southland 1,161
    Otago 1,103
    Gisb. / Hawkes Bay 1,098
    Northland 1,055
    Manawatu / Wanganui 996

  9. #9
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    Manks is offline Serial procrastinator and general busybody
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    I'm interested in this average wage discussion as I have a job interview with a regional council in Palmy.

    I know what kind of salary I could probably get/ask for in Auckland/Welly, and the associated higher cost of living of course. And through other links on this forum, I've found out what the median wage for my profession is in NZ. But they probably don't align with what I could ask for in Palmy.

    I may be getting ahead of myself as the interview isn't taking place until Sunday night my time, but it's always worth being armed in case they ask a related question at the interview.

    [will also cross post in the Working in NZ forum]

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