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Thread: Tauranga

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    5

    Default Tauranga

    Hi everyone, looks like the move will not be to Christchurch after all but instead to Tauranga. We are pleased as we looked at this area a few years ago and were disappointed when nothing materialized.

    Question for people living in this area or have lived in this area?????

    Where are the best places to live and are there any places to avoid? I use the word avoid, although I suspect there is no where as such but thought I would check. We are a family of 4 with two pre-school aged children. We have looked at Bethlehem as the Bethlehem College looks good but we are not religious so don't think we would be eligible. Papamoa and Welcome Bay looks nice but again would be interested in peoples views on the areas. When we get there we will have no one so it would be nice to move to a friendly area so that we can make friends. Is there a Tauranga social group or could anyone advise on any clubs that would be good to make contact with to start making friends? When we first arrive I will not be working as I want to be there for the children so it will be harder for me as I am used to working full time in a busy job, maybe I will enjoy the time off!!!!

    Any advice would be greatly welcomed.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    Tauranga
    Posts
    116

    Default

    Hi,
    I can’t help you with any answers but I will follow this thread with interest.

    I have just moved to Tauranga - arrived a week ago - and am temporarily staying at Ohauiti, a neighbourhood with quite nice residential areas as you go further out (e.g. Boscabel or Adler Drive). I have no-one here either, and I am not religious either, but I have no children, so schooling is not a relevant aspect to me. I won’t be working either, at least not initially and if later, then not full time.

    I bought in a new residential area, The Lakes, some 8 km south of the city centre. It is a three-stage development, Stage 1 being already quite built up while the other two stages are mainly bare land with only roads and sections for sale so far. I will be moving there in the first or second week of November when my container arrives.

    I found the area very well designed from an urban planning point of view and also quite attractive with regard to the topography it offers (artificial lakes, walkways, hills with viewing platforms). There are design guidelines and covenants regarding the standard of houses, landscaping and gardens acceptable to The Lakes’ management, so it looks like the suburb will turn out nice in the long term, with no ugly pockets or run-down properties as outliers. There is no supermarket yet, but it is planned once the number of residents there makes it commercially viable, i.e. probably once Stage 2 has built up to a reasonable density. The nearest shopping area and all services one might need for everyday purposes are located in Greerton. There is Aquinas College nearby, but it is a Catholic school, so it wouldn’t be suitable for you.

    When I was in Tauranga in December 2012/January 2013 to look at options, I also considered Papamoa Beach. Although the bonus of having the beach just across the road was tempting, the tsunami risk – however high you think it is – put me off.

    As regards making social contacts, I have not had any time to look into this yet as I am still busy with the necessities of setting up a household, i.e. phone, power, gas bottles, waste disposal, insurance etc. I want to get a dog early next year, which probably helps making doggie friends. Apparently it works the same way as making sandpit friends for parents of toddlers – don’t know. There are also walking groups (google “City on its Feet” and look here: http://www.sportbop.co.nz/vdb/document/211) you can join for free, which I am considering.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Tauranga, Bay of Plenty
    Posts
    996

    Default

    We love Tauranga.......been here for nearly 5 years and no regrets. We rented a holiday cottage for the first month so that we could get a feel of where we wanted to live and heard a lot of "these are the areas you should avoid" one of them was Welcome Bay but guess what that's where we live and love it and yes there is one street that we would never live in but hey we don't so its all good. In every area there is one street or road that you need to avoid but it is just one street or road and not complete areas. We spent the first two weeks doing drive by on rentals as we decided to rent for 6 months before actually buying, just in case, and those two weeks were invaluable to get the lay of the land. Initially we wanted to live in Matua but realised very quickly that it wasn't the area for us we like a bit more life and community spirit, we checked out Bethlehem but for us it was very "housing estate" orientated lots of rows of houses and although every house has its differences there is still the estate look about the whole place unless you can afford to buy one of the lifestyle blocks and Bethlehem is one of the most expensive areas to buy. We found Otomotei, Brookfield, Judea way too claustrophobic but again these are our opinions and for you that may be totally different so my recommendation is to be here and then decide on the area you find you want to be in. If you want to message me once you have 5 posts you can use the private message facility if you want any more info. Cheers and welcome aboard. Anni

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    Tauranga
    Posts
    201

    Default

    Hey there Andrew family,

    Hello and welcome to the forum. We live in Bethlehem and the kids use to attend Bethlehem Primary School. Or rather one will finish Yr 6 in Dec to move over to Intermediate school. It's a great school and the pre-school is pretty cool too. So I have heard. Can't share personal experience here as the kids were 11 and 9 when we got here.

    We love it here and it's a great place for the kids to grow up. They've got mates living on every other street and they are often at each other homes. Hubby and I both work at the Mount and we don't mind travelling the distances as we love it here.

    The little town centre is very convient and on every 1st and 3rd Sunday, there is a morning market with some real nice stuff.

    When will you be arriving in Tauranga?

    Shoot any questions anytime.

    Cheers,
    Amy

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    1,547

    Default

    HI. I lived and worked in Tauranga for many years including a brief (18 month) spell in Real Estate when I first arrived. I would endorse what others have said - in every area, there are some streets that are best avoided. Selwyn Ridge School in Welcome Bay has a very good reputation as does Green Park School in Greerton. What would put me off Welcome bay would be the queues of traffic into Tauranga CBD at peak times - but this may not be relevant. The Lakes looked great when we left last year- but there was still a lot of work to do. There are other schools in Bethlehem besides Bethlehem College and the one mentioned above is one of the good ones. I understand the housing estate comment about Bethlehem. We moved to Bethlehem when we sold our lifestyle block and the house we lived in was high enough above others to give us a lovely outlook, with great walks, easy access to Tauranga CBD, good shops in Bethlehem Town Centre and excellent events such as outdoor concerts at Mills reef Winery to make it all worthwhile. If you can find a short term rental for a few weeks when you get there it will give you time to have a look around and then come back to the Forum with "what about X street?". I am not trying to advertise my website in any way, but in my Living in NZ" section, there is quite a lot of information about Tauranga. If you send me a private message I will give you a link. There is also some details of an ex-pat UK real estate Agent who I trust to help you understand the different systems.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Nov 2013
    Location
    NZ
    Posts
    6

    Default

    Hiya! I've been in Tauranga for 6 years now and LOVE IT! (We were in Wellington for 3 years before that) We live in Otumoetai, our 10-yr old goes to Matua Primary School (decile 10) and has done really well there. Nice kids, nice families and he can walk to school from our house in 10 mins. (We're right on the edge of the Matua school zone - had the choice of 3 other schools but chose Matua). We're one street away from the little shopping centre at Cherrywood with takeaways, four square, vets, banks, post shop, cafe, hairdressers, restaurant, doctors, pharmacy etc. And we're only 3kms from town - it's literally a 5 minute drive. (Maybe 8 mins in rush hour!) We're a 2 minute drive (5 min walk) to the harbourside and have Fergusson Park only a few mins drive away too with the local scouts, otumoetai football club (adults and kids), kite-surfing/windsurfing school, cricket club, astronomy club and probably more I've forgotten about! Then 2 mins drive in the other direction is another 2 sets of shops, local swimming pool, tennis club, New World supermarket, more parks (including a skate park and baseball pitch) and reserves... there's so much here right on our doorstep. We love it this side of town and personally would only ever want to live in this area of Tauranga (Matua/Otumoetai area) for all those reasons. That said, our house is up for sale at the moment because we would like to move out a bit rural so we have some land for my horse. If we weren't needing a paddock then we would be staying put for sure! (If anyone's interested, here's the link to our house http://www.nz.open2view.com/properties/301111 )

    I have friends out Welcome Bay side and although it's nice, we personally don't get the same "feel" for the place as we do over this side. Bethlehem is lovely but a tad pricey. Big flash houses with the price tags to match... Nice and handy to the shopping centre though!

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Mar 2013
    Location
    BOP New Zealand
    Posts
    21

    Default

    Hi, we have been here in Tauranga for just over two months now and so far things seem good, I am curious re the Lakes as many locals advised us against moving there due to a number of reasons including proposed social housing there, I have not checked up on this so cant confirm it, also the quickest way into town being along the only toll road would wind me up.
    As many people have said there are good and bad its to most areas, someone was murdered in Greeton last week in the school grounds and I have been told about gang problems in the area, but I have to say I have seen no such problems despite passing through taking my better half to work. Personally I think you need to drive round an area both day and night to get a feel for it.
    We have moved to a semi rural location with no shops etc you couldn't manage without a car but we love it as its so quiet, our neighbours wave when you pass them, the kids always thank you when you let them cross but best of all its so quiet of an evening, hardly any noise or light pollution.
    There seem to be lots of sports clubs for just about every sport you can think of, if you move is anything like ours the first 6-8 weeks will be a blur and thoughts of clubs etc will go right out of the window, only now are we starting to look into things like that

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Dec 2015
    Location
    Australia
    Posts
    1

    Default

    Hiya Emka
    I have just joined this forum.
    Can you please advise how are you finding living at the Lakes?
    I am single, no kids and no requirement to work either.
    Looking to move to NZ from Australia and after reading have found that Tauranga area suits me fine.
    I look forward to hearing from you.
    Thank you kindly
    Maya

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    Tauranga
    Posts
    116

    Default

    Hi Maya,

    I have been living at the Lakes since October 2013. The area is booming, new subdivisions are being developed at different ends of the Lakes. There is a huge shopping centre currently being built (Pak'nSave, the Warehouse etc. - all you need for the big shopping). A smaller shopping centre with cafe, medical centre, hairdresser etc. is also in the making.

    I can find absolutely no fault with the area. If you don't live on Lakes Boulevard but in a side street or one of the many cul-de-sacs, you don't get any traffic noise. The subdivision is very well laid out and maintained (which is also reflected in an additional targeted levy paid on top of the rates), and it has lots of green space and walking tracks.

    For the time being, as long as the shopping centre is not yet operating, I do my shopping in Greerton (5 min. by car), at the Fraser Cove shopping centre or at Gate Pa shopping centre.

    There is absolutely nothing I miss at the Lakes. The only drawback is that it's at the southern end of Tauranga, i.e. the distance to the beach at Mt Maunganui or Papamoa is "big" - meaning a 20-minute drive. But that's still doable, and considering the prices you pay once you get closer to the beach the extra petrol spent to get to the beach once a week or so is peanuts.

    If you want any specific information, e.g. if you are looking at a certain address, let me know and I can have a look and give you my opinion.

    Are you looking at buying or renting?

    Emka

    PS: I am single, no kids and not working either.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jan 2017
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    11

    Default

    Do you still live there? We are thinking either tauranga or kapiti coast. Thoughts?

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