Christchurch

BlackEdelweiss

I may be offered a job in Christchurch and have been advised by the company to decide if I wanted to bring my young family to live in a place that has been devastated by repeated earthquakes. Can anybody who is living there in a similar situation shed some light on the situation. I have 4 young kids so it would be a big move for us all, I just want to make sure it would be the right one.

CiaranC

BlackEdelweiss wrote: »

I have 4 young kids so it would be a big move for us all, I just want to make sure it would be the right one.

Of course it wouldnt, there has been 11 earthquakes there in the last week. 900 since the start of the year.

BlackEdelweiss

By that rationale Christchurch should be shut down and everybody evacuated. This goes against the proposed plans to spend billions of dollars to rebuild the city. I am aware of the earthquake situation, I am just wondering how people in a similar situation to me feel life is going down there.

CatFromHue

Life is still going on there but there are still quakes. I lived there for a while a few years ago so check in on it everynow and again.

Prob best to do your own research on it to be honest.

The Press is the local newspaper - http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/
CERA is the earthquake recovery authority - http://cera.govt.nz/
You can get a map of the red zone on it. As far as I know it's the CBD (city centre).

An Chch based eng company just got a $25m NZD contract so as I said life is going on - http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/business/7172486/25m-order-creates-50-new-jobs

BlackEdelweiss

I have been doing a lot of research but it is hard to make an informed decision just reading news reports about things. Some reports tell of how terrible life is and people just want out while others tell of how life is carrying on and people are looking forward to the rebirth of the city. It all depends on the political persuasion of the papers you read and what aspect they want you to see.
Life looks very tough there for a lot of people and the company I would be working for have made that very clear.
I would like to hear parents stories first hand so I can make a more informed decision.
It is not just about the earthquakes but also the cost of living in the wake of them, I know house rental prices have got very high and I am sure other things will follow. I need to give them a salary expectation to see if my needs match up to their offer.

Cookie_Monster

We supply a couple of cafes there and business for them is booming, it's not all doom and gloom and while there are still considerable risks of future quakes most people seem to just be getting on with their lives as best as possible. I'm not sure personally whether I'd risk it though tbh, I don't think we've seen the last of the big quakes just yet.

(I live in New Plymouth though, not chch so no direct perspective)

BlackEdelweiss

Thanks for that. Are there areas close enough that my family could live and I could commute that they would not be in the dangerous area? It is hard to get an idea of things looking at maps. Is new Plymouth close? Looking at the fault lines the whole of NZ is sitting on them, are there fears the rest of NZ could be hit or does Christchurch seem to be the focus of it all?

Cookie_Monster

New Plymouth: west coast north island, not that close, same dist as Dublin-London or so.

Last I went reading into it the whole east coast is liable for quakes not just Chch specifically, indeed the last quake of note was Picton (north of south Island) and we've had 3 here in Taranaki since last August, though all were tiny, with little / no damage.

CatFromHue

BlackEdelweiss wrote: »

Looking at the fault lines the whole of NZ is sitting on them, are there fears the rest of NZ could be hit or does Christchurch seem to be the focus of it all?

When I was in Wellington the locals were saying they were due a big one soon. I left to go travelling and there was a small one in Wellington. I spent a few days in Auckland and a few hours after I left there was a small one there too. I don't think there was any damage in either and they were nothing like the big ones that hit Chch. People just seem to get on with it to be honest though I don't know home much the Chch ones will have effected people.

NZ is a fairly active place what with Volcanoes there as well. Check out the Wiki link below:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand_earthquakes

canadian exile

Look people are totally overhyping the earthquakes here. I live and work in Christchurch and have done since before the 6.2 quake at Christmas. A quake has to be above 3.8 and shallow to be felt until you get to serious quakes of up on 6.0 magnitude and these do not happen very often. The simplest way to look at Christchurch is to say everything that is going to fall down already has. This is a great city to raise kids in, they swim and surf in the summer and you bring them skiing in mount hut just an hour away in the winter. There is also a wonderful sense of community in the city, some of the locals refer to it as the village, and you will not here people moan like at home. Yes the city was devestated, yes a large number of people lost their homes and yes people did die in the feb quake but this city shall be rebuilt stronger.
Just one last thing my parents were in cathedral square when the February quake struck and were terrified as they watched people die but when they were evacuated to Hagley park they were taken in by a kiwi family who I am now very good friends with. My mam and dad arrived back to Christchurch last month to see me and bury some demons they now love this city so much they already have their trip out next year booked and they have only been back in Ireland 4 days. Sorry about the long post got a bit carried away.

mel.b

BlackEdelweiss wrote: »

Thanks for that. Are there areas close enough that my family could live and I could commute that they would not be in the dangerous area? It is hard to get an idea of things looking at maps. Is new Plymouth close? Looking at the fault lines the whole of NZ is sitting on them, are there fears the rest of NZ could be hit or does Christchurch seem to be the focus of it all?

My sister married a Kiwi and lives about 45min from CHCH and I also have a close friend who lives right in the city. My friend has two young children and she has said she has to be careful about how she reacts to earthquakes as her boys pick up on her fear. Other things you wouldn't think about also - she says she never walks under balconies anymore, always lets her husband know where they are going, keeps bottled water in the house at all times, doesnt put any pictures up on the wall and keeps all jars (like jam etc) on the bottom shelf of the pantry. Little things that you wouldn't normally think of.

However as someone said, most of the buildings that could fall down have already and 90% of the main shopping areas in CHCH city are blocked off - basically the only thing you can get access to now is the mall where Ballyntines is and most of that mall is shipping containers now which actually are pretty cool.

You could look at somewhere like Rolleston. It's probably about 20 - 30min from CHCH depending on traffic. It is a pretty new town so there are no tall buildings, the houses are all new so should be well built, its a very flat area. Well within communting distance although the traffic getting into CHCH would be a bit of a pain. My sister used to commute from Rakaia which is futher out from Rolleston into Ballyntines.

BlackEdelweiss

I have been offered the job but in the mean time my wife has read so many bad stories about life in Christchurch that she is no longer for the idea, not just relating to earthquakes but also the cost of living. The money is ok but I am only a graduate so it is to be expected, it is way more than I would get here for a similar position (of which there are none at this time). Could a family of 6 survive on roughly $60,000NZ a year in Christchurch? I was doing some calculations and I reckoned I would need closer to $80,000NZ, rent being one of the main expenses that makes it so much more expensive than here.