Living & working in Queenstown?

[Surly]

What are the pro's and con's of living and working in Queenstown?

I assume its safe to say its pretty cold but how about cost of living, cost of housing, work prospects, places to ride peopel to ride with and so forth?

cheers
Surly

[McJim]

I've been looking at places in the South Island. If you are one of the Uber-rich you too can aford to live in Queenstown.

I don't know how the barstaff can afford to live there but they certainly have got a few pubs.

[Jantar]

I was born there, and currently live only one hour away.

Pros:

1. Party, party, party.
2. Plenty of work available, (and good rates of pay).
3. Wild scenery.
4. Best motorcycling roads in New Zealand or Australia.
5. Only an hour away from one of the most pleasant towns in New Zealand
6. Party, party, party.

Cons:

1. Cost of living is high compared to most of new Zealand.
2. Housing is expensive. Nothing under $300,000 and average is closer to $500,000.
3. Do you speak either Korean or Japanese?
4. Lack of parking.


Yes, it is cold in the winter, but can get very hot in summer. It has low rainfall and is protected from most strong winds.

There are a few riders who live close by and the Chatto Creek Motorcycle Club is handy. See http://chatto-creek-mcc.tripod.com

[scumdog]

Jantar forgot to add that criminal dickheads from all over the world go to Queenstown to drink-drive, steal, sell drugs, commit fraud and get into punch-ups..and then there's the bad ones...and they all know what a bunch of soft-cocks NZ judges are too..


Another con: You're a long way from anywhere.

[Jantar]

Another con: You're a long way from anywhere.
Nah, he's from Perth. Compared to Perth, Queenstown is only a short hop from the Riviera of the South. :shutup:

[Surly]

What's the ratio of tourists to locals in the town and is this where the reference to Korean and Japanese comes from?

What is the attraction for the crims?

Thanks for the info :)

cheers
Surly

[The Lone Rider]

Queenstown has reached a point in which the people hired to work full time in the tourist industry and such, can't afford to live in Queenstown.

You will need a deep wallet and several pockets.

[sels1]

I've been looking at places in the South Island. .
With a name and heritage like yours, Dunedin would be appealing wouldnt it?:innocent:

[Jantar]

What's the ratio of tourists to locals in the town and is this where the reference to Korean and Japanese comes from?

What is the attraction for the crims?

Thanks for the info :)

cheers
Surly

Queenstown is primarily a tourist destination. There are about 2 tourists for every resident, and many of the residents are seasonal.

The tourists are the attractions for crims, and unfortunately many crims come to the town to work their trade. Scumdog can tell you more about the criminal element as he is in a related line of work. :Police:

However I have a step-nephew who is a cop in the town, and a step-daughter who is a lawyer in the town. They both love their work there.

[JimO]

i have lived in Dunedin all my life been to Qtown lots of times and wouldnt live there if you paid me to and in my line of work i would have more work than i could handle

*its way too crowded in the centre of town
*proprety is overpriced
*its way too yuppified for me
*the whole beauty of the lake is spoiled by the hotels everywhere

just my personal opinion

[NighthawkNZ]

*its way too crowded in the centre of town
*proprety is overpriced
*its way too yuppified for me
*the whole beauty of the lake is spoiled by the hotels everywhere

just my personal opinion

mine too... oh and its ferking cold in winter...

[crazybigal]

expect to be poor!!! i spent 10 years there.
cost of living is much the same as auckland or wellington.
if you like going out on the piss you will spending all your spare cash on that!
Jobs can be well paid if your not in the hospo industry. Builders and trades get paid well and heaps of work otherwise it can be real seasonal.
all depends what your into, i had friends who never did anythin other than drink. make the most of the mountains and activities to be had, i moved to wellington and really miss being only 30min from coronet peak.
Its cold in the winter but you get used to it, summers can be great, lots of sun.
good luck with the move if you decide to do it

[crazybigal]

crime! hardly, we lived with our flat door unlocked never had any problems in 10 years, only time the ratbags come to town is when there is a puplic hol like easter or winterfest. Id say its safer than dunedin or christchurch. most of the lowlifes cant aford to live in queenstown!


Queenstown is primarily a tourist destination. There are about 2 tourists for every resident, and many of the residents are seasonal.

The tourists are the attractions for crims, and unfortunately many crims come to the town to work their trade. Scumdog can tell you more about the criminal element as he is in a related line of work. :Police:

However I have a step-nephew who is a cop in the town, and a step-daughter who is a lawyer in the town. They both love their work there.

[scumdog]

crime! hardly, we lived with our flat door unlocked never had any problems in 10 years, only time the ratbags come to town is when there is a puplic hol like easter or winterfest. Id say its safer than dunedin or christchurch. most of the lowlifes cant aford to live in queenstown!

Hmmm, obviously you don't get to read the Queenstown police crime Report or have a scanner to listen to.

Tonight it was all fights/disorderly behaviour/thefts/pissing in the streets, a somewhat quieter night than normal for a Saturday.

More drunk drivers with high levels than you can shake a stick at too.

I saty there once a year with Dangerous, Mr Sensible, Rashika etc en route to the Glenorchy Rally - that once a year trip just reinforces my prejudice against Queenstown and its denizen.:yes:

[pritch]

Tonight it was all fights/disorderly behaviour/thefts/pissing in the streets, a somewhat quieter night than normal for a Saturday.


SD you need to get out more. It's like that everywhere on a Saturday night.
(With the possible exception of the Riviera of the South?)

[scumdog]

SD you need to get out more. It's like that everywhere on a Saturday night.
(With the possible exception of the Riviera of the South?)

Sure, it's the same in Dunedin for example - but Dunedin IS a tad bigger than Queenstown!

And given the student population in Dynedin you would think it would be worse if anything but no, it ain't.

And most of the dickheads and twats in Q'town are tourists (50-50 NZ and foreign) as opposed to locals.

[NighthawkNZ]

Queenstown... nice place to visit... wouldn't want to live there though...

[idb]

Queenstown... nice place to visit... wouldn't want to live there though...

Same



678910

[idb]

..........
(With the possible exception of the Riviera of the South?)

Mwahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!
That's the area where half of the thugs come from in a weekend!!!!*









*
See also;
Blossom Festival
New Years Eve
Friday night cruise to Wanaka for a box of matches etc etc etc........

[scumdog]

Mwahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!
That's the area where half of the thugs come from in a weekend!!!!*









*
See also;
Blossom Festival
New Years Eve
Friday night cruise to Wanaka for a box of matches etc etc etc........

Yeah - but they do it elsewhere - and THAT'S what counts:nya::whistle:

queue to Big&Rich "We're comin' to your city..."

[jonbuoy]

Maybe I'm a bit biased being an immigrant but Queenstown sums up for me all that is great about NZ, Adventure/Scenery/Attitude/Nightlife. I don't find it that commercialised - I found the wanabe Uber cool snowboarders in Wanaka (or maybe Wanaka is short for Wanka wanabe's?) more annoying. Not sure about living there 24/7 though probably get on your nerves after 5 years. 6-12 months would be fantastic.

[JimO]

it would depend on wether you were a family man or a single man with lots of $$$ i dont think Qtown is a family place

[scumdog]

Maybe I'm a bit biased being an immigrant but Queenstown sums up for me all that is great about NZ, Adventure/Scenery/Attitude/Nightlife. I don't find it that commercialised - I found the wanabe Uber cool snowboarders in Wanaka (or maybe Wanaka is short for Wanka wanabe's?) more annoying. Not sure about living there 24/7 though probably get on your nerves after 5 years. 6-12 months would be fantastic.

I've been around long enough to see it go from a quaint scenic holiday town with lots of average working-joes cribs (batches to you Northerners!) and a laid back life style to what it is now - a ferking commercial karsi.

[idb]

I like the general attitude here.
Nobody ends up here by accident, you have to make a conscious decision to live here.
Consequently the air is generally one of positivity and the place is full of very capable people.

[Surly]

Lots of useful info here so far, thank you all.

Perth is also a bloody long way from anywhere but is certainly large enough that for the most part it is not an issue.

I have seen many sleepy holiday towns here devolve into mega tourist towns with sky rocketing real estate prices and the loss of all the charm that originally brought people there.

Price of housing isn't much different from Perth after looking on some real estate sites.

If 100mm more rain a year than Perth is considered not to bad...what are the wet areas like?

The crime thing is a concern. That said I have recently been broken into while in the house here.

Thanks again for the info.

cheers
Surly

[idb]

I live in Arrowtown, about 20km from Queenstown and home to about 2,000 folk.
Any crime here is BIG news.

[scumdog]

I live in Arrowtown, about 20km from Queenstown and home to about 2,000 folk.
Any crime here is BIG news.

Except for that serious beating with the follow-up vigilante chase afterwards in Arrowtown recently he's pretty much correct.:dodge:

But yeah, Arrowtown is way *nicer - yet Q'town is not to far away too if you want to go there.


*Not sure if I can say the same for some of the locals:whistle:

[idb]

Except for that serious beating with the follow-up vigilante chase afterwards in Arrowtown recently he's pretty much correct.:dodge:

But yeah, Arrowtown is way *nicer - yet Q'town is not to far away too if you want to go there.


*Not sure if I can say the same for some of the locals:whistle:

I'm nice...."There's old Nicey Nice" people call out when they see me down the street!
You must be talking about someone else.

And it is a nice place....Nicetown it's known as locally.
There's Nice Street, Nice Boulevard, Nice Crescent, Nice Place, Nice Terrace, Nice Park, Nice Close, the Nice Cream Parlour, my local bar 'The Puppy and Kitten' where I like to go to get nicely sewn up...............

[westie]

Its a great place to live. I worked the mountain and the bungy. Lived as a boarder in arrow junction on a farm. Used a horse to ride to town and go to the pub.
Had my best summer there. Horse riding in the mountains 35 degrees, no clouds and lots of beers in the saddle bags. clink clink clink chhhh glug glug ahhhhh!
Speights of course.
Make friends with the bar tenders as they are given big allowances to give free drinks. If you play your cards right you wont have to buy beer ever again!
Good on ya and good luck

[scumdog]

I'm nice...."There's old Nicey Nice" people call out when they see me down the street!
You must be talking about someone else.

And it is a nice place....Nicetown it's known as locally.
There's Nice Street, Nice Boulevard, Nice Crescent, Nice Place, Nice Terrace, Nice Park, Nice Close, the Nice Cream Parlour, my local bar 'The Puppy and Kitten' where I like to go to get nicely sewn up...............

Ain't Nice someplace in Italy or sumfing?

[mbazza]

G'day Pritch008,
You just gotta believe that it a'int like that here in Cluthavegas. Have to admit it might just be down to Scumdog and his mates!
Great place to live!
Journeyed back from the Brass Monkey via Frankton near Queenstoooooooon. Bloody awful icy road on the way in, excellent ride down the lake to Kingston. Only reason to go near Queenstown are the rides available in and out. Cheers. :banana: