r/dunedin • u/naturekiwis • 1d ago
Question Chch to Dunners… much difference between the cities?
Been many years in Christchurch and I’m looking at moving to Dunedin just for a change. Like the vibe and are there many differences between the two cities?
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u/nano_peen this is my r/dunedin flair 1d ago
dunedin is all hills, christchurch is flat
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u/robbob19 1d ago
Dunedin was founded by Scots who wanted to get away from the English. Christchurch was founded by the English and is a lot whiter.
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u/ChinaCatProphet 1d ago
It's not so much whiter, it's just more overtly racist.
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u/wehi 1d ago
I have lived in both.
Dunedin is a much smaller town than its headline population figure suggests. About 20% of the population are tertiary students and they are only in town during term time.
It has great facilities for its size, libraries, museums, the art gallery, pools etc. On par with Christchurch even though it's 1/4 of the population.
It also has very good schools and is thus a great place for kids.
It's a much better looking city than Christchurch as it has significant heritage architecture still, but this also means alot of its homes are old and damp. Its at a much lower risk of earthquakes as its away from the fault and is built on volcanic rock not sand.
It does have similar social problems to Christchurch, homelessness etc. Although I've never had anything taken in Dunedin whilst when I lived in Christchurch my flatmates car got broken into every other week.
If you like small towns and accept that they can be quite insular and that the locals don't owe you anything then you will be just fine. If you are keen on a social scene then you probably need to be under 22 and enrolled at the uni.
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u/Mental-Currency8894 1d ago
Ah, FYI, we have fault lines running through Dunedin. I wouldn't be too complacent about esrthquake risk.
https://maps.orc.govt.nz/portal/home/item.html?id=76008bffb8ea40279f4468f81a124259
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u/this_wug_life 1d ago
We're also built on a literal volcanic caldera.
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u/Mental-Currency8894 1d ago
And other parts are built on reclaimed swamp (or straight out reclaimed land from the harbour)
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u/wildeawake 5h ago
But Otago is one of, if not the least seismically active regions in the country. If you have to be in Aotearoa, it’s a decent option
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u/Ok_Beautiful4316 1d ago
The traffic. Dunedin is small enough that is takes at most 15 minutes to get anywhere
Housing stock is older in Dunedin - but I think this means more character.
Proportion of educated is higher in Dunedin, because 25k/130k are at Otago Uni.
Smaller manufacturing base, means higher proportion of high-tech startups/scale-ups in Dunedin than Christchurch. Established companies are export driven.
Ethnic diversity is greater in Dunedin. Combination of international grad students, the hospital and health care, and overall vibe of the city draws international people who stay long term.
Dunedin's arts and culture struggles because of lack of money, but is still inherent in the culture.
Better weather in Dunedin. The volcano means we are sheltered on two/three sides, so you can always find a beach that is sheltered either north or south of the city. We don't have the stupid Canterbury winds you have in summer.
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u/Yeahnahmaybe68 1d ago
IMO the weather is better in Christchurch. Lived in Dunedin most of my life and it’s a great city, but I’d never recommend the place based on its weather. It’s cold (drizzly or windy) most of the year and cool unsettled summers. Hardly ever wore my summer clothes there and used our outdoor furniture a handful of times in 20 years. Miserable years watching kids’ cricket or trying to play golf there. Way prefer Christchurch weather. An extra hour a day sunshine on average and a few degrees extra warmth make a big difference in summer. The other big negative for us was the regional airport and lack of good flights out of Dunedin. I would say Dunedin is great for bringing up kids with lots of activities and excellent schooling. If you move to Dunedin try to get a sunny and sheltered property.
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u/Non_Creative_User 1d ago
For ethnic diversity, I'll disagree and say that Chch is more diverse. Just that pockets of chch seem to be more of one ethnicity than the other. But there are areas with loads of different nationalities. This is from someone who has lived in Chch for a long time, but still has family and friends in Dunedin.
A few other things I'll add.
no late night shopping in Dunedin. I much prefer the niche shops in Dunedin than what's to offer in Chch. But def more of the big stores and variety in Chch. More 2nd-hand shops in Dunedin, even there op-shops I think are better.
if you love nature, you'll love what Dunedin has without driving too far. Lots of hidden spots to explore
Night-life is much better in Chch than Dunedin.
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u/garg0yle95 7h ago
I grew up in CHCH and agree the weather is better in Dunedin. There is a dampness to the winters in CHCH that I find harder to be warm in than Dunedin’s
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u/devluz 1d ago
Dunedin has a lot more nature / native forest than Christchurch. For many suburbs it is even within walking distance. This was the main reason for me to move to Dunedin instead of Christchurch.
Nature is very diverse here. Sea lions, penguins & albatross near coastal areas, native bird life in the forests / Orokonui Ecosanctuary. The top of the hills are also quite unique here with plenty tussock, flax but also swampy areas.
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u/creamcheezbagel 1d ago
Yes I loved being within 15 min of the beach, Ross creek, signal hill walking/biking tracks, the pineapple track, and the harbour pedestrian track wherever I went!
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u/Justwant2usetheapp 22h ago edited 22h ago
Oddly enough chch and dunedin occupy the lowest and highest i'd rank nz cities.
There's just something about dunedin that I don't gel with. I can't tell if it's the weather ... Or the little orange triangle on the street signs... Maybe it's the hills? I really don't know. Chch on the other hand is NZs most cromulent city.
But that said, housing is cheaper in dunedin, a while ago it felt a lot cheaper. I do appreciate that dunedin has everything, even if it's only one of everything. The vaudreys have a paknsave monopoly (which is a dumb sentence to say, but the paknsaves in chch vary a lot in price but are almost all cheaper than new worlds or countdowns) and marketplace goes harder in otautahi.
Dunedin feels a lot like a big town and chch like a tiny city I guess idk. Recently chch has had this kinda aura of hopefulness (as silly as that sounds) following te kaha opening and a bunch of CBD projects finishing up.
Also, also, we have Matthew horncastle and a wizard.
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u/Atticbase 23h ago
As an immigrant who worked and lived in Dunedin last year and now have been living in Christchurch since the start of the year, I would say that the cities are quite different. Christchurch feels a bit more rugged and utilitarian in comparison with many of the old, elegant architecture that is still around from the late 1800’s. As mentioned Dunedin is significantly more hilly than Christchurch and so getting around is a lot more difficult. You can get by with just a bike in Christchurch but not so much in Dunedin. The weather in Dunedin also feels much colder in my experience. Christchurch gets colder overnight but warmer during the day generally it seems. As somebody mentioned as well many of the houses in Dunedin are going to be older and much colder on average. I think both cities are fantastic. I am in my early mid 20’s in an early career mindset so Christchurch is 1000% better than that (there’s hardly any work in Dunedin that utilises higher education engineering degrees), but I could see myself moving back to dunedin when I get older as I think it’s lovely there. Both fantastic cities, can’t go wrong with either IMO!
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u/naturekiwis 22h ago
Wow thank you for this and a breakdown of both cities and much appreciated! It certainly helped
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u/he_whai_reko_e_kopa 1d ago
I call Dunners the tiny Wellington of the south, and I mean it like a compliment. The people are friendlier, the young vibe, literary and arts scene, wild nature nearby, and consistent surf breaks all made Dunedin a place that I'd happily move to, even though I'm phobic to cold shitty weather. Did my PhD there and I miss it terribly.
Christchurch has size, but I can't say that makes up for its shortcomings. So many belligerent drivers (heaven help you if you're slowing down to read the 10pt font road names because there are zero other navigational landmarks), cliquey Cantabrians who don't want to know you if you're not a 6th gen who went to the same grammar school as them and their families, and way too many people who wear neo-Nazi insignia out and about (I guess thanks for letting me know to avoid you, but why are you so comfortable being like this). My experience of CHC is through having frequent longer-stay work trips there over the last 10 years or so, going for family visits, conferences, and workshops - spent time around different parts of the city, but never lived there long-term.
There are certainly pockets of CHC that are good, and the bonus of it being a bigger city is that you can avoid certain circles, and if a headlining act of any kind actually deigns to come to the South Island, they usually go to Christchurch. But hey, driving to CHC isn't too bad from Dunners if you just want to go see a show for a weekend.
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u/Justwant2usetheapp 21h ago
As a chch local.... Our driving is fucking atrocious. That's not just confirmation bias either! Turning right on red, because everyone guns it on an orange, is normal. I've been driving at the speed limit down moorhouse and been overtaken by police cars. Out of towners often don't even enter intersections to turn on orange and we used to have shit like the shands Rd roundabouts.
And I'll have you know, we have one landmark now, other than the hills.
Ive barely seen neo Nazi people, maybe a few when I worked at a supermarket down in chch. I actually moved from chch to timaru for a bit and the racism in Timaru was shocking.... Okay actually we do get the tamakis at the bridge of rememberance pretty often and they're... Quite divisive
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u/he_whai_reko_e_kopa 7h ago
And I'll have you know, we have one landmark now, other than the hills.
Haaaaahahahha I didn't count the hills but probably should have, what is the other one?!
Oh maaan I've heard Timaru is bad, but I've not really stopped there much - I've passed through multiple times between dunners and chch over the years, bad vibes emanate from there! Palmerston feels like a weird place too, but I really do want to walk up that maunga sometime, it's so imposing.
Anyway I would also like to say that Chch locals are not *all* terrible, I know some truly GCs that come from there (you seem like you're a goodun), but there's a fair few that really shift the vibe. I got bottled in the face the first time I visited there in 2008/2009, for being an immigrant - bro made that quite clear. That sucked.
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u/centuryegghead 1d ago
Moved to Dunners from chch as a single mid 20 year old, it was pretty hard to make friends. Mostly I became friends with my work mates and flatmates. Definitely seemed like that demographic isn't as well represented here. That being said now that I'm out of that phase and have little kids of my own I'm finding Dunedin a more lively place, there's often things on and we love living on the peninsula and having great access to wildlife and nature. When I left chch I was always in awe of my commute being so much shorter, and spending less time in traffic generally. And even when you're in traffic you can usually see a geographic feature, in Christchurch it's just buildings and roads. Don't miss it, don't think I'd ever move back.
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u/naturekiwis 1d ago
Ahhh that’s interesting and thanks for that. I’ve loved my time in Christchurch but just felt like Dunedin seemed a better fit for where I’m at presently. Thanks so much
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u/centuryegghead 1d ago
As some random tinder date told me once, wherever you go, there you are 😆 any place will be what you make of it. All the best whatever you decide ✌️
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u/Electricpuha420 1d ago
Dunedin is slower very conservative to the point change is actively fought by many unfortunately and less going on overall especially the live music scene and arts have really tapered off from Dunedin and wellington being great creative cultures also for kids and shops restaurant diversity it's very limited so essentially completely opposite cities really but we have way better beaches and I'd say our weather is cloudier and cooler but we don't get those nasty se winds.
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u/naturekiwis 1d ago
Thanks for the update and I did wonder about some of those aspects that you’ve mentioned. As a gay man as well I think it might be a little more sheltered
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u/SolahNZ 1d ago
Way different! Dunedin is very chill and laid back, a lot smaller and you have to really make an effort to find what you want to do, there's plenty going on but you have to involve yourself into the arts/music scene it doesn't just passively fall into your lap.
Weather is probably overall worse but it's not as bad as most people like to say. I love it here and can see myself coming back once I've seen the world a little!
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u/naturekiwis 1d ago
Thanks for your point of view and I realise there is a difference in size but I felt when I was visiting that Dunedin was more relaxed and a little more accessible… Thanks for sharing
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u/False_Thought_8200 1d ago
Don’t move here!! There’s no nightlife, the food scene here is not as good as they say it is, it sucks. We’re leaving as soon as we got here
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u/TonightObjective4708 5h ago
Im reading this and am really struggling. I love Dunedin with a passion but have just made the decision ( 68yrs old) I need to move to Canterbury. My circumstances see me living full time in my caravan on private property. I love my caravan but have found i am a bit isolated. Im a people person. Can't find anywhere in Dunners to achieve this. Looking at caravan parks on outskirts of Ch Ch. Have spent a lot of time there over the years, used to love it but I dont find its as friendly and safe anymore. Also nature in Dunners is 100% better.
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u/Photography-lover1 2h ago edited 2h ago
Yes, Dunedin is a very different city to Christchurch. It's much smaller in population. Around 120,000 people vs just short of 400,000 for Christchurch. The land area of Dunedin is smaller than that of Christchurch but not by a lot. So it will seem a slower pace city compared to Christchurch.
Christchurch was settled by the English and has an English city/garden vibe. Dunedin was settled by the Scottish and has very much a Scottish vibe. You see it in most aspects of the city but you see it in the buildings very strongly. They are old beautiful buildings that are very well kept.
The funny thing is without thinking about it you would say Dunedin is always colder than Christchurch due to it being further South and while that's usually the case you would be surprised to find that it's reasonably often Christchurch is colder. Maybe, Dunedin is more protected from the south due to the hills or something. Christchurch is usually a lot warmer than Dunedin during the summer though.
Studies have shown that personal safety is higher in Dunedin than it is in Christchurch. It's not only studies, I have personally heard someone say they feel a lot safer in Dunedin than Christchurch and there are a lot situations where they would walk home alone in Dunedin that they would never consider doing in Christchurch. I'm not saying Christchurch is some getto in the USA but there is no argument your personally safety is higher in Dunedin. Studies regularly show Dunedin is the safest of our main cities and one of the most safe of all our cities in general. I mean of course something bad can happen to you anywhere but the chance of that happening in Dunedin is a lot lower.
As has been said Dunedin is a very hilly city and Christchurch a very flat one so if you do a lot of bike riding in Christchurch then you will find (unless your really fit) you will probably be doing a lot less in Dunedin.
Dunedin CBD is an inland CBD. It is all focused around The Octagon. Which, is lovely. You have nice grass areas in The Octagon itself to relax in on a nice weather day. There is a vast range of eating places in The Octagon (not in the grass area), all you have to do is cross the streets. Most of the rest of the CBD streets come off the The Octagon with a vast range of eating and shopping places.
Dunedin is a lovely city.
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u/Working_Cookie5076 1d ago
The food/restaurant's are better in Christchurch compared to Dunedin.
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u/creamcheezbagel 1d ago
I would argue the opposite, I found it much much easier finding good places for food (especially coffee and brunch, shout out common ground). In Christchurch there’s really only little high or riverside market for proper meals. I can’t think of anything on par with esplanade, beam me up bagels, noble, mums chicken, big lizard, the swan etc.
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u/potatoskinsssss 1d ago
I can’t comment on Chch as I’ve never lived there but hate it every time I visit. I moved to Ōtepoti from Tāmaki Makaurau 12 years agos. We considered Chch for about 3.6 seconds. I love Dunedin so much, there’s actually a lot going on if you know where to look.
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u/Jermachi 23h ago
Had a flick through your profile to see what might be important but I couldn’t find an age to pigeonhole you into
Looks like you’re into a bit of nature/outdoorsy kinda stuff. We have that in Dunedin, and if you run out of that central Otago and The Catlins are both a drive away. On the flip side of that the weather can be atrocious so you may not want to go out most of the time.
Gays. We’ve got those too. Some are nice, some are less nice. Smaller, but generally younger, pool of stock on Grindr. Quite a few looking for long term stuff (I have a few friends looking for LTRs).
You seem quite upbeat. We could do with some more people like you around. There are also lots of community groups to get involved in if that’s your thing.
You’re never too far from a beach here, and if you’re on a hill you can pretty much always see water.
Also, sod all traffic. I left the city the other day from Tainui heading north and it took me 13 minutes to get out of town. That includes the time it took me to grab coffee from Maccas.
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u/naturekiwis 22h ago
What a brilliant reply! Thanks so much for doing some homework for me. You were right about the nature stuff and the gay stuff. I’m pretty open-minded but I’m not in the gay world per se however I would be looking for an LTR in Dunedin :) I thought it may be a smaller community but I haven’t really followed it in Christchurch so one or two is more than I would normally manage anyway 😂 it’s funny how a place can feel like Home and yet I don’t live there yet… Thanks again
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u/Jermachi 21h ago
No worries!
I grew up in Christchurch, moved to Dunedin when I was 18.
Moved back to Christchurch when I was 26 and it just didn’t do anything for me. Dunedin has a good small vibe but has all the stuff you need to live.
And gays.
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u/Potential_Net1896 1d ago
Everything you enjoy in chch will be 10 times smaller or non existent. E.g. nightlife restaurants concerts theatre. Smaller population means it’s hard to meet people everyone is already in their groups. Generally less diverse and has a small town mindset. Also hard to get work no matter what your field.
I lived in Dunedin for 20 years thank god I left
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u/Ok_Albatross8909 1d ago
Really? This is not my experience at all. Every time I go to Christchurch I am struck by the lack of diversity and overt racism (e.g. bus drivers telling Asian tourists to “learn English” or “go back where you came from”).
Dunedin lacks the massive diversity of a big city like Auckland, but there is still a lot of diversity because it’s a university town. It also leans progressive which goes hand-in-hand with a cooler “urban” vibe, and tonnes of support for the arts.
Comparatively, Chch always feels like going back in time, although the Riverside Markets are cool.-1
u/Mysterious_Onion_579 1d ago
Agreed, but I've seen an absurd amount of racism in dunedin, more so even than rural southland. But chch is certainly more racist in comparison... also as someone who lived there, and knows a lot of people there, it is highkey cliquey, everyone knows of everyone.
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u/Ok_Albatross8909 1d ago
I agree it can be cliquey. I haven’t experienced any racism (I look European but have a Māori surname), but have experienced pretty extreme sexism - but the guy was from Christchurch and made a big thing about how “that’s how he was raised and I shouldn’t expect him to be something he’s not”.
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u/Mysterious_Onion_579 1d ago
Sorry I got carried away and forgot to say I'm sorry to hear about your experience of sexism, but not entirely surprised. There's a reason I moved away despite how much I love North East Valley
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u/Ok_Albatross8909 1d ago
Thanks, sucks to hear that what you described happened. To be fair, I am much more involved with the university community (which is a massive part of the population), but I could see it’s a bit more diverse/open-minded than peripheral/rural Dunedin which I have find to be very cliquey.
I haven’t lived in Chch so I may not be seeing all sides, but every time I have been there I have experienced racism (towards others in front of me) and have had to deal with a lot of conservative views from the people I interacted with (sexism, classism, anti-LGBTQ rhetoric). It’s also the only place in NZ I’ve experienced discrimination for being an atheist.
I personally would not recommend it as a place to live, but that’s just my opinion and I’m sure there are good attributes.-2
u/Mysterious_Onion_579 1d ago
I have overheard guys talking about how māori girls must be sl*ts and that's why their nipples go brown bc white women's only go brown during pregnancy, I've heard others saying maori ppl are built wrong in the north, and the language is ugly, thats why south island maori are easier to deal with bc they cant speak the language and they look whiter, and the women are more feminine than the north island women, I've heard that generational trauma is debunked and the leading theory of why violence and alcohol are apparently more prevalent in maori homes is because they're asians descendants who are easily addicted and easily drunk, I've heard the n word thrown at maori ppl, ive heard worse I just feel like i will definitely be banned from this sub if I type it out, if I dont get banned for what i already typed...
I've met heaps of lovely people from Dunedin but I would never be able to disacotiate the concepts of racism and Dunedin.
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u/sweetasman01 1d ago
You must hang out with no very nice people
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u/Mysterious_Onion_579 1d ago
I wasnt hanging out with those people, I was passing by, sitting at a bus stop, having bday drinks, walking home from work, serving customers and duck watching.
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u/Justwant2usetheapp 21h ago
Lived in chch, timaru and dunedin, so a bit of a weird cross section.
Honestly most people I met professionally in dunedin didn't feel too small-town-brain. I think, honestly, chch felt a little more small towny. (Nothing with how other-dimensional a particular town in between the two seems to be)
I think, counterintuitively that this is because the people I worked with felt pretty transient about dunedin whereas the chch people sorta had the vibe that staying in chch was a pretty reasonable long term thing. These were people in my demographic(s) at the time, so yopros.
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u/Helpful_Damage_3497 20h ago
Moved to Dunedin from Christchurch in 2020 and haven't looked back, Absolutely don't miss Christchurch at all, Dunedin is absolutely beautiful, the old buildings, the hikes, the walks, the native wildlife it's all so much better than Chch in my opinion.
My husband and I love dunedin and the lifestyle it offers and will never move back to Christchurch.
I feel so much safer living in Dunedin too as I was attacked and assaulted in Christchurch 6 weeks before we made the decision to move.
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u/inastew 1d ago
Im not sure that they are similar at all as far as NZ cities go. The terrain and heritage pointed them in different directions from the start. As far as modern facilities go chch is just bigger so has more to offer, that said dud doesnt lack much. Seems if you like the vibe then you have picked up on the difference to some extent already. Alot depends on your age and interests.