Our City – Our Home
We are Don & Eve Casagranda, founders of On Arrival New Zealand, and we would like to introduce you to our city and home, here in wonderful Aotearoa.
Moving to a new city or town is for most people a daunting exercise, even more so moving to a new country with its’ own peculiar culture, customs and attitudes towards owning or renting a home.
Most people coming to New Zealand start by renting a property while deciding where to settle. Will you be in a city or would you rather live in the nearby countryside and commute? Do you want a completely new lifestyle, in a rural setting, perhaps in the bush or by a mountain or the sea? It’s all readily available, right here in New Zealand.
Whether you’re looking for an outdoor lifestyle, a place in the heart of a city, or a family home with plenty of space, fresh air and room for a garden, you’ll find it in New Zealand. There’s a wide range of choice in location and style, so you’ll have every opportunity to match your new home to the lifestyle of your dreams.
In terms of style, the first thing you’ll probably notice is the diversity of New Zealand housing. Charming, restored, turn of the century cottages and Victorian villas are found in every city and town. Alongside, you’ll find homes built in a wide range of styles, from brick or wooden bungalows to modern structures and contemporary townhouses.
So when it came time for us to buy a home we listed the criteria that were most important to us in a home. Eve’s criteria were very specific, in that it had to be modern, with open plan living, have views, all day sun, and have good heating and insulation.
In conjunction with this we wanted to find a community that had good access to shopping, recreational activities, sports fields, beaches, sailing, surfing, parks, walkways, ease of transportation, and ease of access to the CBD.
So with this as our “shopping list” we did a comparative analysis of various communities and other considered locations, in the Wellington Region, by covering the cost and quality of accommodation, and how it compared to our shopping list.
What we found was that “For Us” Porirua City far outweighed any of the other locations in the Region. The city and suburb met all of our criteria, and with the quality of life Porirua City has to offer, we have welcomed many additional new families into our city.
So Why Porirua City?
Porirua offers something for everyone including numerous water sports and challenging or scenic cycleways and walkways. Our city centre features the new Te Rauparaha Arena, our Aquatic Centre, and Pataka – which is among New Zealand’s leading museums of Maori, Pacific and New Zealand contemporary art.
You just can’t top the relaxed lifestyle Porirua City has to offer. The city overlooks a stunning harbour and includes 54 km of coastline. Equally as impressive are our rolling hills offering a rural lifestyle. You’ll hear locals often remark that when they get home they feel like they are on holiday – and it’s true.
  
Hand in hand with the terrific lifestyle is the fact that Porirua is a great place to raise a family. It offers children the traditional Kiwi lifestyle with easy access to lots of fun outdoor activities, a real community spirit and plenty of opportunities for truly independent play.
International Liveable Communities Awards 2010
LivCom Awards
Porirua is a fantastic world class city. Those of us who live here have always known it and now we have proven it on the world stage.
At the 2010 International Liveable Communities Awards (LivCom), Porirua City was recognised with three Gold standard awards - the only one of the 43 city finalists to do so.
Endorsed by the United Nations Environment Programme these are the world's only awards recognising excellence in the sustainable development of cities.
Finalists from some of the world's largest, oldest, newest, richest and poorest communities take part each year in the awards to share knowledge, ideas and support for establishing a global network of communities committed to respecting the environment, actively protecting and enhancing it, actively engaging in the future planning of their communities and living healthy lifestyles.
Our community was singled out by the international panel of judges as a world leader in the way we work together as a community to make good things happen for our people and environment.
Check out our videos below and see for yourself what it is that makes our city so great.
What Porirua Won
At the 2010 LivCom Awards, Porirua City's entry in the Whole of City Award achieved gold standard – the equivalent of excellence.
In its category, based on population size, Porirua placed second behind Chrudim, Czech Republic and ahead of Dubuque, USA. All three achieved gold standard – making this category one of the most competitive at the Finals.
Porirua City topped the Community Participation and Empowerment criteria in the Whole of City section when judged against all other 43 cities entered regardless of population size, including cities such as Norwich (England), Miami Beach (USA) and Wuxi (China).
"Porirua is a truly inclusive community that gives its citizens a sense that they belong in that place, a place where they are comfortable that they have a voice that can easily be heard." Judge Yoritaka Tashiro of Japan.
Hailed as the finest example of a world leading socio economic project, Porirua's Village Planning Programme beat entries from Canada and Germany to win first place and a gold award in the Socio-Economic Section of the Environmentally Sustainable Project Award.
“This programme engages and empowers residents in each sector of the city to develop and implement plans in their own way to reflect the distinct identity of each village. It is a ground-breaking partnership between the city council and the communities it serves." Project Judge Gus Stahlmann (USA).
Videos
These two films were part of Porirua City's winning presentation package at the 2010 LivCom Awards in Chicago. They are on YouTube.
Video Presentations - Whole of City
- Villages Planning Programme
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