Paddy Gower: Absolutely Positively Christchurch - why it’s New Zealand’s best city by far

Wednesday, 28 May 2025

Auckland and Wellington need to learn from the Garden City's positive outlook.

OPINION: How good is Christchurch? So good that it’s time to admit it is our best city - by far.

The place has what other cities don’t: absolutely positive vibes.

I went for a walk around central Christchurch at the weekend and it was absolutely going off.

A city’s CBD is of course its symbolic heart - and Christchurch’s is thumping.

Compare it to Queen St that is barely breathing and Lambton Quay which has pretty much stopped.

Christchurch is a city of positive vibes and it’s CBD is an absolute stunner.

If you haven’t been there in a while, you must go. Christchurch’s CBD has come up an absolute stunner, it is dreamy.

Every time I go to Christchurch I leave slightly confused. Then I realise why: the people are happy, they are spending money, the place is growing and going forward.

There is this feeling in the air of positivity - so different to the feeling of negativity in our other major cities.

I saw strange things that you would never see in Wellington - like the site for a new office building, because Christchurch has run out of office space.

I took a trip around the north of the city, out into the high-growth areas where reasonably-priced houses are popping up left, right and centre.

The sold-out Electric Avenue festival is a symbol of Christchurch’s strength.

Rangiora, a country town the last time I visited, felt like a city in itself with humming cafes and all the rest of it.

I was left wishing our other cities could be more like Christchurch. And I say this as a North Islander born-and-bred.

I will admit I have always looked down on Christchurch, thinking it was full of ponces with a weird obsession about schooling.

I am happy to admit that I have been horribly wrong.

The place is growing exponentially, full of hard-working people chasing the Kiwi Dream - which is basically a better life. Affordable housing is the key to this.

The stats back this up. Greater Christchurch currently has a population of 500,000. This is projected to reach more than 700,000 by 2050 and potentially double to 1 million.

These numbers do not lie. Neither do the huge numbers at the Electric Avenue music festival, the busy tech sector, the new stadium that’s coming and all the other symbols of strength. I could go on and on.

(I will say, though, that it’s a shame the cathedral is left in ruins, and I’ll never like the boring rugby the Crusaders play.)

But Christchurch - you are still New Zealand’s best city.

The rest of the country needs to look to Christchurch and learn.

I have huge respect for Cantabrians, who have obviously shown huge resilience after the earthquakes to come back better.

That is the lesson here. Christchurch is absolutely positive. It was down but it got back up again. Our other New Zealand cities can do the same.

Watch more of Paddy’s ‘How Good’ opinion pieces by clicking here.