A second straight win in the national Quality of Life Survey and a jobs market bucking the trend have people looking south. Here’s what’s drawing them.
Dunedin can make a strong claim to be New Zealand’s happy place.
In October, the southern city topped the national Quality of Life Survey for the second consecutive time. It found 83% of participants from across Ōtepoti rated their overall quality of life highly, securing the city the top spot among seven participating centres.
This is a compelling reason, believes Sian Sutton, acting manager of Enterprise Dunedin, the city’s economic development agency, for professionals thinking about a change to make the move south.
And there are more, she says, citing her own story as a Queenslander who moved to Dunedin 10 years ago.
“I’m one of the people who chose to live here, so I don’t just speak with the authority of the work I do, but with the authority of someone who came from Australia and discovered Dunedin and thought, ‘This is a pretty good place to live’,” says Sutton.
“The reason we consistently top the Quality of Life survey is because you get all the benefits of living in a city – great arts and culture facilities, beautiful parks, amenities for families and children – but you don’t get any of the negatives like traffic congestion, extremely unaffordable housing, a lack of perceived safety.
“It’s the perfect balance of lifestyle and the ability to get a really good job.”
Dunedin’s economy is a micro-climate all its own, Sutton says. Data from Infometrics shows the city’s unemployment rate is currently sitting at around 3.9%, a ten-year low, whilst the national rate has climbed to 5.3%, a ten-year high.
The city’s GDP per capita has also been staking a claim to Dunedin’s dynamism, having grown at twice the national rate between 2017 and 2026. That’s despite not having huge population growth, which is an important driver of GDP.
“That is a really impressive stat that tells us Dunedin has a significant proportion of high-value jobs,” said Sutton.
“The contributor to those jobs is an emerging professional services and tech sector in the city. What we hear from people moving from other parts of the world or New Zealand is that there are fewer barriers in Dunedin.
“It’s an easier, lower entry to have your own company – so we’re seeing a lot of tech jobs, a lot of game development jobs.”
In more traditional sectors, the Dunedin Hospital project is creating jobs across the construction industries. It’s a lengthy undertaking with a long-term payoff.
“When that hospital opens, we’re going to see a cluster of digital interactive health enterprises that are able to work with the university’s medical school, so there will be a supplier ecosystem that offers new ways of dealing with health issues in New Zealand.”
But it’s not all about work; lifestyle ranks highly too. Sutton says Dunedin really comes into its own for those who are thinking about starting a family or buying a home.
“Once you get into child-rearing years, let’s say 30 to 50, coming to Dunedin is ideal because of affordable housing, access to nature, strong recreation, public safety, as well as cultural facilities like our museums and art galleries and the really strong schooling system – and a great university that means your kids don’t need to leave home as soon as they finish high school.”
For Sutton, a “money can’t buy” attraction is the proximity to nature and wildlife.
Dunedin has some of the rarest species on the planet, such as the hoiho (yellow-eyed penguin), and it’s simple enough to get to the peninsula in around 15 minutes, or take a stroll through the bush in the town belt or along the harbour during your lunch break.
“In a lot of large cities, you’re not able to get to nature as quickly. I still pinch myself when I’m walking on the beach and I’m the only person there except for a couple of sea lions.”
Ask out-of-towners to describe Ōtepoti in a word and you’ll likely hear a few cynical mentions of ‘Scarfies’, ‘party town’ or ‘cold’. For the decade-long Dunedinite, there’s another side to those stories.
“Myth #1 would be that we’re just a student city. I would say students bring energy and colour to the city and make it an interesting and exciting place,” she says.
“But beyond the students, there are people of all different age groups who are interested in all different types of pursuits.”
The world has heard the music, but something that isn’t talked about as much is Dunedin’s growing culinary scene, says Sutton.
“In the last 12 months we’ve had a number of great new restaurants – and this is coming from someone who spent a decade in Melbourne, so I’m fussy.”
Sutton says there’s a misconception that Dunedin doesn’t get sunshine or long daylight hours.
“It’s light ‘til 10pm in summer, which extends your day,” she says. “Plus we’ve got some of the best surf beaches. There’s so much space to surf here and the waves are incredible in every condition.”
To find out more about making Dunedin your home, visit www.dunedinnz.com