Wellington

I have been reading a lot of articles recently about Wellington, its livability, and its future. Probably because I read the Spinoff constantly and they recently published a series about the Wellington Unitary plan. And to be honest, despite many of the articles extolling the amazing virtues of Wellington and how all the haters have gotten it wrong, I think Wellington is a pretty average place to live and has lost much of the charm it may have had. 

Now don't get me wrong, I lived in Wellington for four years. I did like it to an extent. At one point I liked it so much that I bought a house there. Obviously that changed, as I no longer live in Wellington (but begrudgingly still own the house), and I think some of the reasons I felt the pull to leave are realities that demonstrate why Wellington isn't all that some people crack it up to be.  

When I moved to Wellington it had a reputation of being artistic and cool. Many of my friends said I suited Wellington. And certainly, for the first six months of living there, it lived up to its reputation as an artistic and alternative city. But slowly over time, as the combination of earthquake-prone condemned buildings and COVID did its damage, the vibrancy of the city diminished. The wind seemed to howl a bit stronger. The houses seemed a bit colder. The strengths of Wellingtons lifestyle had been crushed but the realities remained.

Where Wellington is situated is not exactly the best place for a city. Wellington is hilly, receives the brunt of the weather created by the Cook Straight, and is on an active fault line. Every house seems to be precariously perched on a hillside, buffeted by winds and living ever in fear of an earthquake that would send it sliding down the valley. The capital is only in Wellington because back in the day when people had to travel by horse and cart, so it made sense to put parliament in the middle of the country. The location of Wellington was not chosen because it was inherently a nice location to start a city, but to ease the burden to MPs travelling to their jobs in ye olde days. Geography and weather were an afterthought for where our capital should be placed. 

The living situation in Wellington is sub-par to say the least. If you are lucky to live in the most central suburbs of Wellington, life is simple enough, with the small CBD being easily traversable on foot. You still have to deal with the wind and potential earthquakes, but at least you can walk everywhere and have most things convenient to you. But if you move to the wrong side of the city green belt you're suddenly contending with multiple hills, poor public transport, and nobody ever wants to come visit you because you're "too far away" despite being a reasonable 15-minute drive from the CBD. The houses in Wellington are often strangely shaped to accommodate their perching position on the hillsides, with many being woefully cold and damp, even if they had been recently renovated. I never realised leather could grow mold until living in Wellington it was that damp. There was never a house I lived in Wellington, including my own, that was as comfortable as any I had lived in elsewhere.

Part of the reason every house in Wellington has a bad case of dampness is that Wellington weather is abysmal, thanks to the aforementioned Cook Straight positioning. People often talk about how you "can't beat Wellington on a good day", but yet that good day happens once every two months and probably isn't even warm enough to go swimming. It may not be as rainy as Auckland, but it is windy and cold constantly. So windy that it is the windiest city in the world, with more than half of the days in a year reaching moderate gale conditions. It has been proven that wind also impacts mental health, especially exacerbating pre-existing mental health conditions. Vitamin D is also essential for mental health, and with the sky constantly cloudy there's not much chance for your skin to catch some rays, and that's dependent on it being warm enough to even have any skin exposed to catch some rays. It has certainly been a journey for me moving away from Wellington to trust that I don't need to bring that extra layer when going out just in case the weather suddenly turns (though certainly in Auckland, always bring an umbrella!)

Nobody ever thinks about moving to Wellington for the weather though, and with the lifestyle mostly gone, the reasons for moving to Wellington are almost entirely economic in nature. It makes Wellington a very transient city, coming and going as successive governments hire and fire public servants. Long-haulers I observed experience a kind of Stockholm syndrome effect from living there. For those who moved to Wellington for university "uni was so fun was fun, Wellington has great memories, why would I leave?" For those who move to Wellington for work "Wellington has so many job opportunities for my field, why would I leave?" It is hard to uproot yourself when you have built a life somwhere.

I guess it is hard to leave Wellington. It's even hard to leave the house when the weather is often so bad. People were a lot more reluctant to get out and do things compared to other places I have lived. That doesn't exactly make for a community-fostering environment because you're all stuck indoors. You can see where I am going here with this feedback loop - weather bad, don't go outside, don't see friends, lonely, feel sad, weather makes you feel sadder, don't want to leave the house, house is cold and damp, you feel sadder... Anecdotally, people in Wellington seem to be affected by a layer of gloom and generally more dissatisfied with life. Many of my friends who made the move away from Wellington flourished - becoming more outgoing, active, energetic. It's like the cloud of gloom had lifted when they made the move away. Obviously, there is a self-selecting bias when talking to ex-Wellingtonians outside of Wellington, but the post-Wellington effect seems to be pretty universal. 

Let's not forget that Wellington's main industry is government. Everyone's livelihoods are connected to the whims of the government of the day in some way, even if not everyone works directly in public service. All of my opinions about Wellington were formed during a boom in government work and careers, with an overall positive atmosphere about job stability and careers. Compared to now, where many people are being affected by the public service cuts. I could not imagine the atmosphere of anxiety that must be hanging over Wellington now, not to mention the economic impacts the lack of jobs and funding will have on what is left of the Wellington lifestyle. Having a whole city so precariously dependent on one type of work, a type of work that is impacted by a completely different set of forces to most other work, makes it hard to build up the lifestyle and culture of a city. 

Should I criticize Wellington so much when I have left? I knew it wasn't for me, I made my decision, and I walked away. I guess, in a way, there is an element of rebelliousness in me writing this essay. A rebuttal to everything I had read defending Wellington. A bit of a 'fuck you' to all the people who questioned my decision to leave. Or that somehow, I need to convince those people who questioned me, who would continuously insist that Wellington was the best. A validation of my decision to come back to evil Auckland. Maybe there is an element of frustration of getting swept up in their opinions, when in hindsight I maybe wasn't being as critical as I could be. A regret for not leaving sooner. 

There are so many reasons why we live somewhere; economic, convenience. Sometimes its outside of our control even though we desperately wish we weren't there anymore. Everywhere has its issues, whether cultural, structural, environmental. I know Wellington alone did not cause my negative experiences living there, life happens no matter where you are. But I do think there is a pernicious cycle created by the environment of Wellington that does exascerbate negative feelings. Anyone who says they aren't affected by the wind and damp are lying in my eyes. In the same way that anyone who isn't affected by the infratstructure of Auckland is lying. But these are my thoughts on Wellington. It's not amazing. Nowhere is.