Quote:
Originally Posted by Taffy
Yeah, never been there but the scenery sure does seem to make up for all the crime, drugs and other problems  Oh, and Kokopeli lives there so that speaks volumes 
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Go steady thar boy! I'll send the Cantabrian Mafia round!
As a city with 350,000 inhabitants, Chch is generally a safe place to live. Taffy's comments about disproportionate reporting are fair - any news in Chch is BIG news. I have a theory that The Press reports everything that happens because not much happens.
But (and these comments are based on my experiences living here), Chch DOES have two major problems.
- The loop around Hagley Park turns into a racetrack at the weekends after dark. If you drive around it, you will get yoofs leering and jeering from their car windows as they check you out. If you're good-looking and female, the abuse will be explicit and sexist. If you're a white bloke, look hard or drive a big truck, they'll flash gang signs. (I don't believe many of them actually belong to a gang, but they do it anyway). If you're asian or driving a little/cheap/crap car, they'll abuse and intimidate you. Might even throw beer bottles at ya! Sad, but very true, whatever Mayor Parker says about Zero Tolerance.
- Since we've lived here, at least one teenage woman has been murdered every six months. What usually happens is the family report someone missing. The cops wait a week before they decide it's suspicious. They seem to find a dead body another week later and arrest someone (usually a family member or friend) a week after that. I'm sure it happens in other cities, but it seems to happen predictably often here.........
As for the smog, I cycle a lot and it's never bothered me. I think it used to be a more serious problem, but the ban on wood fires has improved things a lot.