Although agriculture remains the backbone of New Zealand's economy, six out of 10 of its people live in the country's big cities.
Many city dwellers yearn for “good life” on the land. So-called life-style blocks — bits of farms sold to city people — have become the fastest-growing sector in the real estate business recently.
The city folk see themselves building a cottage. They will grow vegetables, maybe have some chickens to provide the eggs, and perhaps even a goat to underline their rural lifestyle.
But life in the countryside is not perfect. In fact, many have found the rural good life is not as good as they thought.
“The rural environment is not all clean fresh air, peace, quiet and open space,” says ministry policy analyst Tim Bennetts. “It is also a productive environment, which can lead to conflict in rural communities.”
The Ministry for the Environment last week released a brochure entitled “Thinking about living in the country?” The brochure offers advice on how to avoid some of the pitfalls of rural life.
It advises prospective good lifers to, “Look around the rural neighbourhood and see what's there. Think about how established activities might affect you.”
The ministry also asks city dwellers to think about some of the services and utilities such as water and sewage. |
加入收藏
