The southern New Zealand town of Kaitangata appears the prime example of the pastoral landscapes the island is known for; it's lush, hilly, green, and peaceful. Only about 800 people live there, and it's a mere eight minutes from the coastline.
For those who prefer the rural, slow lifestyle and community feel in their living environment, it's basically perfect.
And here's the best part: New Zealand desperately wants you to move there. Seriously.
The small town is a heavily involved in necessary industries relating to dairy processing and freezing works, which more than fill the area's economic needs. In this very unique case, that presents a real problem: there are around 1,000 vacant jobs and too much affordable housing for the residents to fill.
"We have got youth unemployment down to two," Mayor Bryan Cadogan says. "Not 2 percent —just two unemployed young people."
So in response to this peculiar crisis, Cadogan and the town's bank, lawyers, and community services are launching a recruitment campaign to try and lure candidates to the area with housing and land packages costing only NZ$230,000, or almost $165,000 U.S. — a far cry from the $1 million homes in the Bay Area.
According to the local residents, "Kai," as citizens call it, is warm and community-oriented.
"This is an old-fashioned community, we don't lock our houses, we let kids run free," a local dairy farmer and third-generation native named Evan Dick told The Guardian. "We have jobs, we have houses, but we don't have people. We want to make this town vibrant again, we are waiting with open arms."
If that's the sort of thing that sounds like a siren's song when staring down the soaring Bay Area housing costs, you might want to get in touch with the mayor and the Clutha District Council soon —Cadogan and Dick have already received thousands of inquiries.
"It's gone nuts," Dick tells the New Zealand Herald. "A mother and her two children just flew in. I took them to their section and the look on her face was magical. 'Is this all ours?' I can already see positivity and vibrancy flowing through the town."
Last edited by mudhen; 07/01/16.
