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Survey: New Zealanders have good quality of life
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-04-06 14:07

WELLINGTON - Nine out of 10 New Zealanders rate their quality of life as good or better, according to a new survey published on Monday.

Researchers for the third national Quality of Life survey spoke to 500 people in each of the 12 main centers and 2,000 people in the rest of the country.

In the cities, 87 percent of residents said their overall health was good or better and 86 percent of people said they had enough money to cover living costs.

Nine out of 10 people said they felt safe in their homes, but people were concerned about vandalism, car theft and dangerous driving .

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Only 11 percent of people nationwide said they felt safe in their city center at night for reasons including the perception of dangerous people in the area, media coverage of crime and alcohol and drug problems in the central city.

People in Wellington and the North Shore felt safest, while Christchurch had the highest number of people who felt unsafe.

Wellingtonians were the most proud of their city, 82 percent, while the least proud were people in Manuka, 43 percent, and Auckland, 51 percent.

Wellingtonians thought they had the best quality of life at 94.9 percent, followed by Dunedin at 94.2 percent and Christchurch at 93.1 percent.

The survey found 59 percent of people in the cities felt people from different cultures made their city a better place to live.

The 12 participating councils were North Shore, Waitakere, Auckland, Manukau, Rodney, Hamilton, Tauranga, Wellington, Porirua, Hutt Christchurch and Dunedin.

The survey was funded by the councils and the Ministry of Social Development.