In the year since the February 22 earthquake, some families have found the pressure too much and have moved. Others have stayed, their ties to the city too strong. The New Zealand Herald talks to two affected families. Family was the "clincher" for the Pocksons, who are building in the new Pegasus area.
Lavina Pockson and her family agonised over whether to stay in Christchurch.
The Bexley home where she and husband Jeff planned to raise their three young children was on one of the city's worst-hit streets and was badly damaged by liquefaction in both the September 2010 and February 2011 quakes. That home, in one of the doomed red zones, was demolished recently.
Mrs Pockson said she couldn't blame those choosing to leave Christchurch to start new lives. It was a tempting prospect for her own family.
"It wasn't an easy decision [to stay]. We spent weeks going around in circles, losing sleep over it."
They looked at finding jobs in the North Island, and found it wasn't going to be easy to replace the family income.
"And the other main thing was family. We didn't feel we wanted our children to grow up without their grandparents and close-knit friends and family that we have here. That was probably the clincher."
Children Kaelan (6), Eva (3) and Charlie (1) were doing well under the circumstances. The family was now in a rented home in Parklands, which also had its share of quake damage, but the new street was "not that bad".
They are building in the newly-developed town of Pegasus in North Canterbury.
"We'll be slightly removed from seeing all the damage and driving over the bumpy roads every day. We're really looking forward to that."
They had to borrow again, on top of Government and insurance payouts, for the new home, "but [it] could have been worse".
"We could have been paid no money for that [Bexley] land, so we've had a helping hand."
- Simon Collins
