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Kiwis fit and happy, but scared to go out at night – survey   

New Zealanders think they are a healthy, active lot, but don't feel safe on city streets at night or take public transport, a survey released today finds.Researchers talked to 500 people in each of New Zealand's 12 largest cities and districts and 1500 residents from the rest of the country, asking them about their quality of life.

Across the country, people told researchers they exercised regularly, with 56 per cent of the city people saying they exercised five or more days a week.Country people were slightly more vigorous, however, with 61 per cent working out at least five days a week.Seven per cent of the city folk said they did no exercise at all.

It seems happiness is driving your own car, with only 21 per cent of the people from the cities using public transport more than twice a week, despite 67 per cent knowing all about the services available.

Only 56 per cent of those surveyed thought their urban neighbourhoods shared a sense of community, compared to 65 per cent from the "rest of New Zealand" group.

Community was absent because of "unfriendly neighbours" and "busy lives of fellow residents", people told researchers.

Wellingtonians were the most proud of their city, while people from Manakau and Auckland were the least proud.

Graffiti, vandalism and rubbish were what made people feel ashamed of their city area.

Only half of the urban population surveyed felt safe after dark, with only 12 per cent feeling very safe. Fifty-eight per cent of men and 42 per cent of women felt comfortable walking through the centres of their cities.

The reasons people gave for feeling scared in their city included dangerous people, media reporting on crime, alcohol and drug problems and badly-lit streets.  

Dunedin and Rodney were the safest, according to the people who lived there.

Eighty-eight per cent of the people in the cities and 87 per cent of country people said they had enough money to live.

The survey by pollsters TNS was paid for by the 12 participating councils and the Ministry of Social Development.

- NZPA  …………from the NZ Herald

Good to know so many of us are exercising regularly, but people being afraid to walk the streets at night is not so good…the solution is probably pretty straightforward, but whether the government is prepared to provide the funding, and whether the police are prepared to utilise their resources in an effective way- that could be a whole other story.