A case for moving to Marondera?

In an earlier article, we provided the advantages of moving away from Harare. During this, we gave an example of how your life could change by moving to a faraway city like Bulawayo. The truth though is that the culture shock of moving to such a city together with the likely loneliness of moving away from your extended family is likely to dissuade most from making such an arduous move. Unless of course, you grew up in Bulawayo, moved to Harare for college, stayed for work and now want to make the journey back home.

Those who call Harare home and have their roots here are much more likely to move to a town or city that is closer to Harare. While Chitungwiza is often the obvious choice, Marondera has established itself as a popular destination for a lot of people who work in Harare. There are quite a number of people who actually make the daily commute to Marondera.

 Pull factors, why you might want to move to Marondera?

There are several reasons why you might want to move and live in Marondera. Here are some of them:

• Life is cheaper in general in Marondera. This specifically refers to rent and rates. 
• Even if you are looking for an outright purchase house, Marondera is still much cheaper.
• Less traffic congestion during peak hours if you are driving into the city.
• Cleaner air with less pollution as the town is less industrialized compared to Harare.
• Better amenities and service delivery. The roads there are now better maintained with regular refuse collection unlike in Harare where such services are sporadic at best.
• Good schools that are nearby. For example, schools like the eponymous Marondera High School as well as others like Peterhouse, Watershed College, Benard Mizeki, Waddilove, Springvale and Ruzawi. All these are reputable schools with a storied, well-documented past.
• Great weather compared to Harare. Winters tend to be mild but thanks to regular cold fronts in the area, Marondera’s summers are not nearly as harsh as the ones experienced in Harare. Things are made even better because unlike Harare’s urban microclimate brought about by extensive concrete structures the Marondera CBD is sparsely built.
• Communication links including Fibre and services like WibroniX are readily available just as in Harare.
• Marondera is still closer to Harare, with the town being just 70km away from the capital. That’s just an hour away and if you wake up at 5 AM you will be able to beat the traffic and still make it into Harare CBD in just under an hour. There is also plenty of public transport to and from Harare. Thanks to traffic jams it might take the same amount of time to drive from Kuwadzana to Harare’s CBD as it would a person to drive from Marondera which given the advantages pointed out here makes Marondera an even more attractive choice.
• There is little of a culture shock here as you can keep your Harare roots. If your extended family is in Harare for example, they will not be that upset as you can keep in touch. The language is virtually the same as that of Harare.
• You can keep your Harare job or financial activities. Harare is where most of the economic opportunities are but living in Marondera allows you to keep a foot in both worlds.

Push factors: why you might not want to live in Marondera.

• Less economic choices in the town itself. You will have to have an umbilical cord attached to Harare if you want to survive and thrive. This means constantly making the commute to Harare. That can quickly get old and exhausting.
• Higher fuel and transport costs compared to just living in Harare. Timewise, the town might be just as close as driving from another suburb, but unless you are sporting a hybrid vehicle like the Honda Fit or something similar the fuel costs quickly add up and might even wipe out the savings you make by paying fewer rentals and or rates.
• Fewer schools in the city itself, most schools are on the outskirts and are boarding schools. Boarding schools tend to be much more expensive.
• Fewer hospitals and medical centers compared to Harare. If you want a specialist you will have to make the drive to Harare.
• The suburbs in Harare are nicer than Marondera’s suburbs which are often a bit haphazard and less established. In Marondera you always get that semi-rural look in a lot of areas. The low-density suburbs have got a plot-like feel unlike say Borrowdale with its ultra-urban feel.

That's it for today’s article. I hope this helps you make an informed decision. See you in the next one.

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