yea i used to have that attitude bout timaz too, and in the in early to mid nineties it seemed like a dreary, depressing, khunt of a place to live
cant remember where the article is but Timaru is now the 4th highest paying salaries in NZ (prolly thanks to the giant fontera factory) these days the population is up by 20k thanks to the earthquakes, so the place is busy-as!
The new 53 Million dollar aquatic centre is a real draw card for the area too.
dont get me wrong it still has it seedy under belly, most NZ cities seem to be like this anyways.
But yea, it has certainly changed ol Timaz.. we are even getting a Lone Star haha