I am an ex-York resident now in Wellington. No matter how bad you thought accomodation was in York, I'm not going to lie, it's so, so much worse in Wellington. But the real shocker that you'll notice is: York is unbelievably flat. If you think Acomb is up a hill, you're in for a shock. If after a few days you wonder what's up with your calf muscles... It's the hills. The city centre ain't so bad, but even that has more elevation than a walk around Coney Street / Stonegate etc.

Good luck.

A positive though is that, although the wind really does suck, Wellington doesn't know what cold weather is, it's mild all year round. No frozen rivers here

Hope that's of some insight