* Auckland Suburb Guide *

[Milliemoo]

Hi there,

I keep reading about about people asking opinions on whether they can afford to live on x and is earning y enough, and I thought that half the problem is that sometimes you just don't know where you're going to settle. If you're still in the UK, you may know which city/town you'd prefer, but the suburbs can vary HUGELY in what they have to offer and the inpact they'll have on your cost of living.

I thought it might be a good idea to start a 'guide to the suburbs' for all the major towns and cities, so that peeps back in the UK can see how far their budget will stretch.

I've started this Auckland guide, but if others all start their own eg: * Wellington Suburb Guide * and then everyone can add to the thread with information on their own particular suburb. It doesn't matter if more than one person adds info about the same suburb, because not eveyone will know about schools, kindy etc.

It would be good to keep the thread quite focussed though. It would be shame to loose lots of great information in the middle of a cost of living debate

I'll start this one off and then hopefully others will add to it

Milliemoo

[Milliemoo]

DEVONPORT

* Small seaside community only 12 minutes ferry ride from Auckland CBD
* Housing is prodominately Victorian/Edwardian villas
* Lots of local shops/cafes/bars/restaurants
* Large New World supermarket and local farmers market
* All local amenities and services are in walking distance - no need for a car!
* Lots of scenic walks and beaches
* Very friendly community
* Rentals are generally of poor quality and hard to come buy. Expect to pay $550+ for a basic 3 bed villa / $800+ for a 3 bed renovated villa
* Housing is expensive. Expect to pay $750k+ for a basic 3 bed villa / $900k+ for a 3 bed renovated villa
* Using the ferry to get to the CBD is quick and easy, but if your driving it can take anything from 20mins - 45mins to get into town depending on the traffic
* The ferry costs $9 return or you can buy a 10 trip pass for $35. Weekly and monthly passes are also available which offer good value
* There's a good local doctors surgery and also a dentist, opticians, chiropodist and physio.
* There's lots of local events organised in the summer, including a food and wine festival.
* Good local schooling. Walking school bus for the littlies and school bus for those going to Takapuna Grammer
* Great for those working on the shore or CBD, less so for other areas
* Not a big problem with Hoons, but they are here and you do hear them
* Lots of parks and also a golf course.
* Small but adequate local gym
* Lots of organised classes eg: Yoga, Pilates, Dance, Art etc
* Ballet School.
* Close to Takapuna for even more shops, restaurants and a cinema
* If you're renovating your home, it can cost more in Devonport because a lot of tradesmen add on a premium to come 'out here'.

As you can probably tell, I LOVE Devonport . I have been trying to think of some bad points, honest. I guess the biggest negative is the cost. We're given up looking for a property to buy at the moment and have just signed another 12 months on our rental.

Here's some links:

http://www.devonport.co.nz/index.htm
http://www.fullers.co.nz/
http://www.devonport.school.nz/front_end/index.php
http://www.annestreetmedical.co.nz/
http://www.devonportfarmersmarket.co.nz/

Milliemoo

[andrewandjane]

WAIHEKE ISLAND

35 mins by Ferry (monthly pass $300)
all sorts of houses from shacks to millionaire mansions
Limited shopping 1 large food supermarket (Woolworths) and a few smaller ones here and there, couple of furniture shops , hardware etc, then lots of touristy type shops but you can get pretty much anything you need but it may be a bit more expensive but its only 35 mins from downtown auckland anyway and you can walk to the downtown warehouse from the ferry!
Bus links around island are pretty good and its inlcuded in monthly ferry pass.
very friendly community
loads of beaches and walks etc
rentals are ok (well ours is) about $300+ for a three bed place per week
houses seem to start at around $400 000 + to buy

Weve been there almost three months and moved from UK and whole family have settled in and got to know people really quickly. If I had to say it was like anywhere in UK as far as people/feel for the place goes as a comparison id say it was like Cornwall was a few years back but better weather.

we love it and wouldnt consider living anywhere else now, even though weve only been here a few months.

[Tia Maria]

Great idea Milliemoo.

I think you've pretty much covered Devonport - so nothing for me to add! But I just thought I'd put a link to this thread, which has a couple of areas on also:

www.enz.org/forum/showthread.php?t=9052

Cheers

Tia

[gil]

This is a really good idea, Milliemoo

Howick

We have settled very happily in the Howick area of Auckland, south east Auckland to be precise. I have cut and pasted from the zillions (OK, 1,309 to date) of posts I have put on here about this area and its schools and attractions etc. NB This is purely from my family's point of view

http://www.howickvillage.co.nz/

This is a suburb in the south east of the city. We are about 1 minute from the beach, with another about 6-7 minutes' walk. It is a very family oriented area, with great schools, local shops, access to bigger shops at Botany Town Centre/Sylvia Park and a 40 minute commute to the CBD by ferry, or by car, anything from 35-110 minutes! It is about 30 minutes' commute to Manukau City.
Howick has a good library and a lovely range of shops, including antique shops and Tom Kroons Music Store which sells everything from ukuleles to pianos and can recommend good music teachers locally.
There is a wide range of worship places too, including a Sikh Temple about 15 mins drive away.

It's not everyone's cup of tea obviously, but it suits our family (me, OH and daughters 16 and 9, son 11. Plus 19 year-old daughter visiiting from UK!)

We live in the Bucklands Beach area and have excellent schools nearby, but it is a decile 10 zone, which means school contribution fees and house prices are high.

Our youngest (9) goes to Pigeon Mountain Primary, great school, in the same site as Bucklands Beach Intermediate, where our son (11) goes. That is around the corner from Macleans College where our 16 year old goes. Also great school.
http://www.pigeon-mountain.school.nz

http://www.bbi.school.nz

http://www.macleans.school.nz

Pakuranga College has a good rep too, also Farm Cove and Somerville Intermediates, Bucklands Beach Primary, Cockle Bay Primary and Owairoa, the largest Primary in NZ!

As far as socialising goes, we do most of ours at home or at friends' homes. There are some good restaurants here: La Mama on Eastern Beach, Lou-Lou on the Beach, The Barracuda (on The Parade) and The Beach House, also The Parade. Howick has some good bars/eateries, including Basalt and The Barrell Inn (Irish pub).

Sprots are well catered too, with Lloyd Ellsmore being the location of swimming pools (FREE!!), athletics club, rugby, football ( still resisting "soccer"), cricket, hockey, netball, and most others. Bucklands Beach Yacht Club has moorings and is a great place to learn to sail. There are three tennis clubs, two bowling clubs and a partridge in a pear tree. Well, definitely the tennis and bowling clubs.

We love it here, and will happily answer PMs for further info.

Gil

[Milliemoo]

Thanks to those who have posted so far

Milliemoo

[Milliemoo]

I see there's someone else asking about surburbs, so now's a good oportunity to add everything you know about where you live

Milliemoo

[RamblingPaddies]

* Rentals are generally of poor quality and hard to come buy. Expect to pay $550+ for a basic 3 bed villa / $800+ for a 3 bed renovated villa

Milliemoo

miliemoo - great post

are those prices for a week or a month ?

[dharder]

are those prices for a week or a month ?

That'll be for a week.

I'll contribute to the thread once we actually live there, we will be moving to Glendowie/Glen Innes. Although I think I'll start to say Glendowie as that is where the children's school is and we are in the zone for that (posher, too )

Daniela

[Milliemoo]

Yes, per week unfortunately. Devonport is a lot of things, but cheap ain't one of them

Milliemoo