Thanks very much. It makes some sense now. I just wondered why places like Glenfield etc etc did not rank at all with how some people view the NS. I checked the houses and real estate and they seem just fine in Glenfield but I suppose a lot of people place a premium on living in purely housing residential suburbs and not be too close to commercial/industrial areas which may uglify the community.
This is as apposed to my own country where people just can't get enough to living as close as possible to city areas and conveniences like shopping malls, shops etc. I myself used to stay just 500m away from Ikea, Giant (supermarket chain) and Courts. Those conveniences helped jack up the price of my flat when I sold it.
Appreciate this because we are speculating on buying a house soon and would like to know the areas to look out for especially when a lot of people think differently. So presumedly it would not be a good idea to buy one in a suburb with just too many commercial/industrial areas. Yet that somehow doesn't explain why people like places like Takapuna which I gather from reading some posting and cj22 comments that it has a business centre. Are the shops classier?
I myself did not like living in the suburbs when I lived in Brisbane for a couple of years. Deadly, deadly boring and the people don't seem to wake up till past noon on the weekends. It was only when I moved to an inner-city suburb did I see some life.