Good areas to live in Auckland to work in Penrose?

[Hols]

Hi,

Can anyone give some ideas about some nice areas in the East of Auckland that are within 20 mins drive of Penrose? My partner's job offer is there and the East seems quite nice, Howick and surrounding areas? Anyone got any more info to help?

Many Thanks

[Oregonkiwi]

We live very near Penrose so I'm happy to offer suggestions. What are you looking for? eg are schools important? What part of Penrose is the job in? Will your partner be working normal business hours? ( at rush hour, 20 minutes sometimes doesn't get you very far).

[timetogo]

We live in Highland Park. We are across the road from Lloyd Elsmore Park which has free indoor swimming pools and walking distance to Highland Park Shopping Centre. Not a lot there but does have two supermarkets. We are not far from Botany (great shopping centre), Howick (really nice villagy type feel to it), Eastern/Bucklands Beach and Cockle Bay. All are within a 10 min drive. I catch the ferry to the CBD for work from Half Moon Bay (also within a 10 min drive even at peak time). My two little un's go to daycare at Half Moon Bay too so there is everything I need for us here. I would definitely recommend any of the areas mentioned above. We searched the whole of Auckland and there are some lovely areas (but can be very expensive) and some not so nice areas. I'm really pleased we chose to live East and can't imagine wanting to move from here.

Sorry can't comment on the drive to Penrose as I catch the ferry to work. But traffic in Auckland is awful during the rush hour and as someone has previously said you'd be hard pushed to get far within 20 mins at peak time.

hth

[Hols]

Thanks for your messages guys, im new on here so prob should have put more info on! Yes it will be peak time so from the sounds like it might take a bit longer to get anywhere, all good info tho, thanks.

We dont have any children at the moment so really just looking for a quiet but friendly place with a few amenities. Would also like to be able to drive to a decent beach. The prices do seem to vary but I suppose that is just like in th eUK where some areas are better than others. I will take a look at Highland Park, sounds like the kind of place were after.

Again thanks for your replies, much appreciated.

[Oregonkiwi]

Have a look at Ellerslie, it's close to Penrose and has good transport links (train, bus, motorway) to CBD if you end up working there; there's lots of cafes and little shops in the Ellerslie centre, and it's close to Sylvia Park (big shopping mall) for other shopping. We live in Mt Wellington, which we like, but would have bought a house in Ellerslie if we'd found something in our budget. Lovely beaches at St Heliers, Mission Bay etc are a short drive away. Also check out the new suburb called Stonefields.