Auckland North Shore City area - nice?

[T-R3xx]

Is it a nice area? How is the commute to the CBD? Any places to avoid?

Thanks!

[foolsgold99]

North Shore City (generally just referred to as "the shore" ,i.e; "it's on the shore", "yeah, I live on the shore") is a nice suburban place, good shops, easy access to beaches, golf courses etc.

Property prices are reasonable, from what I can see. Can't think of any bad areas, but take a drive round.

Travel to the CBD can be difficult, althought there is a big motorway from the shore to the city, there is only 1 bridge over the Harbour. gets kinda busy in the morning. You can expect to lose about 20-30 mins in traffic going over the bridge

There is also a ferry service from the shore to the city, I think it takes about 30 mins, don't know what it costs.

The best advice I can give is to buy the "where to live in Auckland" book, profiles 49 regions of the city, with great info on them, we got it before we can over and it was a big help. You can order online, they'll ship anywhere in the world

http://www.wheretoliveinauckland.co.nz

[Singel]

It is advisable to start with rental in North Shore and figure out whether you could cope with the rush hour traffic jam especially crossing the harbour bridge and also take your time to find out the idea place to buy eventually.

Info about North Shore : http://www.enterprisens.org.nz/live/index.html

[ShakerMike]

I can recommend the "Where to live..." book. My copy arrived within five days of ordering. Well worth the $50.

We're North Shore bound. The acid test for me is testing out the commute. Frankly, if it's no worse than I currently do (12 miles in anywhere between 1 hr to 90 minutes). I can live with that.

[T-R3xx]

As usual, a wealth of information. Thanks, guys!!

[DrPhred]

Ohh, I just noticed! A fellow Minnesotan!
So, I'm not the only crazy one in the Twin Cities.

[T-R3xx]

Ohh, I just noticed! A fellow Minnesotan!
So, I'm not the only crazy one in the Twin Cities.

We're not the only ones - we just met Bern this weekend at the Caribou at MOA for a brian-dump before we leave for NZ in 10 days. She just got back and gave us lots of cool stuff and some great tips.

OBTW-> THANKS AGAIN BERN! This newgroup is a great resource!

[Soon2baKiwi]

Hi there. We live in Glenfield (North Shore West) and we're very happy here. I work in Mount Eden and take the bus to work - 20/25 minutes into the CBD and 45 back home. Glenfield itself can be a bit hit and miss. Unlike cities and towns back home and in the UK where whole districts would be a 'no go' an area here can vary from street to street. We live at the bottom of a very long road and this bottom part is considered desirable whereas the upper part is not Work that one out. Mind you, we didn't know that when we bought, we just liked the look of it. Prices in this area are still quite reasonable in comparison to the much more pricey North Shore East. We don't have children so I can't say what the schools are like. There are lots of beaches, reserves, you're closer to the city, it's got a Westfield Mall and basically I think it's a great place to live.

This is 200m from our house and what I see as I walk home in the evenings


And this is Browns Bay - the 'other' side

[David with a dream]

Hi T-R3xx
We spent three months living mainly in Stanmore Bay. Completely beautiful. Fantastic play park for the kids, right on a beautiful beach. Sports centre over the road with the warmest pool in the world! Great chip shop! Whangaparoara shopping centre has all you need. Ski centre 10 mins drive away. It took me about a half hour to get into Auckland city. People told me about the trafic probs in Auckland but having driven around London for many a year it was nothing to worry about.
All in all the North Shore is lovely and I'd love to be back right now.
Good luck............David

[MB]

Oh, Soon2BaKiwi, we live in Glenfield too and that area where you took the photo -- near the boat ramp -- is the halfway-point of the family walk we take at least once or twice a week! We were there today in fact.

We live in Bayview, Glenfield, which borders on the area of Manuka Reserve.

We have liked the 'Shore since we got here... before, indeed, as it was an area I kept returning to on my one-man recce trip in April. Visiting Devonport and Takapuna is a fave of ours.

It is a quieter area than central Auckland (of course).

I take the bus into Ponsonby every morning... over the bridge itself is pretty quick, but there is a bit of traffic on Onewa Road (on the 'Shore side), especially during school-term time, and on the road just after the off-ramp to Ponsonby. But being on the bus equals reading/MP3-listening time, and the whole journey takes about an hour.

The shortest of the 'Shore-to-city ferry trips is from Devonport, and takes 12 minutes. The fare is about $5 one-way or $9 round-trip (there are also multi-ticket options), and is competitive with bus fare prices.

We like the 'Shore partly because it is similar in terms of quietness, shopping and green space with Shoreline, a small city near Seattle where we lived for two years just before we moved to NZ. But folks who want central-city bustle or cafe culture might find better places such as the east-Auckland neighborhoods along Tamaki Drive. Bear in mind that we are a family of three -- our little boy is three years old -- and so playparks, bush walks, convenient supermarkets, libraries, public transport and lots of evenings in our cottage and little yard are what we 'do'.

Cheers,
Matt.