I grew up in Stokes Valley (Lower Hutt), lived in the US for 10 years, returned last year. Never in a million years did I see myself (now family) living in Upper Hutt, but we are! We have a big family and they're all within a few minutes of us, which is why we're here.
We rented in Emerald Hill (really just a new development in Timberlea/Brown Owl). It was a new house was nice but the area was average. I'd avoid Brown Owl/Timberlea/parts of Trentham and Wallaceville.
When we were looking to buy we'd look at Silverstream/Heretaunga/Parts of Trentham. We bought a place in Heretaunga.