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ViewsAuckland City GuideFrom Wiki
[edit] Auckland City GuideWell, I’m new to this “Wiki” business, but lets’ see if I can kick-start at least this one entry!! Auckland is by far the largest city in New Zealand, is home to 35% of the population, 39% of jobs and produces 40% of the GDP (ref pending) It is also the city where most migrants tend to settle, Immigration NZ estimates that over 60% of migrants to NZ settle in Auckland. Auckland thus has nearly double the ratio of migrants to the rest of New Zealand and is set to grow to an estimated 2 million inhabitants by 2050. This substantial increase in population will have a major impact on transport, housing and other infrastructure that is in many cases are already under pressure. Just to confuse the newcomer, the name “Auckland” can refer to different places!!: Auckland – the largest city in New Zealand The Auckland Region, which includes some countryside to the north and south Auckland City Council – which is one of the four city councils in Auckland, covers the central metropolitan area as well as the islands including Waiheke Island. There are also three district councils in Auckland: North Shore City (North Auckland), Waitakere (West Auckland) and Manukau City (South Auckland). Auckland is very spread out for a city of 1.2m people with very few high-rise buildings outside the CBD (Central Business District). The land area is also divided by several large inlets to the sea. At its narrowest point (between Otahuhu and Westfield towards the south ), the sea to east & west is only 1.2 km apart! Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world. Auckland ranks consistently highly in various Quality of Life surveys which compare cities around the world. [edit] TransportationThe main mode of transport is the car, much as there is a lot of promotion of public transport options. Cars are quite cheap to buy thanks to the secondhand Japanese import market. Roads, however are a problem, a combination of all that coastline, only two bridges, an incomplete motorway network, and limited public transport options. Result: long traffic jams on the motorways & main routes at peak hours. You do need a car in Auckland, and probably one for each adult in the house. For travel to work, if you live near a ferry terminal and work regular hours in the CBD, the ferry can be an excellent way to avoid the traffic and parking charges. If you live and work near a railway station, the train service is improving. Buses are the next public transport option. A lot of money & effort is being put into improving the bus service, but they can be infrequent and crowded on some routes. There is a free bus which circulates around the CBD and the Link bus which travels a loop around the CBD to Newmarket (bi-directional with busses every 20 minutes). There is also the new Albany Expressway, which is a bus lane on the main Northern Motorway running from Albany in the north of Auckland to the CBD. There is a very good website Auckland MAXX which gives all the bus & train routes, timetables, fares etc. When moving to Auckland, you do need to consider where you will work and live and how you will travel between the two, (possibly with school pick-up & drop-off as well). Distance is not the only consideration! [edit] Where to Live?Much will depend on where you will be working. It is a good idea to live as close as possible to the best transport option, whether that’s a ferry terminal, railway station, or main road/motorway. Unfortunately some of these options may prove to have a high price tag in terms of rent or property price. As with anywhere it’s a very personal decision based on your individual circumstances, family, budget, interests etc. As a very rough guide for someone new to Auckland, (with some shocking generalisations!): North : relatively affluent, popular with professionals as well as British and South African immigrants. Lots of beaches. Limited business but growing very fast, especially in Albany & North Harbour areas, mostly very light industry or commercial. West: A bit more “working class” with a lot of tradespeople living there. Quite “green” & environmentally conscious. Central: Varied affluence: some of Auckland wealthiest areas (e.g. St Heliers, Remuera) and some poor ones too. Most of Auckland’s commerce & industry is located in the CBD and in the Penrose/Mt Wellington areas. Popular with many immigrants. East: Relatively affluent, popular with South African and Asian migrants. Limited industry. South: relatively poorer, large Maori & Pacific Island populations. Larger manufacturing & industrial areas, with attendant populations of industrial & manual workers. Some affluent pockets. The Auckland Suburb Guide website lists all of Auckland’s 200 suburbs, and gives a quick indication of the relative affluence of that suburb. There are links to the Wikipedia (the main web one, not the BE one!) entries (and some others) for most of the suburbs as well as a map showing where all the suburbs are. Some guide books to Auckland include the “Where to Live in Auckland” book and the “InSuburbia Migrants Guide to Auckland Suburbs”. The “Where to Live in Auckland” book has descriptions & profiles of around 50 areas in Auckland. The “InSuburbia Migrants Guide to Auckland Suburbs” uses colour maps and census information to show the good and not-so-good suburbs & areas, schools (rated by the decile rating), where different people live (UK migrants, South African migrants, wealthier, less wealthy, different professions etc) as well as the shopping areas, transport links and leisure facilities. See the links to these guides at the end of this page in the External Links section [edit] SchoolsThere are over 500 schools in the Auckland area, of which just over half are Primary schools (for children aged 6 to 10). After primary school, there are Intermediate schools (age 11 to 13) and then senior schools (age 13 to 18). Just to confuse you, some primary schools alos cove rteh Intermediate years, and some secondary schools start with children younger than 13 – however, the above is a rough guide. The Intermediate & especially the senior schools tend to be a lot bigger in terms of school roll than the primary ones. There are also composite schools which cover a much wider age range and these are often religious in orientation, many of them oriented to the newer Christian religions. Some of the Catholic and Anglican schools are private (fee-paying) and others have been amalgamated into the state system. Many of these schools tend to be boys-only or girls-only. There are also around 20 Special Needs schools. The NZ government uses a Decile Rating system to determine how to allocate funding to schools on the rough basis that schools in poorer areas need more funding than those in wealthier ones, where parents are often expected to make various contributions. The decile rating is not a measure of academic or other performance. However it can be used as a very rough initial guide to the better schools in an area.
[edit] EntertainmentThe main restaurant & bar areas are the CBD Waterfront (also known as the Viaduct), and Ponsonby. There are various restaurants & bars scattered in the main centres but these two areas have lots in a small area, and are a good place to start. The CBD has cinema complexes, theatre and Art Gallery Sailing, boating, fishing are very popular (with all that water) and there are plenty of golf courses. For family entertainment, the Auckland Zoo, MOTAT (Transport Museum), Kelly Tarltons Underwater World, Rainbow Park and Stardome are all popular.
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