Faithstalker

Hey Guys and Gals,

I've been offered a job in North Auckland - Albany area.
I've checking out some house prices and renting, seems expensive.

Anyone got any advice on where i could live within 1 hour drive of work, nice property either a bit of land or lake/coast, pref. in a town.

I've tried a few NZ rental/property websites but there doesnt seem to be to much out there - perhaps it would be better when i'm "on the ground" ?

Cheers and thanks for any advice!

jandjuk

albany would be a good location to work in I think - as it means you can live and work in the same are - which is a bonus in auckland.

I'd look north to Whangaparoa or Orewa - nice beachy areas. sleepy suburbs with just enough amenities to suffice. whangaparoa has a small mall and a multiplex, and a handful of restaurants (at least it did last time I was there). some of the beaches around there are lovely - arkles bay is a fantastic bay for kids - in summer of course

I think albany has a bunch of superstores these days

the hike to auckland centre could be a grind at peak times, but to albany it wouldn't be too bad at all.


here's an article I found about Albany. don't worry, hopefully it's not a Milton Keynes in the making.... only about 10 years ago Albany was farmland.

----------------------------

Albany mall to dwarf them all

15.11.2003
By ANNE GIBSON
The largest shopping mall in New Zealand will be built at Albany as billionaire Malaysian and Australian interests target Auckland's burgeoning northern outskirts.

Sydney-based Westfield yesterday unveiled plans for a $130 million, 70,000sq m mega-centre. Construction starts in about a year.

Westfield, a family dynasty headed by Holocaust survivor Frank Lowy, has followed Malaysia's Tiong family to Albany, drawn to the furthest outskirts of the North Shore by the area's wealthy residents, a quarter of whom own their houses outright.

The developers' faith comes despite a North Shore City Council survey showing that residents and visitors think Albany lacks a soul or heart, is dangerous for pedestrians, sorely lacks public transport, is boring, bland and daunting for its sheer scale and distance between buildings.

The Tiongs, who own the Neil International construction company, are quietly creating a mini-city in one of Auckland's fast-growing areas. Forbes magazine has described the Tiongs as Malaysia's richest family. They are estimated to be worth $4.9 billion through global media and forestry interests.

"It's an entire city in the making, designed from the ground up," Neil boasts on its website, saying its Albany project is a chance for Auckland to build a new city and get it right this time.

The Tiongs saw the suburb's potential long before most other developers, buying 127ha from the Housing Corporation for just $21 million in 1994.

Westfield now wants in on the growth, with plans to build a mall almost double the size of its St Lukes flagship centre.

The proposal includes between eight and 10 cinemas, 80 shops, a supermarket, discount stores, parking for 1450 cars and a bank of bars and restaurants.

After two years of planning, Westfield lodged its non-notified resource consent application with the council on Tuesday and is hoping for a speedy approval process so it can start building next summer when the ground is dry.

Since the mid-1990s, Westfield has watched Albany grow to the point where the company can now see the feasibility of developing New Zealand's largest shopping centre.

But this will be no big-box mall, thumbing its nose at the outdoors. Westfield NZ director John Widdup said the bars and restaurants would open out to the north and flow onto plaza and streetscape areas.

Initially, Westfield will build a 30,000sq m mall, roughly the same size as its Glenfield centre, but with a 20-year blueprint to add 20,000sq m every 10 years.

Neil has been the prime mover behind Albany's growth, selling Westfield the land for the mall, subdividing extensive tracts on the fringes and undertaking large-scale developments in its own right.

The construction company, founded by West Auckland builder Ron Neil in the 1950s and sold to the Tiongs in 1993, has expanded Albany far beyond its traditional strip-shopping town centre.

The suburb can now boast the new North Shore District Court, North Harbour Stadium, bulk and strip retail shopping at the Mega Centre and Northridge Plaza, offices and high-tech industries, all complementing Massey University's campus.

Projects under way include a new park'n'ride busway, a technology park and a $50 million private-health park.

Council figures show that the wider Albany area's population has grown 56 per cent since 1996 and is expected to balloon to 55,000 people by 2021, from its present 21,000.

Within two decades, 40,000 people will work in the Albany basin, driving from elsewhere in Auckland to offices and industries - and to shop, if Westfield succeeds.

xpat19

Hi - We're not far from Albany ourselves and there are a lot of nice areas around there - you could look at West Harbour - Lovely views and nr the sea. There's a nice restaurant there too !
West Auckland is easily accesible from there eg: Titirangi & house prices are a bit lower there

BritboyNZ

Janduk - you said it. The whole of the shore = Milton Keynes to me. Nothing but endless housing estates, huge shopping centres, & industrial areas. It is culturally devoid. I can't even think of any good pubs/restaurants/happening places on the shore either. Sorry but this is just how i see it. The only exception I make to this is Devonport which is lovely, albeit very expensive.

I work in Albany myself (Rosedale Rd business park) but live in the CBD, takes me 18 minutes to get to work in the morning, same going home as you are going in totally the opposite direction to the traffic going into the city. Quite nice whizzing along on the other side of the motorway at 100km smiling at all those who had to get up at 6.30am so they could sit in traffic for an hour slowly crawling along at 5km/h towards the cbd.

IMO stick to places south of the bridge - plenty of great areas to live & lots to do eg: Mission bay, Kohi, Parnell, Newmarket (if you have the urge to shop...lots of nice stores instead of the warehouses on the shore), the CBD/viaduct itself, Ponsonby, Grey Lynn, Mt Eden. I could go on....

Russ

xpat19

you'd need a lot of $$$ to live in those places though. Must be great travelling in the opposite direction to the traffic !

newkiwi

Orewa is an option, not sure how many properties will be on the market... Might be becoming more expensive to buy in Orewa.

Other options include the East Coast Bays suburbs, such as Browns Bay, Torbay, Murrays Bay, Mairangi Bay etc. Prices not necesarrily cheap tho, although chances are you'll be able to pick up more for your money than in the Auckland City Suburbs such as Ponsonby, Mission Bay etc...

Depends what youre looking for and what youre thinking about paying.

In my opinion renting for say 6 months and taking time to know the areas is a good option. Indications are that the proberty market in Auckland may be cooling down, so a few months' wait may not be too costly

jandjuk

yes, but it's culturally devoid with good coastline and beaches - for sailing, fishing, swimming, water skiing etc etc which is nothing like MK.

depends on what you're looking for - but yes it is mostly low density sprawling 'suburbia' - which a lot of people like - gives them space for their 3 kids, dog, cats, boat, bbq and patio.

personally, I grew up on the shore and didn't particularly like it. great location, but I found it a bit culturally and ethnically bland (which of course makes it a very desirable area for many people). Kind of like christchurch, only in auckland

(I'm being a little facetious, I wouldn't hesitate to live in either place - especially if it was near where I worked)

each to their own

Faithstalker

All this information is so much appreciated,

thankyou for you time and efforts in replying!!!!!!!

little things you dont pickup on from just surfing
through the properties for sale/rent websites.

I think renting for 6 months is the way to go, as advised above, and then find a place where we like,

we're beachy /windsurfer types who like a decent coffee,
we have a cat who's coming with us as well, i think a 2 bed house or ground floor flat would suit us initially.
looks like a good choice of places is ahead of us, just got to get out there and spend a few hours a day looking at places and properties

thanks once again

tony

Kiwipaul

If your a beachy / windsurfer type stick to the North Shore, the beaches south of the bridge are cr*p compared to the shore beaches. The West leaves a lot to be desired with regard to beaches but they have some stunning scenery even if they are a pain to get to.

Takapuna is the most cosmopolitian (but we're talking NZ here) on the shore but Browns Bay is very nice as well, both have plenty of coffee shops. Most of the other beaches on the shore are just Bays with beaches and residential houseing around them.

Def rent for 6 months and have a good look around.