garryhg

Ok...Heres you chance to vote!
Let me know how your area is, and if you would advise others to live there?, or on the other hand...where definately not to live?

Looking for good affordable family living with good schools. (Not a lot to ask).

Don't like city living, so looking for smaller, friendly suburb. Probably renting for 6 Months, then looking at buying. Also need a house (min 3 bedrooms) with garden space as we have a dog (also like to consider a pool in future)...

Let me know your thoughts.

Cheers

happynz

As a former Westie might I suggest Hobsonville, Massey and a bit further in, Sunnyvale.

Suerte.

dazal

Ok, I am a North Shore girl so I would thoroughly recommend pretty much anywhere on the North Shore. I am in Birkdale and love the area and is also where you would find the most affordable houses on the North Shore, along with Glenfield. There are some roads you wouldnt want to buy down in both areas but if you were interested in buying in these areas I am sure could advise the ones to avoid. You also have Beachaven and Birkenhead which are both nice too but Birkenhead is getting a tiny bit more expensive. Other nice areas on the North Shore are Devonport (very pricey but lovely), Takapuna (again pricier but nice). You also have Torbay where quite a few people on here live and that is very nice too but again houses are a wee bit pricier. I couldnt really advise you on schools unfortunately as we do not have kids. Birkdale is also, so I have found anyway, a very friendly area. Its very leafy and green with a lot of nice bush walks around the area. We are near to some hidden beaches. In fact so hidden I dont even know where they are! but apparently they are there.

I am sure others on here will advise you on the nice areas over the other side of the bridge as there are some lovely areas there too.

The ones to avoid - Mangere, Manurewa, Otahu - industrial and low income housing. Place like Pakuranga, Papatoetoe are ok but your getting quite far out and can also find a lot of low income housing. Some areas of Te Atatu and Henderson can be a bit dogdy as well.

Apple12

Do you have any clues yet on where you will be working? This peg in the sand often tempers the advice that you can be given.

garryhg

Cheers Apple....... I'll be working at the Auckland City Hospital....

P18PPS

I really think asking a question like that is like waving a red flag to a bull - everyone is going to recommend where they live!! I would recommend you purchase a "where to live in Auckland" book - see the really useful thread for ISBN number, and then try to work your way through what looks good on paper, then start travelling around areas that appeal once you get here. Unfortnately if you don't like city living, then the semi-rural locations are limited because of Auckland's geography - being waterlocked on both sides with two massive harbours restricts the options for anything semi-rural to really far north or south and therefore a huge commute to get back to the city for work. Affordable family living will also depend massively on what you are coming out with in £s - you may find that your £s will still stretch to buy in some lovely city suburbs, or you may have to go further afield. If you are up for a longer commute then you can start looking a bit further afield, but it is not always necessary to find nice areas that you have to factor in an hour to commute from.
Personally we live in St Heliers which is 20 mins rush hour (10 mins off peak)to the city along the waterfront, it has a village centre right on the beach and has really good state primary and intermediate schools and a college. It isn't cheap but you can still buy family homes for around $500-600 (£200k) - although if you've got more to spend you can into the millions.

You will find that there are a lot of ex-pats who live and recommend the north shore - which is lovely, but the only way back to the city is on a motorway and over the bridge which can take minutes or can take hours if there are problems with the motorway/bridge (there is only one road in-out).

Generally the no-go areas that everyone will agree on are south auckland suburbs - with the exception of Howick and surrounding suburbs.

Another post referred to Birkenhead which is just over the bridge on the north shore - a word of caution - it is beautiful with lovely old villas but most of Birkenhead is south facing slopes, therefore dark and damp in the winter months so you need to choose property carefully there.

Good luck.

backdoor

We are moving to Meadowbank/Remeura region. i am glad to hear that you are fond of the area.

Cheers

P18PPS

Hi backdoor - It is lovely - after researching before we arrived we were sure that the North Shore was where we'd end up, but after arriving we just couldn't justify the long trip and looked closer to the city. Remuera is extremely upmarket and a lovely area, Meadowbank is really nice too and a touch more affordable than Remuera (we looked at several properties around there). Really you can't go wrong with any of the "eastern suburbs" of the central auckland. Well if you need any help or advice then please give us a shout as we've been here 18 months now and wouldn't live anywhere else in Auckland.

mickey_d

Anywhere but North Shore, the drive is horrible, especially if you're on a nightshift. I drive my OH to Starship, took us 1 hour 20 minutes tonight & its only 10k. It's like this almost every day, sometimes worse.
Buses don't go directly to the hospitals either (apart from 9 to 5 workers) you have to use 2 or 3 to get there & they are not reliable.

Mickey_D

mickey_d

Try & find a Rental, before you come out. Rentals that allow dogs are very rare, we were very lucky. When you say the word "Dog" in Estate Agents they don't want to know & as we have found, offer no help whatsoever. We have been looking for a new rental but have now given up, can't afford to buy around Auckland so will be moving south shortly.

Good Luck

Mickey_D

garryhg

Thanks All for the info. so far......still needing more. Unfortunately the dog must come, I wouldn't leave him here!!

I would also consider areas further afield if their were good train links to the centre?

Thanks Again (Hope to see you all soon)......

P18PPS

I think if you're looking at relying on trains for your commute into the city and you want space and a rural feel then you should be looking at south of the city, possibly as far south as Pukekohe which I believe has a train line directly into the city. Alternatively look out west into the Waitakere's which is all lovely dense rainforest and this area has good train links into the city. Unfortunately there is no trainline from the North Shore into the city - be warned though that the train station is a good 30 minute walk up hill to the hospital, (though I'm sure there are buses that do the route), so you'll need to factor that into your commuting time too.

happynz

Uphill? Yes, but it's not at all bad. The thirty minute estimate is also a tad conservative. Fifteen minutes should do it. Well, that is if you don't get distracted by shoe shops on Broadway.
It's quite nice having a walk through the Auckland Domain.
I used to work in a building next to the Newmarket station and I would walk past the hospital as part of my daily commute. But yeah, thirty minutes would be about it if you are in a car trying to fight your way down Khyber Pass Road.

hayleyt

Hi I'm originally from london, try looking at the Hibiscus Coast i't about 40 mins dependant upon traffic because the Auckland traffic is notorious especially in rush hour where ever you look the coast is there, to me Glenfield is a definite no no not bad for shopping Takapuna and milford are nice but quite expensive same as ponsonby remuera st Heliers I,m not far from red beach the school is really good if you have children there is also Albany which has everything you need and not far from on ramp. hope this helps let me know if you want any more info and i'll try to oblige Hayley

P18PPS

I was talking about from Britomat to the hospital, not Newmarket.