[NatalieM]

Since I suspect we will probably be in Auckland area when and if we do go to NZ, I was wondering what Auckland is like? I've been reading some of the posts, and while it is giving me a good idea of what Auckland is like, the frames of reference seem to be mostly UK. Just wondering what Auckland is like compared to, say, Toronto? Montreal? We've also been to Philadelphia and New York. We are not city dwellers and are relieved to hear that Auckland is not all that city-like in terms of congestion etc, but that is from a British perspective. How about from a North American perspective? What are the suburbs like, are they similar to Toronto suburbs, etc.?

thanks,

Natalie

[xanctus]

You can say Toronto, and some canadian I have met say similar to Vancouver.
But Auckland's traffic is not all that bad compare to Los Angeles that's my personal opinion.

[Justine+Ben]

Hi there,

We are not Canadians (or Americans) but are currently living in Montreal (and were in US before). My husband visited Auckland a few months ago for an interview and loved it there, he described the central business district as similar to any north American equivalent by the sea (e.g. Vancouver/Seattle/San Diego) but said you could walk around it very easily. The suburbs he describes as being low-rise and leafy with lots of parks, open spaces and access to the coast/small beaches. Apparently, you need to drive in the suburbs as they sprawl for a long way (although there is public transport too). There are some big freeways too.

Hope this helps a bit :) It would probably be best if at least one of you could visit before making any big decisions. Good luck!

Justine

[kanatakiwi]

Since I suspect we will probably be in Auckland area when and if we do go to NZ, I was wondering what Auckland is like? I've been reading some of the posts, and while it is giving me a good idea of what Auckland is like, the frames of reference seem to be mostly UK. Just wondering what Auckland is like compared to, say, Toronto? Montreal? We've also been to Philadelphia and New York. We are not city dwellers and are relieved to hear that Auckland is not all that city-like in terms of congestion etc, but that is from a British perspective. How about from a North American perspective? What are the suburbs like, are they similar to Toronto suburbs, etc.?

thanks,

Natalie

I've only been to Toronto a couple of times, but I would say Auckland is more like Vancouver, and has similar attributes etc. There is one main bridge to the north shore (just like Vancovuer) so that gets pretty congested at rush hour, as do the routes out of the city, but its all pretty manageable and I am guessing that its probably slightly better than TO. If you are not city dwellers, than you need to get your head around the fact that no matter how you look at it, Auckland is a large, sprawling city. But it's proximity to beaches everywhere and lots of parks, make it quite liveable. And if you want to be out of the city, you can be in the rural suburbs within an hour from downtown Auckland.

[akp713]

I'm an American and I've lived in Boston and Washington, DC and visited Montreal and Toronto a couple times. I'd say Auckland is quite different from all of those cities. It feels a lot more like a West Coast US city. A friend from Seattle said it was a lot like home to him. The city has a lot of sprawl so it is possible to live on the edges of the suburbs and feel like you're in the country, but if you work downtown you'll know you're in a city the moment you get on the Motorway because rush hour traffic is terrible here! My communte from the North Shore to Epsom used to be 12KM and took me 50 minutes to an hour each way. Not as bad as LA maybe but easily as bad as Boston or DC.

Aside from traffic Auckland is a great city with an amazing amount of parks, reseves and beaches. The pollution gets blown out to sea with the breeze and it's the only place in NZ with lots of 24 hour services including supermarkets, video stores, petrol stations and restaurants like Denny's, that never close. Pretty much everyone lives in a house on a quarter-acre lot with a nice enclosed yard and at least one park nearby. There are a lot of malls and mini-malls but the main street shops are still viable and busy unlike in the US. There are very few apartment buildings outside of the CBD. The terrain varies widely but on the North Shore it is very hilly, while South Auckland is much flatter.

Auckland isn't as clean as Toronto according to my friends from there, but it is much cleaner than any US city I've been to. It's a lot cleaner and frendlier than I've even found Montreal to be.