sesame
Valued Member
Joined: 30 May 2004
Posts: 123
Location: southwestern usa
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Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2004 5:59 am Post subject: auckland |
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Thumbs down for Auckland
20 June 2004
By RUTH LAUGESEN
A new poll on New Zealanders' attitudes towards Auckland has shattered Auckland mayor John Banks' cherished view that there are only two types of Kiwis - "those who live in Auckland and those who want to live in Auckland".
The BRC Research poll for the Sunday Star-Times, reveals a staggering 82% answeredO'no' when asked if Auckland was the place they would prefer to live and work. Even Aucklanders appear fed up living in what is supposed to the country's most irresistible city.
A sub-sample of the national poll found 42% of Aucklanders say they too would rather live elsewhere.
The findings help explain a dramatic reversal in trends revealed in the last census, which found for the first time in decades Auckland was losing more people to other parts of New Zealand than it was gaining from the rest of the country.
They come as surveys show Auckland's economic growth lagging behind other regions and business confidence faltering in the face of rising interest rates and acute labour shortages.
With a regional population of 1.3 million, Auckland is still Australasia's fastest-growing major city but that growth - expected to reach 1.6m by 2021 - will be mainly fuelled by international migration and new births.
Economist Kel Sanderson of Business and Economic Research Ltd, said New Zealand's development had become lopsided, with Auckland so much larger than any other city.
The scene was now set for another major city to begin to seriously compete. "Christchurch should be putting its hand up and saying yes we're going to be number two. I think it would give strength to the whole country."
Banks rejected any suggestion that Auckland's growth was turning New Zealanders off, dismissing the BRC Research poll as "shonky".
"Auckland grows by the size of Dunedin every three years. Fifty new families are now moving into Auckland every week and 21 new houses are completed every day. Some people need to move to Auckland for job opportunity. I needed to move to Auckland for job opportunity. There was no one in Whangarei who would have employed me when I left parliament."
The poll of 500 people, taken in May, had a margin of error of 4.4%. The smaller poll of 116 Aucklanders had a margin of error of 10%.
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