Who hates Auckland

[wari]

And then there's all the BAAAHS.......

Oh ewe are sharpe ...

[KATWYN]

its like i'm constantly struggling. Same story with a lot of people i guess.

Yes. I'm getting dam sick of it from a business owner point of veiw. Compliance costs & huge price increases in raw materials are really affecting us as we are affected by the oil & its derivitive products.

These costs are getting passed on (as theres NO way we can absorb it)
and they are eventually ending up getting passed on to the general public
end user - where wage increases aren't happening but living costs are
horrendous.

I'm disheartened at the moment and questioning whether staying in this
madness is worth it too. - I just wanna run away and live on a little
island somewhere far far away

[Magua]

It's the weather and my friends that stopped my family from moving south. relatively mild here.

[Motu]

Yes. I'm getting dam sick of it from a business owner point of veiw. Compliance costs & huge price increases in raw materials are really affecting us as we are affected by the oil & its derivitive products.

From a business point of view I'm not too happy either - my turnover is the same as it was 8 yrs ago! This is because of price decreases! Competition from importers has driven the cost of parts down,I get the same slice of a smaller pie,as far as oil prices go,I'm paying less than half of what I was paying 8 yrs ago.My industry is full of short sighted clowns who think making $2 profit on a tyre is earning a living,there are still idiots doing WoFs for 20 bucks!! We need to wake up and charging real money for real work,same as any other industry.Competition just drives profit down,and profit is how I clothe and feed my kids...

[toads]

My opinion on this is quite simple, Having a mortgage, no matter where you are, dictates how much free time you can have and how much income you have to have also, Pete and I made a descision when our first two kids were little that we wanted to be freehold no matter where that would take us, we checked out the whole of New Zealand and managed to pick up this place for $15,000, still here 17 years later and we've managed to have some sort of freedom time wise and financially wise, I milk a cow and that sort of thing, and we have had 6 children, none of whom have gone without anything, Pete works 4 days a week with exception of the winter when they are busy at work, and then it's 5 days a week, but all summer, we cruise, metaphorically and literally!

[Blakamin]

My opinion on this is quite simple, Having a mortgage, no matter where you are, dictates how much free time you can have and how much income you have to have also, Pete and I made a descision when our first two kids were little that we wanted to be freehold no matter where that would take us, we checked out the whole of New Zealand and managed to pick up this place for $15,000, still here 17 years later and we've managed to have some sort of freedom time wise and financially wise, I milk a cow and that sort of thing, and we have had 6 children, none of whom have gone without anything, Pete works 4 days a week with exception of the winter when they are busy at work, and then it's 5 days a week, but all summer, we cruise, metaphorically and literally!

most excellent way of life!!!

[Jackrat]

I do. I've lived here all my life. I earn exactly $40,000 a year poxy salary with a few poxy benefits thrown in and try to support my wife and son. It sucks. I pay a huge mortgage in comparison to my poxy take home pay, commute everyday into the poxy city (not by bike.. yet) via the poxy traffic.
I tell you there is barely enough money to exist on, in fact we are slowly going down the drain.
I am seriously thinking of upping sticks and leaving for somewhere i dont know.. south island? Scared of not finding work, but that fear is fast becoming secondary to the fed up with Auckland factor.
I'm not sure why i'm posting this on this forum, its just that whenever i mention this to family/freinds they all get so negative about the idea. But i'm sure there are better places to bring up a family? Just like to hear what other people think and reading a lot of posts on here most people seem to be good blokes/blokesses with worthwhile and helpful opinions.
Anyone been through this or thinks the same way??

hy do you live in Auckland, if you dont live in Auckland is it way better where you are? :spudwave:

Mate I was born on collage hill rd Ponsonby,I support the blues and always will,I love AK but I won't live there.
How young middle income familys do it is beyond me.
Depending on what you do for a crust or if your willing to change I say get out of there now.The work situation in most of small town NZ is not as bad as some would have you belive,the rent/price of houses is heaps better than AK,You get to know your naibours,your kids get a better life style,dang mate it's a no lose situation.
Right now I live in Waiuku right on AKs door step,things arn't a lot different but enough to make a difference.next year we're moving back to Tokoroa where most of my family came from.Try this,Four bed room house that in AK would cost $250-300,000,Tokoroa price $70,000, or the same thing for $100-150 pw rent.Don't listen to the Naysayers, it's your life,live it don't just exist.

[Quasievil]

Mate you dont have to move to the other end of the country, move to Hammy its all good here and its only 60 minutes to Auckland to see your family, houses are still cheap, jobs are readily availble, growth is among the highest in the country and its all here, And despite what everyone says its only foggy a few days a year. You can be on a nice beach in forty mins or TGA in 1h10min central funky, great than awesome nightlife and most importantly the most amazing motorcycling roads around in all directions!!! what more do you want ??

[MikeL]

Why would any one want to live in Auckland? Good question.
I was brought up in Wellington, came to Akl in the 70s when it was a much more happening place than Wlg, really liked it. Bought a house in Mt Eden for $35,000, had a good job, life was sweet. Got a better job offer in Tauranga and spent 8 years there. Quite liked the climate, the environment and the lifestyle but the people were very provincial in outlook. Still a very pleasant place to raise a family, at least until the limited educational facilities became evident. Came back to Akl in the late 80s, partly for the schools, partly for employment reasons, and what a difference. Worst thing was the rise in house prices. Selling my house in Tauranga and buying in Akl (in a less desirable neighbourhood this time) cost me an extra $100,000.
I stay in Auckland because of my job and the fact that I haven't finished renovating my house. Other than that I see no reason to live here.

[RT527]

I grew up in Auckland and my wife is from Carterton and she wanted to be closer to her family so we moved from Auckland to Wellington 15 years ago and haven't looked back. We've lived overseas too, and I have to say that it helped confirm my loathing for Auckland. It is probably the most impractical city in the world. It has a size close to Los Angeles, with a 20th of the population and has for no intents and purposes a city "culture". Get out, even if it means finding a job, moving away for 3 months to establish yourself like I did. You won't regret it.

My brother moved to Ngatea rented for a while and then bought a huge place, especially compared to his 2 up/2 down Glen Innes flat.

Go for it!

What industry do you work in?

Um Jim`s Brother here....Auckland sucks... even tho i still work in Auck it only takes 1 hr by truck or 50 mins by car to get to work in wiri.
(i actually used to live in a place 2up and 2 down in Glen Eden not glenn innes )BUt still very glad to get away from Auckland...even with a high mortgage and a 50.000 income i love the quiteness ofthe little town.
Up untill the fire siren sounds as its about 100 metres from my place man its noisey.
RT527

[Zed]

I don't hate Auckland! If I did I would move away. Lived here all of my life and have no intention of moving elsewhere in the near future - just bought a house in Hobsonville you see.

Yes, traffic is bad, living is expensive, blah blah...but there are other things in life that can make where you live quite pleasant and enjoyable, like friends and family for instance!

I still like to travel around NZ when I can, but not be away from home for more than two weeks at a time. I love my country!

Ps. Sorry to hear of your demise greenhorn. I hope things improve for you.

[NC]

I lived in Auckland for 20 years of my life, the place gives me the shits!

Even though the Mount is growing on me, Wellington is my fave

[feral1]

Lived in Auckland for 2 yrs - Ellerslie, Remers, Grey Lynn - 2 yrs was my max

On the wild West Coast now - awesome move, space to let off my shotgun and plenty of nice roads.

Hey - Come down and check out our annual Woodstock Motorcyle rally. Its weeknd of 29th and 30th - and if I am not mistaken that Monday afterwards is Auckland anniversy - sweet
Will beat the pants of using your long weekend to go to Waihiki or Nth of warkworth and try to crawl your way back onto the northern motorway at 5 in the afternoon along with another half a million of mumpets.

[speedpro]

Been in Auckalnd 9yrs now and the traffic was gonna drive me nuts as work moved from Ponsonby, then to Symonds St, and then to Mt Wellington. I've recently changed jobs which although it means a lot more miles each week I can mainly avoid the worst of the traffic because I don't have to 'commute'

I've lived years in Wellington and also Perth and owned houses at each. I say just get up and go. With the kids it may be better if only one of the parents goes initially to get things sorted and then the rest follow. If you are OK with hard work to get sorted you'll be fine. Don't get stuck on doing a job like the one you've got. Look at you're other skills and experiances and also what you enjoy doing. Who knows, this may be a good opportunity to make a change. Develoop a long term and short term view of what you want.

A comment about getting training in IT. Check out the competition for jobs and therefore the actual wages you might earn, you will probably be surprised. The better paying IT jobs will have a fairly big proportion of 'after-hours' work as server outages can't interfere with business. It may not sit too well with family stuff.

[pete376403]

I dunno if IT is all it's cracked up to be as far as a job goes - CCIE pays well (bloody well) but that qualification is very thin on the ground. MSCE and $5 will get you a cup of coffee. Plus there are shit loads of asians coming over who are prepared to work for far less. Building trades are paying well at present, there's a shortage of carpenters, and if i wasn't so old I'd be more than happy to get back to my original trade (diesel mech ex GG&H)

Motu, finally worked out your avatar - commer TS3