Auckland - where to live- please help....

[lollystix]

Were seriously considering moving and there is possibility of a job in penrose area for dh. We'd always imagined the job would be CBD and thought we'd live in the north shore but now that's looking less likely due to the commute. Can anyone tell me if the north shore to penrose commute is really as bad as they all say in the rush hour and if so, where near penrose should we be looking at. Ds1 starts primary school this august in the uk and good free(state) schools area the most important thing for me. We'd also ideally like to be near the beach. Also where can I access that schools guide giving the decile rating. Thanks in advance

Mission Bay, Kohi & St Heliers?

Agree- although rentals are hard to get and expensive in those areas. Meadowbank is cheaper but you could also look at Howick/Eastern Beaches.

Any idea what you budget would be?

You need to be careful of school zones in Mission Bay as some streets falling in Kohi primary which has a good reputation and some into Orakei which doesn't. No idea what it is really like but that's what estate agents tell me....

I wouldn't commute from the North Shore.

As always it depends on what your budget is....

Agree Mission Bay etc are lovely if you want the beach. Eastern Beaches (Bucklands Beach) or Mellons Bay are also lovely. Both have great schools (check out the zoning and ero site). I commute from the Whitford area to Glen Innes and it takes 30-40 mins (back routes not motorway), Maraetai or Pine Harbour are other options for beach and commutable again if you avoid the motorway which is possible.

Also agree that I would check out schools first. Zoning is increasingly becoming an issue - we are having to pay private for Intermediate and College as we are out of zone for decent schools. TBH you are never far from a beach in the Auckland areas so if schools are your priority I would start there and plan on jumping in the car for a 10-20 min drive to the beach.

If you really want to be near the beach those areas are a good option, although it doesn't that take long to drive over from Remuera, Cornwall Park, Epsom etc which are all nice.

You can see the decile ratings here

ERO reports here (like Ofsted)

School zones

We lived near Devonport for a few years and husband commuted over into CBD - either on ferry (amazing way to get to work) or drove. Loved it there, schools were great, my ds went to local primary, really friendly people, quite a lot of brits which made it easy to make friends as they were in a similiar situation with no family out there too. Lovely beaches to. Devonport not cheap but if head up Belmont way gets a bit cheaper and also a bit closer to bridge to commute in, or Bayswater ferry.
Good luck! New Zealand is fab!

yes, I was going to suggest Greenlane / Epsom. Cornwall Park school has a good reputation. (My parents live in Onehunga so familiar with the area despite living in London). I wouldn't want to commute over the bridge.

My FIL reckons he can get from Beachlands across to Takapuna in just over an hour, I reckon he's telling fibs ;-) I also agree that a nice suburb with a good school and home you are happy with is more important than being walking distance to the beach. There are soooooooooo many lovely beaches around Auckland and none more than an hours absolute maximum drive to the furthest, many will be 20mins drive. I have lived in Epsom (lovely but pricey) and the Eastern suburbs which are more affordable IMO but very nice places to live and commute to Penrose easy.

kiwi you probably can commute from Beachlands to Takapuna in an hour just depends on the time of day. I once did Devonport to Whitford in about an hour at 10pm. It had however taken me nearly 3 hours to get there leaving at 4.30 - it was a surprise party - not good to arrive 1.5 hours after the guest and although I was in much need of I couldn't partake as I knew I had to drive home