[cpill]

Completely agree. I live in the CDB because I don't drive and need to get easy access to the ferries. From the CDB it's easy to get around on public transport and I have a 5minute walk as a commute. I don't know why everyone in Auckland wants to live in the burbs?! The downside is that Friday and Saturday nights turn into a seedy cesspit of drunks and homeless people, but I don't go out anymore so don't really see it much. They also physically cut the CBD off from the nearest neighborhood with freeways which choke the CDB. I guess some right wing government decided they wanted to get to their office and back and fuck the pedestrians. There is even a lovely park in which they just put a freeway straight though. As a result its hard to walk out of the CDB and the center is full of carparks which few can afford. (And the rail network is sporadically not working, and busses are incredibly sloooooow). Would not live here if i wasn't forced too.

[mppm]

Interesting. I lived in Auckland for a month pre-Covid and liked it quite well in general -- fairly clean, modern, lots of green, and not overflowing with traffic. Not much public transport, of course, and a moderately bad homeless problem, but otherwise pleasant all around. Not to mention all the stunning nature an hour's drive away. So I'm genuinely surprised by the negative comments. Has the situation deteriorated recently? Or is the perspective of visitors and locals just that different?