I find it incredible the way that some people just absolutely love the city they live in. They’ve often spent their childhood years there and then just…never left. And they can talk about their city (or town) with such passion and pride. Don’t get me wrong, I love New Zealand. I love Auckland. But I also loved Melbourne. And I loved Wellington. And I loved Vancouver. And I know that there will always be more cities and more countries that I love.

Every time we move cities (or countries) I don’t want it to be because we have started to take our city for granted. I want to know that I fully acknowledged, experienced and relished every little thing that I loved about the city. And to know that the next city will not be the same or better – but different. With new things to experience and to love and to relish.

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Dear Auckland,

Right now I love the following things about you:

• We can live with my parents. This is probably the best thing and the worst thing about you right now.
• We have so many friends here. There is always someone to play boardgames or eat dinner with.
• We can both practice Bikram Yoga and there are 2 studios within 15 minutes drive of where we live.
• We can visit the beach on the weekends or after work in the summer. Not just ‘the’ beach, but any beach. Any beautiful beach on any coast.
• Farmer’s Markets are so hot right now and you are totally on the bandwagon. We are spoilt for choice every weekend in every direction. And it’s even more fun to visit markets with a new baby to show off.
• We’ve lived here for 8 months now and we still haven’t run out of good cafes that serve good coffee. And there are no queues for a better-than-decent-but-quite-overpriced brunch.
• With a new baby we are never at a loss for things to do. From SPACE program, coffee group, Wriggle & Rhyme, beer group, paddle tots, Plunket groups, family ukulele lessons – there is always something to keep us busy.
• It’s not hard to find a social sports team. Touch rugby, casual basketball, indoor netball… all easy to find and play.
• Organic, gluten-free, dairy-free and other specialty foods are pretty easy to come by. We have 3 specialty organic stores within 10 minutes drive from us. And cafes are pretty well-stocked.
• I feel safe walking with our baby through the various parks and reserves that you offer. We also feel safe running the sidewalks after dark. This is comforting.

Obviously there are quite a few things you could do better. Public transport is dismal, food prices are through the roof (probably not your fault so much) and the layout of the city means that having a car is essential and this just kinda sucks.

But overall you are a pretty clean, healthy and enjoyable place to live.

Warm regards,

Pamela

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Hopefully this got you thinking about your current city and why you love living there. Please tell me one thing that you love about your city. Don’t be shy! It’s anonymous and I want to share all your positive comments with the world

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Auckland (as everyone kept pointing out) is real similar to Vancouver, the main difference I found was that in Auckland you NEED a car and public transport is so expensive that it’s cheaper to own a car and drive than to commute everyday.

I’m really interested in what the factors for a city to either have a great public transport (Translink in Vancouver) or a below-average one (MAXX Auckland) given that both companies are government operated.

Also the lack of bike lanes and the high-traffic made cycling definitively different; one thing that drives me crazy are cars that don’t go around you and stay really close behind, I find myself pushing my body harder in order to keep a good speed fearing that if I don’t that car is going to run me over.

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finding amazing coffee easily

• Vancouver: 0
• Auckland: 1

finding free wifi in cafes easily

• Vancouver: 1
• Auckland: 0

yesterday we went to roasted addiction in kingsland because we heard they had free wifi.  well, they do.  BUT it’s 20MB of wifi with each purchase.  20MB last about an hour.  not cool auckland, not cool.

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