Having lived in Auckland since August 2006 after moving from Wellington, and Sydney before that I have to admit, I certainly do prefer Auckland over Wellington because if its size and variety. However, its ranking as the worlds 4th most liveable city must surely draw some questions from people in other cities such as Sydney and even from people in Auckland itself.
I am one of the people who do often compare Auckland to Sydney given their similar geographic layout and I have to say that as a tourist, Sydney wins hands down over Auckland in every area when it comes to things a tourist would want to go, see and photograph. Lets face it, no one comes to visit the world famous Auckland Harbour Bridge or take a walk around the coveted Auckland Tank Farm.
But what about the differences as a resident.
Getting to the beach in Sydney can be a real mission. You can never get parked and the beaches are always busy, whereas in Auckland you can often find a space without too much trouble and it never really takes more than 20 minutes to get to one.
Auckland is beautiful, but it takes a while to realise it because Auckland frustratingly does not take advantage of it. Where Sydney has built amazing buildings and parks all along it's waterfront, Auckland has only built ports, industry and a red fence. Much of the coastline of the North Shore is dominated by private development and there is very little in the way of beachfront reserves compared to Sydney.
Sydney has the Botanic Gardens, Hermitage Foreshore, Watson's Bay, the Gap Park, Ashton, Bicentennial and heaps more all along its waterfront. With the exception of Mission bay, Takaparawha, and the recently purchased Queens Wharf, Auckland has very little access to the waterfront from the main city. (IMHO)
Please note I tend not to include the concrete jungle that is the viaduct harbour.
When I lived in Sydney, I did notice that the number of homes with bars over their windows was high (I am not kidding) whereas I don't think I have really seen this in Auckland (I am sure there will be come areas that have them).
There is of course also the eternal argument that Sydneysiders are not very friendly compared to Aucklanders and
Somebody over at the
Sydney Morning Herald is a little grumpy about it.... with good reason perhaps?
