KEY POINTS:
It is a fact of life for columnists that those who disagree write letters to the editor while those who agree generally send lovely personal emails.
So it was with last week's wee rave about Auckland. All but one letter to the editor published so far has taken
issue with that column.
The truth so hurt Auckland City's temporary mayor, Dick Hubbard, that he was stung to pen a vituperative response. Bob Harvey, Barry Curtis and George Wood obviously had more productive things to do with their time.
Then there was the terse, "Good riddance to mad rubbish" - just one of many emails taking me to task among the 150-odd I have received in the past couple of weeks. The vast majority, however, don't.
So for no other reason than to redress the balance, herewith excerpts from some of the positive emails that came in last week.
Tony, Mt Eden: Yes, for me, 65-plus with a partial disability, I could not agree more. Sandwiched in between Dominion Rd and Mt Eden Rd I seldom if ever venture out on the weekends. Every chance I get I head for the Hokianga to Rawene, for its tranquillity and beauty ...
Nicky, Tauranga: I agree, sadly, with your article. As an English migrant who arrived only 18 months ago I fear that within 100 years, or maybe less, New Zealand will be as built up and crowded as the UK ... Who will reel in the developers?
Simon, Hamilton: I left Auckland 12 months ago to live near Hamilton. My wife and I pay half the rent for our house here compared to Auckland. We make less money but have saved much more and have a lot more leisure and time and space to think ... I am in my mid-20s and I wasn't raised traditionally, so what you talk about isn't just a middle-age thing but a view shared by those able to recognise and move from a deteriorating situation.
Richard, Thames: I agree with your comments about Auckland being a fun place back in the 70s; I lived there for 28 years.
I have a number of friends with children. They get up early and if they are lucky or running late they see their kids for half an hour or so then hit the road. By the time they get home in the evening the kids are in bed. I call them "weekend dads".
We left Auckland because we have two wee children and we want to see them grow up ... It takes me two minutes to get to work and I go home for lunch. What price do you put on time?
Janice, South Auckland: I feel exactly the same way as you about the Auckland of today and am sad that New Zealand seems to no longer be for New Zealanders but everyone else ... It is pretty stressful.
David, Christchurch: I bailed out of Auckland in 2003, as soon as I practically could when I finished studying ... Big reason: traffic. Another reason, but one I couldn't say in public: I felt like a foreigner in my own country.
Erik, Whangarei: Good on you for leaving Auckland. My wife and I left 10 years ago and have never regretted it. We lived in the Far North for six years and in Whangarei for the past three.
Auckland is a great place to visit but it's just wonderful when, after one or two days, we can come home to a place which has traffic "jams" Aucklanders would laugh at.
Bill, Auckland: You have encapsulated my thoughts precisely. I have lived here on and off (mostly on) for 50 of the past 57 years. Auckland is in no measurable way the place of my youth when it was a truly great place to live.
Alan, Pauanui: Glad to see you have seen the light. It came to us a couple of years ago. Now we are living in paradise at Pauanui and loving every minute. I guess age has something to do with it but, after living in and enjoying big cities all our lives I'm not sorry we got out.
Herman, Long Bay: As an Italian-born cosmopolitan who has been living in Italy, France, Iceland, Japan, the US, Canada and New Zealand, I understand your sadness entirely. I have been here for four years and I have constantly been surprised by how much wasted potential Auckland has ... It is an architectural horror and transportation is chaos.
Darryl, Auckland: I agree totally that Auckland has lost something under the sway of a mercenary culture. I grew up in this town and I am leaving too because it does not feel like my home anymore ... It saddens me to see what has happened to Dominion Rd.
* garth.george@hotmail.com