Oct 1, 2014 Property
“Beautiful homes on leafy streets, excellent schools, lots of amenities including public transport (it’s even on the Inner Link bus route), a shopping village whose vibrancy is proudly asserted, close to the central city yet fully insulated from it. Parnell has also had relatively low property price rises: it’s not at all cheap, but nor is it out of control.
With the Domain on one side and the Rose Gardens and Hobson Bay on the other, it has far more than any suburb could claim as its share of parklands. Lucky them. And the crowning glory? Well, what about Judges Bay and those refurbished Parnell Baths, eh? Auckland at its very best.”
Reader response so far? Reaction-GIF blog WhenInAuckland.tumblr.com, pretty much summed it up with their Nicole Kidman in The Stepford Wives GIF.
So what is Parnell? Vibrant and desirable or frumpy and terminally dull? Parnell-lovers and Parnell-haters, here’s your chance to have it out in the comments.
Parnell and Metro: An Ongoing Love Affair
“Cheers 2 Nightclub, Parnell: Already very popular with the smart young crowd, but not the exclusion of the over 30s. Mating rating: Where there’s a will… if you see a cutie, send over a banana daiquiri… and hope you get asked to follow it.” – The Single Person’s Guide to Auckland, Metro, March 1985.
“In the 80s she wore Patrick Steel, had big blonde hair, drank too much, took cocaine and danced till closing time, if not dawn, at places called the Exchange (or Sexchange, as it was delightfully known) and the Verandah Bar and Grill (aka the VBG, aka the Veeb). Nowadays she wears Moschino, has her navel pierced, and is a brunette (it’s the new blonde).” – Tim Wilson, The Brightest and the Breast: in search of the Parnell Girl, Metro, February 1998.
“I always admired Parnell as a bit raffish and louche, but the thing I have discovered since moving back here is how much of a real, warm and, dare I say it, normal community it is. I know it sounds absurd when I say the Parnell District School is diverse, given it’s such a white-bready, decile-10 ‘hood. But although John Key lives across the road, there’s a self-selecting roll since the toffs send their kids to St Cuth’s and King’s.” – Deborah Hill Cone, Parnell Mwah Mwah, Metro, October 2011.
