Fresh Perspective
Fresh Perspective puts the camera and pen in the hands of our community to capture Avondale from their perspective. We find people by putting callouts on our social media, shoulder tapping people in our networks or sometimes they come to us. Check out #FreshPerspectiveAD for more examples.
Helena Cocker-Valu: “My family and I moved from Ponsonby into Avondale, Christmas of 2006. Moving from a heavily gentrified area, to one that’s now slowly in its own process of change; has been quite telling in the way my own perception of the world is now.
Avondale has kept me grounded over the years I’ve grown into my adulthood. Attending a predominantly white school on the North shore, it was always nice knowing my commute home by bus and train would lead me back into the heart of 828. When I use to leave Akl city and return back, I would never say ‘it’s good to be back home’ until our car took the loop of the Avondale roundabout.
The community here is strong, I’ve only just realised that in recent months having finally built up the courage to start volunteering in local initiatives - it’s been one of the best decisions I’ve made. My feelings are mixed atm to seeing new shops and restaurants popping up that you’d usually only see in central akl.. but I guess that’s the pacific in me talking who’s weary of seeing forced change where it does not necessarily need to be made at that moment.
Nonetheless, I’ve loved being able to call Avondale my home for the past 15 or so years - hoping this new progress we’re headed into, continues to see the light of those who walked the grounds of 8ight2wenty8ight before them.
Ofa atu 🤎”
Ben Choo: “I’m originally from Malaysia, I moved to NZ 23 years ago as a kid. Life in Malaysia was quite different as it wasn’t close to the city like Avondale is (50 min drive to school everyday). Things were definitely cheap though compared to here back then.
I moved to Avondale in 2018 after buying a place here. I previously lived with family in Mt Roskill which I thought was west, but Avondale’s more west, even though now it’s not even considered west (or so I’m told 🤣).
I love the fact that every takeaway each has their own specialty (Golden Sun - chips. Cambodian Takeaway - fish and chips. Etc..) and prices are incredibly reasonable (hot topic in today’s high inflation world). Add in the Sunday market, proximity to multiple modes of public transport and the motorway and you have yourself the most underrated suburb in Auckland.”
Marcus Amosa: “My family moved to Avondale in 2002 from Glen Eden, we first lived down Tony Segedin Drive. Dad became the minister at Avondale PIC Church and so we moved to Rosebank Road.
Those were turbulent young adult years, I was a road worker, went to church, worked and drank too much. I knew to avoid Canal road at night and only went into the town centre to the liquor store or bakery early in the morning.
I left Avondale for the Army, roamed the world and returned with a strong conviction to make a difference in Avondale. I feel this is a continuation of my parents' work in the area. I opened CAIN with my brother in 2015, purchased the Ol’ Mate caravan - helped set that up and then took on the challenge of reforming the Avondale Business Association.
Talk of gentrification usually revolves around other people coming in to change our neighbourhood, but I like to think we’re changing our own neighbourhood. We’re from here, we live here and we have the power to affect change in our own neighbourhood.
I love seeing locals start local businesses, local artists creating local art, locals buying local property. I love seeing all the change, the new buildings, the new people trying new things, the old people trying new things. I love seeing the passion in the community, the way we stand up for what we believe in. Getting involved, active contribution, no matter how big or small, is a necessity for creating the community we want.”
Rebecca Ronald: “I’m from rural NZ and have been living in Avondale since 2013. I love the colour in our community - bright clothes, roadside flowers, multi-hued sunsets over the Waitakeres, people of all ages and backgrounds mixing it up in our homes and streets. There's quite a creative vibe in the town centre at the moment, and a groundswell of sustainability awareness helping us appreciate our environment. I love walking and cycling the hidden paths of Avondale, discovering bridges and creeks and muddy mangroves with their wealth of biodiversity. I enjoy finding beauty in unexpected places - a plant growing out of a crack in the pavement, a shining dewy spider web, a random smile :)”
Vignesh Ramesh: “Avondale feels like it's changed a lot since I moved here nearly a decade ago. Having grown up in this suburb from basically a young boy to a now young man I'm grateful for the wide variety of the positive people, experiences I've been exposed to by living here. I love that there is always something to do if you know where to go - the pictures show some of my favorite places and ways I like to spend my time in Avondale. Gradually Avondale's perception among people is evolving from Hood to Good and with the awesome growth I see happening all around me it feels like it's only a matter of time before it’s GREAT!”
Omni Arona: “I spent my first year of life in these projects, Unit 14. After me and my mum moved out east, I’d come back every weekend to my uncle’s on the other side of the development. It’s where I first heard Eazy E, where I first watched the cult classic The Warriors at Hollywood Cinema, and where I learnt what a pair of Converse hanging from a power line meant. When I came to Avondale College, I met Mr Hill, an extraordinary teacher, who led me to study Psychology at The University of Auckland. Rest in peace.
This place has given so much to me. I saw people putting on for their hood and repping where they’re from with so much love, whether it was the 275, 267, or 685. I wanted to do the same for my hood. So I took photos of our home, how I’d always remembered it, under the backdrop of all the change that has been coming to our community.
Things are changing now. New developments replace the structures of old Dale. Avondale was always POC space and I'm forever grateful for the part it played in shaping who I am. It’ll always be Dalestate to me.
I’ll take Avondale everywhere I go, and I won’t let anyone forget about the 828.”
Lewis Matheson-Creed: “I’ve spent my entire life living in Avondale and haven’t known living anywhere else. So all the streets are laced with memories and so scootering around town is very nostalgic. Simultaneously things are changing as Avondale is reinvented by the council and construction into a denser urban centre. I find the new growth exciting as much as I find it an infringement on my memory as places I once knew are being changed and erased. I particularly hope the old masonic hall isn’t knocked down by a developer, I fear Avondale’s character might be lost.
Bests that I enjoy the views Avondale offers of the Motu Manawa marine reserve, the city centre and the Waitakere ranges. I feel we are very much in heart of Tāmaki Makaurau despite not being the CBD. And what happens to Auckland can always be seen here, from the housing market, changes in housing and economic prospects.
There’s a bit of everything in Avondale and that’s why it’s the best place to live.”
Ofaira Taito: “Talofa Lava, I am a 23-year-old female. I was born and raised in Western Samoa. My Āiga moved to New Zealand in 2011 and we stayed in Avondale for 9 years. My siblings and I attended Avondale College. We still consider Avondale our hood even though we’ve moved out. What I love about Avondale Community the most is how individuals acknowledge the importance of cultural diversity in schools, churches, and the neighbourhood. Avondale bring their different knowledge, background, experience and interest for the benefit of their diverse community. Avondale will always be our neighbourhood.”