Page:Municipal Handbook of Auckland 1922.djvu/44



If Auckland cannot be described as an ideal example of city planning, according to the town planner's standards, it can fairly be described as a garden city. One cannot walk any distance in the City—except, of course, the purely business part—without finding a garden. The public parks and reserves, which are fully described in the succeeding pages, are tastefully laid out, and every house, be it large or small, has a garden or trim lawn. In a climate where extremes do not exist, with a good average rainfall and abundant sunshine all the year round, the cultivation of flowers, fruit and vegetables is an easy matter, and the universal garden is the result.

The domestic architecture of Auckland and suburbs helps to accentuate this feature. Tenements are practically unknown. The type of building used for dwellings is either the cottage or the bungalow, and occasionally a more formal house of two storeys. Nearly every household is self-contained, or at worst occupies a semi-detached dwelling. Seldom are two houses together of the same design. The rows of dwellings of a uniform pattern, so common in English towns, do not obtain here, and this adds to the variety and charm of the Auckland home.

The educational interests of the City are represented by the University College (which is about to commence