The Secrecy Surrounding Swanson

My wife and I are contemplating moving to Swanson. Swanson is of course the place South Aucklanders will be visiting when they can no longer get off at Mt Albert. Swanson also rhymes with swan song and therefore seems a particularly apt place to be for someone overseeing and foreseeing the final curtain on a career.
I know little of Swanson. Its location west of Auckland, but not quite the Waitakeres, would suggest a haven for suburban closet artists without the intestinal fortitude to go the whole way of the West Coast. It also seems a place of itinerants, either going to Bethells or escaping Ranui. Houses seem comfortable and that’s entirely appropriate given, as I see it, Swanson will be considered a comfort zone for many. That perhaps is its attraction for me.
On the distaff side living in Swanson would require a lot more travelling on my part. However, I enjoy driving so that is no great issue. I am rather put-off though by the secrecy surrounding Swanson—what have they to hide? When places as bland as the Twin Peaks of Mt Albert and Mt Roskill stand naked before us, why is it we never hear anything of Swanson? Am I being too harsh? Think about it: ask someone in Christchurch to list Auckland suburbs and I guarantee it will take a long time—if ever—before they get to Swanson. Mind you, the probably couldn’t name any Hamilton suburb; even Hamiltonians struggle to do that.
And maybe that’s what worries me most—is Swanson Auckland’s Hamilton? Now that would be an irony, would it not—me living there? Still my wife and I are having a look.
As a vastly more famous Swanson (Gloria) once said, “Time for my close up...”

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