In the 1970s, Ponsonby was regarded as one of Auckland's slum suburbs, populated as it was by Polynesian families who had immigrated to New Zealand in the hope of a better life for their families.
Many of the houses off the main thoroughfares are built in a similar style. A local resident pointed out to Taking the Pulse yesterday that the wrought iron work on the verandas of many houses was the same or similar, coming from a metal works that once was housed in the suburb.
Ponsonby Rd in the 1970s was the home of many second-hand shops. Times were tough for the large families from the islands.
In the late 1970 and early 1980s, a large group from the gay and lesbian community moved into the Ponsonby-Grey Lynn-Freemans Bay area and the gentrification of the area began.
Bert Appleton has lived in his Pompelier Rd address since that time. His partner has died but Bert is reluctant to move out of his small weatherboard property which he was busy tidying up outside when the Pulse called.
He is a long-time Green supporter, going back to being active in the Values Party many years ago. Most of his gay friends from the 1980s have moved further out from Ponsonby as they have got older but despite the traffic, Bert is staying put.
Ponsonby Rd still has an air of neglect about it but behind the shop fronts, the shelves drip with elegance. The Pulse briefly considered buying a Longines watch, on sale at half price for a mere $2800.
It will be a major surprise for the Young and Restless lunching on Ponsonby Rd yesterday if National's MP does not retain the Auckland Central electorate on Saturday night.
They liked her and Prime Minister John Key, who they saw as trying to do the best for the country by reducing debt and not loading them up with more debt than they can handle in the future.
The only thing they wanted to talk about was asset sales, not understanding why Labour leader Phil Goff was so opposed to the partial sell-down of state-owned assets. What they did not know was that between 1987 and 1990, the David Lange-led government, which included Mr Goff, sold assets that included New Zealand Steel, Petrocorp, Health Computing, DFC, Post Bank, the Shipping Corporation, Air New Zealand, Rural Banking and Finance, Government Print (to Graeme Hart who is now New Zealand's richest man), State Insurance, Maui/Syn Fuels and Telecom.
On June 14, 1990, the Geoffrey Palmer government announced the sale of Telecom to a consortium of investors for $4.25 billion. Then finance minister David Caygill said the proceeds would pay overseas debt. Sound familiar?
The BNZ was also sold in a complicated deal in which the Labour government eventually accepted about half the price originally offered.
Two of the young people chatting with the Pulse, rushed to their smart devices and updated their Facebook pages with the information.
Auckland Central MP Nikki Kaye is being challenged by Labour star Jacinda Ardern. Both are 31 and local media have labelled the campaign "The battle of the babes". Ms Kaye is from the liberal wing of National and is known for having opposed Mr Key in the House on some issues.
Ms Ardern has been prominent in Labour's Auckland campaign, standing beside Mr Goff. She has been mainly criticised by right-wing bloggers as only being there to give the impression that Labour is not made up entirely of middle-aged male MPs. But make no mistake, like Ms Kaye, she is no party adornment. She speaks eloquently on the problems faced by young people out of work and with no prospect of training.
However, the young lunching crowd in Ponsonby Rd all had jobs - some of them highly paid - and they were more concentrated on getting out of a flat and into their own home.
Lower interest rates, superannuation saving, overseas travel and paying down student loans are their priorities.
Selling the assets, and frankly, they did not know which ones were owned by the taxpayers, was the least of their problems.