Quinton Park is a neighbourhood park in Bayswater, on Auckland's North Shore, holding a five-star rating on Google. Neighbourhood reserves like this are the quiet workhorses of a suburb — mown grass, a seat in the shade, flat ground for a kick-about and room for the dog. Locals tend to judge them less by attractions than by the basics: bins emptied, seats sound, paths still walkable after rain. If you are choosing a park for small children or dogs, it pays to read the council signage first, as leash rules and fencing vary from reserve to reserve. Early morning and the hour before dusk are when regulars have a park like this mostly to themselves. For Bayswater residents, Quinton Park is the kind of doorstep green space that makes a suburb feel like home.