Golden Dawn's entertainment manager Matthew Crawley says his bar's patrons have changed drastically in recent years.

It's hard to find Auckland's Golden Dawn bar. The front windows, facing Ponsonby Road, are plastered with newspapers and the entrance is through a side door.

But after five years of running the bar, Matthew Crawley has noticed that word has gotten out.

And a younger crowd is starting to cause problems, he says.

In a post to his 4000+ Facebook friends on Tuesday, entertainment manager Crawley lamented the perception that there were a number of "dicks, suits and sleazes later at night". His post was initially public but was later changed to private.

Crawley said the increase in complaints that there were less-than-savoury patrons was due to Ponsonby witnessing "a ton of drastic changes in its purpose and patronage" over the past few years.

A wave of student-targeted bars have recently opened down the other end of Ponsonby Road and are causing the demographic to become more like that of Queen Street on a typical Friday night.

"The stretch used to have one pocket of different kinds of house music and the Viaduct-type bars," Crawley told Stuff.

"Now the whole stretch is up for grabs and we are right in the middle and getting crowds that don't necessarily understand what we are about."

In the post he wrote that Golden Dawn was built to "hide out from the boring and scary people of the city".

He asked his friends - most of whom are avid Golden Dawn punters - what they would suggest.

"Would you hire a "hip young crowd picker" who stands out in the queue deciding who's okay and who's not?

"I think that would be really kind of elitist and horrible…

"Would you close the doors earlier and have a lock in for all the friends and familiars after midnight? Would you make the music even weirder? Would you screen creepy psychedelic erotic horror on the walls?"

Crawley said he was taken aback by the number of comments on his post – including one from founding member of Dunedin band The Clean, Hamish Kilgour.

The solutions ranged from memberships to secret back doors to bouncers who "know who the real OG crowd is so they can walk right up to the door and be let in".

Most people, however, said a mix is beneficial for Auckland as long as the bar continues its strong anti-harassment policy.

As one commenter put it: "Just because someone has a silly moustache and tattoos doesn't mean that personality wise, he is any less of a lamo than a dude in a suit out with his norm mates".

Crawley doesn't worry too much about kicking out or barring customers who are misbehaving and says he is "lucky" enough that the bar has been busy from day one.

"The argument that any money is good money is not one I buy into…

"If I offered you $30 to be able to come into your house, piss all over your floor and start a fight with your flatmate you'd tell me no way, it's not worth it.

"We'd rather make $1000 less in a night and have everyone feel happy and safe and like they had a good time than wind up the night rubbing our hands and counting the dollars."

The Facebook post comes at a time when those in the Auckland arts scene are worried about the soul being taken out of adjoining cultural hotspots Karangahape Road and Ponsonby Road.

In June it was announced that St Kevin's Arcade was being bought by Paul Reid of Rubicon fame (they sang 'Who Would Call a Kid Bruce Anyway' in the 1990s).

The complex is a 91-year-old space which overlooks the city and hosts a range of bars, eateries and boutique shops.

However, Crawley reckons Karangahape Road will fight against attempts at gentrification.

"I'd be very surprised if that works or if people want to be part of it – that part of town has a really great bullshit detector."