Te Aro
Encyclopedia
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
of Wellington
Wellington City
Wellington City Council is a territorial authority in the Wellington region of New Zealand. Wellington city extends as far north as Linden, and includes the rural areas of Makara and Ohariu. It is New Zealand's third-largest city, behind Auckland and Christchurch.Wellington attained city status in...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, 1 km from the centre. It comprises the southern part of the central business district
Central business district
A central business district is the commercial and often geographic heart of a city. In North America this part of a city is commonly referred to as "downtown" or "city center"...
including the majority of the city's entertainment district and covers the mostly flat area of city between The Terrace and Cambridge Terrace at the base of Mount Victoria
Mount Victoria, Wellington
Mount Victoria, locally abbreviated to Mt. Vic, is a prominent hill to the east of the centre of Wellington, New Zealand, and its associated suburb. To the south of it is a spur, Mount Albert, and the two are linked by a ridge....
.
Te Aro is an alternative Māori language
Maori language
Māori or te reo Māori , commonly te reo , is the language of the indigenous population of New Zealand, the Māori. It has the status of an official language in New Zealand...
name for the Taranaki Pa that means "The facing", in reference to the site of the pa
Pa (Maori)
The word pā can refer to any Māori village or settlement, but in traditional use it referred to hillforts fortified with palisades and defensive terraces and also to fortified villages. They first came into being about 1450. They are located mainly in the North Island north of lake Taupo...
facing Mount Taranaki.
Boundaries
Broadly speaking, Te Aro is the flat area of land southwest of Lambton Harbour enclosed by three hilly areas: The Terrace, Mount Cook and Mount Victoria. Historically, The Terrace itself had been excluded from the boundaries of the suburb, but the current western boundary includes the part of the Terrace south of Salamanca Road and runs right up against the eastern boundary of Victoria University, which is in Kelburn.| Kelburn | Te Aro's western boundary excludes the Victoria University Kelburn Campus (which is in Kelburn) but includes properties on The Terrace south of Salamanca Road. |
|---|---|
| Wellington Central | The northern boundary excludes the majority of Wellington's high-rise office buildings. In general, Wellingtonians work in Wellington Central and play in Te Aro. The boundary runs south of properties on Allenby Terrace, St Mary of the Angels, the Majestic Centre and the Civic Centre complex, placing all these areas in Wellington Central. Between Willis Street and Victoria Street the boundary runs along Bond Street. Taranaki Street completes the boundary, from the Michael Fowler Centre to the waterfront. |
| Oriental Bay | The Te Aro waterfront extends east to the Overseas Passenger Terminal the boundary then follows Oriental Parade south to Wakefield Street. |
| Mt Victoria | The boundary follows Cambridge Terrace from Wakefield Street to the Basin Reserve. |
| Mt Cook | The southern boundary runs along Webb Street and Buckle Street. |
| Aro Valley | Stepping south across Abel Smith Street (from the Terrace to Willis Street) puts you in Aro Valley. |
Demographics
The population of Te Aro roughly doubled between 1991 and 1996 and again between 1996 and 2001. The rapid growth rate of population in the area has become particularly evident in the last five years as apartment buildings have been erected (or converted out of former office buildings) all over the suburb. Particularly characteristic are new rooftop apartments on existing buildings. These can be attributed to the relaxation of city by-laws governing commercial building zones in the early 1990s.Quick facts
At the 2001 census:- There were 3,024 people usually resident in Te Arohttp://www2.stats.govt.nz/domino/external/web/CommProfiles.nsf/FindInfobyArea/573100-au.
- 16,281 people worked in Te Aro, the fourth-largest for any suburb in New Zealand, after Auckland Central, Wellington Central and Christchurch Central
- A quarter of the population were professionals.
- 15% of the businesses in Wellington City were in Te Aro, 0.9% of all the businesses in the country.
- About one in 20 Te Aro residents had no qualifications.
- 62% of Te Aro residents walked or jogged to work.
- Of the languages spoken by residents, 98.3% spoke EnglishEnglish languageEnglish is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, 4.6% spoke FrenchFrench languageFrench is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, 4.1% spoke MāoriMaori languageMāori or te reo Māori , commonly te reo , is the language of the indigenous population of New Zealand, the Māori. It has the status of an official language in New Zealand...
, 3.1% spoke GermanGerman languageGerman is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
. Other languages were all spoken by less than 2% of those people.
(Caution: statistical areas do not always coincide with the local council's definitions of suburbs.)
Major ethnic groups in Te Aro
| 77.7% | Pākehā Pakeha Pākehā is a Māori language word for New Zealanders who are "of European descent". They are mostly descended from British and to a lesser extent Irish settlers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, although some Pākehā have Dutch, Scandinavian, German, Yugoslav or other ancestry... |
| 8.4% | Māori |
| 4.7% | Chinese Han Chinese Han Chinese are an ethnic group native to China and are the largest single ethnic group in the world.Han Chinese constitute about 92% of the population of the People's Republic of China , 98% of the population of the Republic of China , 78% of the population of Singapore, and about 20% of the... |
| 3.1% | British/Irish British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and... |
| 2.2% | India India India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world... n |
| 1.8% | Samoa Samoa Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in... n |
| 1.3% | Australia Australia Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area... n |
Gay and lesbian community
Te Aro is the focal point of Wellington's gay and lesbian community. It is home to two gay bars, two saunas and a cruise club. During the 1990s the suburb played host to an annual Devotion Parade, part of the Devotion festival, but the festival went bankrupt and the parade has not been revived.Entertainment district
Te Aro is New Zealand's largest entertainment district and thrives at night when the business district to the north closes down. Much of the nightlife is in the north of the suburb around Courtenay PlaceCourtenay Place, Wellington
Courtenay Place is the main street of the Courtenay Quarter in the Wellington, New Zealand inner-city district of Te Aro.Courtenay Place is known for its entertainment and nightlife. Many restaurants are open late and most of the bars stay open until dawn...
, Dixon Street, and lower Cuba Street
Cuba Street, Wellington
Cuba Street is one of the most prominent streets in Wellington, New Zealand.-Location and origin:Named after an early settler ship to New Zealand, the Cuba, it is to the south of the CBD, but still in the inner city. Cuba Street was once the route of the Wellington trams...
. Saturdays are the biggest nights when most bars and clubs stay open to at least 3am.
Movies are a popular pastime in Te Aro, which boasts five commercial cinema complexes including the iconic Embassy Theatre, symbolic home of The Lord of the Rings film trilogy
The Lord of the Rings film trilogy
The Lord of the Rings is an epic film trilogy consisting of three fantasy adventure films based on the three-volume book of the same name by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. The films are The Fellowship of the Ring , The Two Towers and The Return of the King .The films were directed by Peter...
; the Paramount, a popular art-house film venue; and Reading Cinemas, the largest multiplex in central Wellington.
Te Aro is home to several small theatres, including Circa, Bats, Downstage, and Griffin. Larger venues include The Opera House
Opera House (Wellington)
The Opera House is a proscenium theatre in Wellington, New Zealand located on Manners Street opposite Te Aro Park. William Pitt, the architect, was based in Melbourne, Australia, and much of the work was overseen by local architect Albert Liddy....
on Manners Street and the St. James Theatre on Courtenay Place.
Waterfront
Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is the national museum and art gallery of New Zealand, located in Wellington. It is branded and commonly known as Te Papa and Our Place; "Te Papa Tongarewa" is broadly translatable as "the place of treasures of this land".The museum's principles...
and the Overseas Passenger Terminal, a large function venue. A new outdoor recreation area, Waitangi Park
Waitangi Park
Waitangi Park, a re-modelled recreation-space in Te Aro, Wellington, New Zealand, dates from 2005. It lies near Te Papa , Former Post and Telegraph Building and Courtenay Place...
, opened in 2006. The Wellington waterfront west of Taranaki Street, including Frank Kitts Park and Civic Square
Civic Square, Wellington
Civic Square is an open public area at the centre of Wellington, New Zealand. It marks the boundary between the financial district to the north and the entertainment district to the south.- Textures and materials :...
, is part of Wellington Central, not Te Aro.
The popular beach at Oriental Bay is five minutes' walk from the northeastern edge of Te Aro. Positively Wellington Tourism divides Te Aro into smaller areas - Courtenay Quarter, Courtenay Place
Courtenay Place
There are numerous city squares and streets around the world named Courtenay Place. Among them are the following:-In New Zealand:*Courtenay Place, Rotorua in Rotorua*Courtenay Place, Wellington, one of the main streets in Wellington-In the United Kingdom:...
, Waitangi Park - to help visitors find their way.
Politics
As the heart of the capital city, Te Aro is a highly politicised suburb. A number of issues in Te Aro have garnered national attention. The long-proposed and much-protested Wellington Inner City BypassWellington Inner City Bypass
The Wellington Inner City Bypass is a westbound one-way road varying from two to four lanes largely at ground level in central Wellington, New Zealand, part of State Highway 1, and was opened in March 2007....
through Te Aro was a news story for decades, but is now accepted.
Former Wellington Mayor Kerry Prendergast
Kerry Prendergast
Kerry Leigh Prendergast, CNZM was the 33rd Mayor of Wellington . She was the second woman to serve as Mayor of Wellington, succeeding Mark Blumsky.-Before politics:...
was accused of nepotism for allowing high-rise development by her husband to go ahead in the predominantly low-rise area of southern Te Aro.
She was also criticised for forcibly ejecting a group of homeless people from an out-of-the-way park. This strategy backfired when the homeless took up residence in Cuba Street, in the heart of the retail area. The homeless now have regular altercations with retailers who accuse them of being drunk. In response, the city council has announced plans to establish a 'wet house' for the homeless.
Transport
Te Aro is served by trolleybusTrolleybus
A trolleybus is an electric bus that draws its electricity from overhead wires using spring-loaded trolley poles. Two wires and poles are required to complete the electrical circuit...
es and buses, which have taken the place of tram
Tram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
s.
The Wellington tramway system
Wellington tramway system
The Wellington tramway system operated in Wellington, the capital of New Zealand. The tramways were originally owned by a private company, but were purchased by the city and formed a major part of the city's transport system.-Trams:...
served Te Aro from 1878 to 1964, with a number of routes to other Wellington suburbs. For over two decades, Te Aro was also served by the Te Aro Extension
Te Aro Extension
The Te Aro Extension, also known as the Te Aro Branch, was a short branch line railway in Wellington, New Zealand continuing the Wairarapa Line southwards...
, a railway line from the New Zealand Railway
New Zealand Railways Department
The New Zealand Railways Department, NZR or NZGR and often known as the "Railways", was a government department charged with owning and maintaining New Zealand's railway infrastructure and operating the railway system. The Department was created in 1880 and was reformed in 1981 into the New...
's former Lambton station (not to be confused with the current Wellington
Wellington Railway Station
Wellington Railway Station is the southern terminus of New Zealand's North Island Main Trunk railway, Wairarapa Line and Johnsonville Line. In terms of number of services and in passenger numbers, it is New Zealand's busiest railway station.-Development:...
station on Bunny Street) to Te Aro station
Te Aro Railway Station
Te Aro Railway Station was a station in Wellington, New Zealand, near the corner of Wakefield and Tory Streets. It was the terminus of the short-lived Te Aro Extension of the Hutt Valley Line and Wairarapa Line, opened in 1893, which can also be regarded as a branch line.The line was provided to...
. It opened in 1893; at its peak approximately 30 trains daily used the line, but local businesses complained of the dirt and noise of steam locomotive
Steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...
s and the trains caused delays to traffic on important city streets. This led to the line's closure in 1917 and subsequent removal.
There are suggestions to re-extend rail services back to Courtenay Place and further, either as light rail http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/4235268/Councillors-signal-light-rail-battle-lines or underground.
Characters
- Ben HanaBen HanaBen Hana or "Blanket Man" is a homeless man who wanders the inner city streets of Wellington, New Zealand. Ben is a local fixture and something of a celebrity and is typically on the footpath in the precincts of Courtenay Place which has 24-hour activity.Ben is a self-proclaimed devotee of the...
is a famous homeless man who can often be found around the streets of Te Aro in a blanket and a loin cloth. - Mark BlumskyMark BlumskyMark Herbert Blumsky QSO is a New Zealand politician. He was Mayor of Wellington from 1995 to 2001, and Member of Parliament for the National Party from 2005 to 2008...
is a former mayor and was a list MP for the National PartyNew Zealand National PartyThe New Zealand National Party is the largest party in the New Zealand House of Representatives and in November 2008 formed a minority government with support from three minor parties.-Policies:...
from 2005-2008. Blumsky lives in Te Aro and had a notorious evening during the 2005 election campaign, which resulted in him sporting bruises and a black eye. - Tom Beard, architecture and urban issues commentator.
- Winston PetersWinston PetersWinston Raymond Peters is a New Zealand politician and leader of New Zealand First, a political party he founded in 1993. Peters has had a turbulent political career since entering Parliament in 1978. He served as Minister of Maori Affairs in the Bolger National Party Government before being...
, leader of the New Zealand First Party and Minister of Foreign AffairsForeign ministerA Minister of Foreign Affairs, or foreign minister, is a cabinet minister who helps form the foreign policy of a sovereign state. The foreign minister is often regarded as the most senior ministerial position below that of the head of government . It is often granted to the deputy prime minister in...
from 2005-2008, was not a Te Aro resident but was jocularly referred to as the MemberMember of ParliamentA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Courtenay PlaceCourtenay Place, WellingtonCourtenay Place is the main street of the Courtenay Quarter in the Wellington, New Zealand inner-city district of Te Aro.Courtenay Place is known for its entertainment and nightlife. Many restaurants are open late and most of the bars stay open until dawn...
. This referred to his supposed penchant for a wee dram, and to a high-profile late night argument with a taxi driver. - Colin Martien is a notable buskerBuskingStreet performance or busking is the practice of performing in public places, for gratuities, which are generally in the form of money and edibles...
who as eschewed traditional instrumentation in favour of his own distinctive, heavily distorted a cappella vocal style. Usually seen wearing the headdress of a Native American chieftain.
Neighbouring suburbs
- Wellington CentralWellington CentralrightWellington Central is a suburb of New Zealand's capital, Wellington, consisting of the flat, mostly reclaimed land, west of Lambton Harbour and the part of The Terrace immediately above it. It is bounded on the north by the suburb Pipitea and extends as far south as Civic Square...
, the city's high-rise office district, is to the north. The boundary between the two halves of the central business district is at Civic Square where the ridge to the west comes closest to the sea. - KelburnKelburn, New Zealandthumb|300px|Panorama of Wellington including the Kelburn cable car.Kelburn is an inner suburb of Wellington, New Zealand. It is located on the hills to the west of the Central Business District.-Features of Kelburn:...
is on the hills to the west, accessible via The Terrace and a few streets climbing from it, such as Salamanca Road and Bolton Street, and separated from Te Aro by Victoria UniversityVictoria University of WellingtonVictoria University of Wellington was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a former constituent college of the University of New Zealand. It is particularly well known for its programmes in law, the humanities, and some scientific disciplines, but offers a broad range of other courses...
's main (Kelburn) Campus. - Aro ValleyAro Valley- Geography :The Aro Valley runs between the hills of Brooklyn to the south and of Kelburn to the north. By some reckonings it includes the side-valley of Mitchelltown. It takes its name from the Aro stream which flowed down Epuni street, and which since 1926 has been confined to a drain...
lies beneath Kelburn to the southwest, and the turn into Aro Street marks the transition from Te Aro. - Mount CookMount Cook, WellingtonThe suburb of Mount Cook in Wellington in New Zealand stands on the southern fringe of the central city alongside Te Aro and to the north of Newtown...
is the low hill south of Te Aro; it contains the National War Memorial and Carillon, visible from much of southern Te Aro. Te Aro's southern boundary runs along Webb and Buckle Streets. - Mount VictoriaMount Victoria, WellingtonMount Victoria, locally abbreviated to Mt. Vic, is a prominent hill to the east of the centre of Wellington, New Zealand, and its associated suburb. To the south of it is a spur, Mount Albert, and the two are linked by a ridge....
, the suburb on the western slope of the hill of the same name, is divided from Te Aro by the twin roads of Kent Terrace and Cambridge Terrace. The land for these roads was initially planned to be a channel into an inner harbour at the Basin Reserve. The plans were dropped when the 1855 earthquake lifted the land by several metres. - Oriental BayOriental BayOriental Bay is a suburb of Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand. Located close to the CBD on Wellington Harbour, it has the closest beach to the centre of the city and is thus a popular spot both for living and for visiting....
is the capital's inner-city beach suburb, accessible from Te Aro via Oriental Parade to the northeast.