Northcote, New Zealand

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Northcote
Local Authority	North Shore City
Characteristics:
Population	4,122 ^{(data: 2006)}
Surrounded by:
North	Hillcrest, Northcote Central
East	Shoal Bay
South	Northcote Point, Waitemata Harbour
West	Birkenhead
Location

Northcote is a suburb of North Shore, one of several cities in the Auckland metropolitan area in northern New Zealand. It is located on the north shore of the Waitemata Harbour, four kilometres northwest of the Auckland city centre.

The suburb, which includes the peninsula of Northcote Point, includes the northern approaches to the Auckland Harbour Bridge and the culturally diverse Northcote Central shopping centre.

In 1882 the St Heliers and Northcote Land Company was formed and some land in the area was subdivided. In 1889 a major subdivision was the result when the Bartley Estate was auctioned. Before the construction of the Harbour Bridge in 1959 the Northcote Wharf was heavily utilised by the Auckland Harbour ferry service. After the Harbour bridge was built the Northcote peninsula became a quiet cul-de-sac. The wooden Northcote Tavern was once in the thick of things, it still stands but now surveys a quiet streetscape.

To the north on the main road leading to and from the Harbour Bridge is the busy Northcote Shopping Centre, which is largely a development of the 1970s to 1990s.

Northcote is surrounded by the suburbs of Birkenhead, Hillcrest, and Takapuna to the west and north, and the waters of Shoal Bay, an arm of the Waitemata, to the south and east. State Highway 1 stretches along the waterfront of Shoal Bay, heading north from the bridge towards Albany.

According to the 2006 census, Northcote has a population of 4122.