| Te Aro | |
|---|---|
| Basic information | |
| Local authority | Wellington City |
| Population | 4,521 (2006 [1]) |
| Facilities | |
| Surrounds | |
| North | Wellington Central |
| East | Oriental Bay |
| Southeast | Mount Victoria |
| South | Mount Cook |
| West | Aro Valley |
| Northwest | Kelburn |
Te Aro is an inner-city suburb of Wellington, New Zealand, 1 km from the centre. It comprises the southern part of the central business district 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.
Te Aro is an alternative Māori language name for the Taranaki Pa that means "The facing", in reference to the site of the pa facing Mount Taranaki.[2]
Contents |
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. |
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.
At the 2001 census:
(Caution: statistical areas do not always coincide with the local council's definitions of suburbs.)
| 77.7% | Pākehā |
| 8.4% | Māori |
| 4.7% | Chinese |
| 3.1% | British/Irish |
| 2.2% | Indian |
| 1.8% | Samoan |
| 1.3% | Australian |
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.
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 Place, Dixon Street, and lower Cuba Street. 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 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 on Manners Street and the St. James Theatre on Courtenay Place.
Te Aro is a coastal suburb, and has a popular publicly accessible waterfront area that boasts the Museum of New Zealand and the Overseas Passenger Terminal, a large function venue. A new outdoor recreation area, Waitangi Park, opened in 2006. The Wellington waterfront west of Taranaki Street, including Frank Kitts Park and Civic Square, 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, Waitangi Park - to help visitors find their way.
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 Bypass through Te Aro was a news story for decades, but is now accepted.
Former Wellington Mayor Kerry Prendergast 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.[3]
Te Aro is served by trolleybuses and buses, which have taken the place of trams.
The Wellington tramway system 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, a railway line from the New Zealand Railway's former Lambton station (not to be confused with the current Wellington station on Bunny Street) to Te Aro station. 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 locomotives 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 [2] or underground.