Hillcrest is a suburb in southeastern

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. The suburb is home to the

University of Waikato The University of Waikato (), established in 1964, is a Public university, public research university located in Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton, New Zealand. An additional campus is located in Tauranga. The university performs research in nume ...

and consequently has a large student population. It is located on the east side of the Hamilton Town Belt, a series of public parks that run from the

Hamilton Gardens Hamilton Gardens is a public garden park in the south of Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton owned and managed by Hamilton City Council (New Zealand), Hamilton City Council in New Zealand. The park is based on the banks of the Waikato River and i ...

Ruakura Ruakura is a semi-rural suburb of Hamilton City, in the Waikato region of New Zealand. The University of Waikato is nearby. The area lies to the east of urban Hamilton and to the west of State Highway 1B (a variant of State Highway 1 which av ...

in its eastern section.

History

The area was formerly known as Steele's Hill, named after Capt. W. Steele. Much of it was covered in orchards in the early 1900s. It was named Hillcrest by the Waikato County Council in the 1940s when the area began developing as a suburb. Hillcrest became a part of Hamilton in 1949, with the 5th boundary extension. Significant development took place throughout the 1950s and 1960s.

Notable locations

University of Waikato

The main campus of the University of Waikato was established in 1964. In 2010, the university had 13,089 students enrolled, the majority based at the Hillcrest campus.

Academy of Performing Arts

Opened in 2001, the Academy of Performing Arts is a prominent music and theatre venue in Hamilton. Its concert chamber is one of Hamilton's premier

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

venues.

Former Hamilton Railway Station

''The Station'' on Hillcrest Road is the former main railway station for Hamilton. The building was relocated from Victoria Street to its current Hillcrest location in the 1960s, when the

Hamilton Central Hamilton Central is the central business district of Hamilton, New Zealand. It is located on the western banks of the Waikato River. Demographics Hamilton Central Business District, called Hamilton Centre by Stats NZ, covers and had an est ...

underground train station was built. It is one of the few surviving railway stations that were built during the time that

Julius Vogel Sir Julius Vogel (24 February 1835 – 12 March 1899) was the eighth premier of New Zealand. His administration is best remembered for the issuing of bonds to fund railway construction and other public works. He was the first Jewish prime min ...

was in charge of New Zealand's

Public Works Department This list indicates government departments in various countries dedicated to public works or infrastructure. See also * Public works * Ministry or Board of Public Works, the imperial Chinese ministry overseeing public projects from the Tang ...

Demographics

Hillcrest covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km². Hillcrest had a population of 6,198 in the

2023 New Zealand census The 2023 New Zealand census, which took place on 7 March 2023, was the thirty-fifth national census in New Zealand. It implemented measures that aimed to increase the Census' effectiveness in response to the issues faced with the 2018 census, i ...

, an increase of 288 people (4.9%) since the 2018 census, and an increase of 744 people (13.6%) since the 2013 census. There were 3,132 males, 3,027 females, and 36 people of other genders in 1,953 dwellings. 5.5% of people identified as

LGBTQ+ LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The group i ...

. The median age was 28.8 years (compared with 38.1 years nationally). There were 1,182 people (19.1%) aged under 15 years, 2,031 (32.8%) aged 15 to 29, 2,517 (40.6%) aged 30 to 64, and 471 (7.6%) aged 65 or older. People could identify as more than one ethnicity. The results were 54.3% European (

Pākehā ''Pākehā'' (or ''Pakeha''; ; ) is a Māori language, Māori-language word used in English, particularly in New Zealand. It generally means a non-Polynesians, Polynesian New Zealanders, New Zealander or more specifically a European New Zeala ...

); 19.9%

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

; 6.3% Pasifika; 30.3% Asian; 3.0% Middle Eastern, Latin American, and African New Zealanders (MELAA); and 1.7% other, which includes people giving their ethnicity as "New Zealander". English was spoken by 93.4%, Māori by 6.1%, Samoan by 0.8%, and other languages by 27.7%. 1.8% spoke no language (e.g., too young to talk).

New Zealand Sign Language New Zealand Sign Language or NZSL () is the main language of the deaf community in New Zealand. It became an official language of New Zealand in April 2006 under the New Zealand Sign Language Act 2006. The purpose of the act was to create rights ...

was known by 0.7%. The percentage of people born overseas was 40.1, compared with 28.8% nationally. Religious affiliations were 28.5%

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

, 3.5%

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

, 4.6%

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

, 1.2%

Māori religious beliefs Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

, 3.4%

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

, 0.4%

New Age New Age is a range of Spirituality, spiritual or Religion, religious practices and beliefs that rapidly grew in Western world, Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclecticism, eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise d ...

, 0.1%

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

, and 2.7% other religions. People who answered that they had no religion were 49.1%, and 6.5% of people did not answer the census question. Of those at least 15 years old, 1,716 (34.2%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, 2,271 (45.3%) had a post-high school certificate or diploma, and 1,026 (20.5%) people exclusively held high school qualifications. The median income was $36,400, compared with $41,500 nationally. 399 people (8.0%) earned over $100,000, compared to 12.1% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was 2,511 (50.1%) full-time, 756 (15.1%) part-time, and 261 (5.2%) unemployed. The 2013 Index of Socioeconomic Deprivation, ranked 1-10 from lowest to most deprived areas, lists the University section of Hillcrest at 8/10 (high deprivation) and the Hillcrest West section at 6/10 (moderate deprivation).

Education

Hillcrest Normal School and Knighton Normal School are state co-educational contributing primary schools (years 1-6) with rolls of and students respectively. Hillcrest Normal opened in 1923, and Knighton Normal opened in 1957. The term "Normal" comes from the French term ''école normale'' and means these schools assist in the training of teachers. St John's College is a single-sex integrated

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

secondary school (years 9-13) with a roll of . Rolls are as of Despite the name, Hillcrest High School is actually located in the neighbouring suburb of Silverdale.

References

External links

{{Hamilton, New Zealand Navbox Suburbs of Hamilton, New Zealand