The wind turbine on the ridge, the Penthouse Cinema, a village shopping strip and some of the best views back to the CBD. This is Brooklyn, a hilltop Wellington NZ suburb that knows exactly what it is.

Brooklyn sits on the ridge directly south of the CBD, climbing up from Aro Valley towards the Brooklyn Wind Turbine, the big white blade that has stood over the city since 1993. It is a classic inner-south Wellington suburb: weatherboard villas on steep streets, a proper little shopping village at its heart, an art-house cinema you can walk to, and views across to the harbour, the South Coast, and the CBD lights at night. For a lot of locals, Brooklyn hits a sweet spot between city proximity and village quiet.

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The Vibe · A Quick History · The Turbine & Views · Things to Do · Food & Drink · Living in Brooklyn

Brooklyn is a leafy, hilly, quietly confident suburb. The streets climb in long switchbacks off Ohiro Road, lined with painted wooden villas and the occasional modernist statement house with an improbably good view. The shopping village around Cleveland Street and Todman Street is compact but useful: an independent grocer, a pharmacy, a library, a bakery doing an honest pie, a couple of cafes, the Penthouse Cinema and a community space with a thrift shop and refillery. It is the kind of place where you can do your errands on foot and run into three people you know on the way home.

The suburb sits right against the Town Belt, so you are rarely more than a few minutes from native bush, a ridge-line walk or a view back to the harbour. It is also one of the windier suburbs in the city. The turbine is there for a reason.

Brooklyn took its name in 1888, when the farmland then known as Ohiro was subdivided into sections and a hill suburb began to grow. Brooklyn School followed a decade later, opening in 1898. The electric tram, which climbed Brooklyn Hill from 1906 until 1957, filled in the steeper streets, and most of the original street pattern and a lot of the early housing stock survive.

The defining modern landmark, the Brooklyn Wind Turbine, went up in March 1993 as a research project by the old Electricity Corporation of New Zealand — it was New Zealand's first commercial wind turbine, and Meridian Energy has run it since 1999. In 2016 the original machine was replaced entirely with a bigger German-built Enercon turbine, and it remains one of the most recognisable silhouettes in Wellington, visible from most of the city.

Driving, cycling or walking up to the turbine is a proper Wellington afternoon. From the village, Todman Street leads onto Ashton Fitchett Drive and up to the ridge, where a car park and information shelter sit right at the turbine's feet with one of the best panoramas in the city. On a clear day you can see the whole harbour laid out below, the Hutt Valley to the north, the South Island across Cook Strait, and the Mākara wind farm turbines spinning on the western hills.

Walkers can connect the turbine to the rest of the city's green network via the Wellington Town Belt and the surrounding reserves: the Tip Track drops south to Ōwhiro Bay, the Waimapihi Reserve (Polhill) tracks run north along the Zealandia fenceline towards Aro Valley and Karori, and the City to Sea Walkway passes through Central Park, the little valley park tucked between Brooklyn and the CBD, on its way to Island Bay.

Local tip: Sunset at the turbine is the move. Drive up forty-five minutes before dusk, wander along the ridge, and watch the harbour lights come on. Takeaway from the village on the way up is strongly encouraged.

The Penthouse Cinema on Ohiro Road is the suburb's cultural anchor. A classic four-screen art-house with a fully licensed cafe-bar attached, it runs first-run arthouse films alongside the crowd-pleasers, and it is the kind of neighbourhood cinema you wish every suburb had. A Wellington institution and a reliable rainy-afternoon plan.

Outdoor options are excellent. Central Park, reached by walking down Brooklyn Road or through the Town Belt tracks, is an easy loop with the Moturoa Stream running through it (dogs welcome on leads). From the top of the suburb, the Tip Track and the Te Kopahou tracks head for the south coast, popping out at Happy Valley and Ōwhiro Bay — both great longer walks.

Zealandia, the fully fenced urban ecosanctuary, is technically in Karori but a ten-minute drive over the ridge from Brooklyn and one of the best half-day trips in the city. Book ahead. For more, see our things to do in Wellington page.

The Brooklyn village strip punches above its weight. Caribe Cafe on Cleveland Street and the Brooklyn Deli on Ohiro Road — with its Austrian-style baking — cover coffee and brunch, and Jo's does the honest pies. For dinner, Salty Pidgin on Todman Street is the neighbourhood bar-bistro, the Penthouse's licensed cafe-bar does pre-film meals, and a pair of Indian restaurants, a fish and chip shop and a Burger Wisconsin handle takeaway night.

The Brooklyn Food Market on Cleveland Street covers the grocery run. For current picks of the best dining in the city, see our Wellington restaurants, Wellington cafes and Wellington bars pages.

Brooklyn housing is mostly early 1900s weatherboard villas and bungalows, with pockets of modernist hillside builds and some newer townhouse developments. Prices sit well below Kelburn and roughly on par with Mt Victoria, which makes it a popular choice for families wanting character and a bit more space without shifting right out of the central city.

Brooklyn School, a full primary covering Years 1 to 8 that has been going since 1898, is the local school, and the suburb falls within the Wellington High School zone — with parts of northern Brooklyn also in the Wellington College and Wellington Girls' College zones, so check the maps for your exact street. Metlink bus route 7 runs from Kingston through Brooklyn to Wellington Station regularly, and the walk down to Te Aro via Aro Valley takes about twenty minutes if the weather is cooperating.

The trade-offs are the usual hill-suburb ones. Narrow streets, steep driveways, not much on-street parking and a lot of wooden stairs. The Greater Brooklyn Residents' Association is active, and the Brooklyn Community Centre is a good source of local news and what's on.

Brooklyn in a day: Bus 7 up from the CBD, coffee in the village, walk up to the turbine, lunch at the Brooklyn Deli, drop down through Central Park towards town, finish with a late film at the Penthouse. That is a very good Brooklyn Saturday.

Brooklyn is the kind of Wellington suburb that does not shout for attention but rewards you every time you show up. A village you can walk, a cinema worth booking ahead for, a ridge that gives you one of the best views of the city, and ten minutes to everywhere else you might want to be. For the bigger picture, head back to our Wellington City guide, check the Wellington weather and flick through this weekend's Wellington events.

Know a Brooklyn spot we have missed? Flick it to us at [email protected] and we will add it to the next update. Steve and Kirstie, WellyBuzz.