THE GROWTH OF AUCKLAND

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 12663, 17 September 1904, Page 5

THE GROWTH OF AUCKLAND

— «<» REMARKABLE EXPANSION. SOME CAUSES AND EFFECTS. THE INFLUX OF POPULATION. Mk. CoonLAX, in Ins exceedingly useful book, "A Statistical Account of Australia and New Zealand, 1902," gave the population of Auckland as 67,226, and comparing it with the other largo cities of Australasia placed it fifth in the order of population the capital of West Australia, being then 25,000 below Auckland. The fourth city in the group, Brisbane, had 122.815, but these figures must have undergone somo reduction since 1902, because of the terrible depression that set in with the great drought and the corresponding emigration of the city people, who were really dependent upon the agricultural and mining- industries, as is the case in all the cities of Australasia—a marked contrast to most of the great cities of Europe. When Mr. Coghlan has the next New Zealand census before him he will have a very different tale to tell of Auckland, and it may bo found, judging from parent indications, that this city will jostle Brisbane for fourth place in the Australasian group, even if it does not pass the capital of Queensland. The prophecy has a strong foundation of .fact to rest upon, and one of the most emphatio reasons fo. the assumption is the extraordinary progress of building in Auckland. Reference has been made from time to time in these columns to the principal business buildings which have gone up during the past two years. In Custom-street aloiii? in the last 12 months no less than six great warehouses have been built or are completing, and in size are on a piece with the similar large buildings of Melbourne, and surpass mnnj in London, where the tendency is to build skywards so far as local conditions permit, on account of the enormous cost of land. But these commercial buildings only indirectly indicate the rapid growth of population, although, of course, tbey cannot be entirely separated from it. It is to residential buildings that one must turn in order to understand the extraordinary growth of Auckland during the past tew years—a growth which none other of the three chief cities oi the colony has yet paralleled. VISIBLE EXPANSION. As the sage remarked in 'Pickwick,'' Auckland i.s "wisibly swellin' before one's wery eyes" when viewed from any of the volcanic cones any week day. From Mount Eden one can watch building going on anywhere along the great arteries originating in the city. Looking towards the ridge occupied by Jervois Road houses can be seen in the making; the same thing can be seen ' looking down upon Newmarket, Rcmuera, and Epsom, the Mount Roskill Road district, and towards Archhill. The exception is when looking citywards, which exception is explained by the fact that there is no long*. anywhere to build in that direction. If all this house-building is going on, surely the older tenements must become empty? Not at all. Reputable house agents agree that the demand for houses at from 12s to 13s per week exceeds the supply three- and fourfold ; and houses which are habitable at all, or have any claim to convenience (including a bathroom), and are let at from 14s to 16s per week, are taken within an-hour of notice of the outgoing tenant beinj, received. The spectacle of an incoming tenant carting his lares et penates into the back door while the departing tenant is loading up in front is not at all an uncommon incident of suburban life. There is. too, another feature of the steady growth of residential Auckland— in A-hich, of course, is included the suburbs —over 50 per cent, of the houses are being " bu.'Jt to order." These are mainly for local people— those who nave been bom in Auckland, or, at amy rate, have been here for many years, and can no longer be fairly considered as new arrivals. In their particularly so if they be newlymarried people—the house is bought o* a fairly easy " time-payment system," while the newcomers for the most part occupy the vacated houses and themselves quickly become owners.

Rents are not cheap in Auckland, which is due to a variety of causes, chief of which are increased prioe of labour amd enhanced price of materials, together with the steady but sure advance in the price of building uliotments. But these causes do not destroy the fact that rents in Auckland are high. And yet, notwithstanding that travelling facilities are better here than in any city in the colony—and there is much to be desired in our suburban railway system— standing that it is the fairest city in New Zealand, and, as some think, in Australasia, yet Auckland is the chapest city in this colony to live —so far as house rent, at any rate, is concerned. Compared with Wellington, houses are let here at " slaughtering prices," as the drapers say. WHENCE THE INFLUX ? Where fee the people coming from ? No one can charge the Government, much as it has to answer for, with extending a toocordial welcome to people who come, as many of our forefathers came, with only the proverbial shilling in their pockets and a pair of brawny arms. Nevertheless, people are steadily pouring into the colony, and Auckland attracts the bulk of them. It certainly seems to cast a glamour also over the Southern colonists, who have come here in very large numbers of late, and have not come penniless. For some years Auckland province was like the dog with a tarnished reputation. Then there was the old cry (now seldom heard, and then only in the South) that the "land was no good." But then New Zealand butter wrestled with that of Ireland and Denmark and farming began to pay in the North, at any rate, the dairying side of it. Land advanced in Taranaki in consequence, and many men sold out there after having visited the Waikato and other districts and learned for themselves that dairying could be carried on as profitably in Auckland as anywhere else in the «olony, while the land was from 50 to 75 per cent, cheaper; and so they came. North Auckland, too, was "discovered" comparatively recently by many Southern settlers, and, notwithstanding the difficulties and cost of transport attracted, and continues to attract, a steady stream of not rioh, but monied, bonafide settlers. The competition for the Tokatoka and Te Kuri Crown lands is fresh in the minds of readers of the Herald; but enough will be said when they are reminded that there were 23 sections for which there were 1234 ' applications, or 5+ for each lot, and the hulk of the applicants took the land up on the terms of occupation with right of purchase.

COLLATERAL GROWTH. The settlement of the country naturally has its effect upon the city. A demand springs up for luxuries which in very many cases are now regarded as necessities, and the consequence is that not only have existing importing and manufacturing firms expanded, but other new houses have come into existence originating locally or as branches of long-established businesses; or, again, firms which have been founded within the past six or seven years by capitalists who have had the foresight to discern the signs of the times and to accurately gauge the possibilities and future of Auckland as & field for investment. Al! this, of course— tile heavy settlement of the country anr 1 the collateral growth of the city—attracts a city and suburban population that must be housed. The past wintei has seen a steady growth of building, notwithstanding the unfavourable weather conditions of the time 5* vear , and the summer will certainly see double the houses erected. Architect* with their finders upon the pulse of the building trade confirm the view that the scarcity of suburban building allotments and the enhancement of prices is duo not to speculawon, but to genuine investment, the people °»' Auckland seizing the present period of Prosperity of the city and district to build houses for themselves. There is nothing like p boom, no artificial inflation of land values, no speculative jerry-building; but substantial growth and steady expansion, d .ie, too, to the development of the province by the people themselves, unaided by extravagant 'expenditure of large sums of Jjwwiey upon public works or a sudden influx of a rolci rush population.