Albany, New Zealand

Albany
A drawing (looking from the northwest) of how the Albany Town Centre could theoretically be built up if all development were carried out to the maximum allowed around 2006
Location of Albany in Auckland.
Basic information
Local authority	Auckland Council
Electoral ward	Albany
Population	3,057 (2013)
Surrounds
North	Albany Heights
East	Pinehill
Southeast	Rosedale
South	Brookfield
Southwest	The Landing
Northwest	Albany North

Albany is one of the northernmost suburbs of the contiguous Auckland metropolitan area in New Zealand. It is located to the north of the Waitemata Harbour, 15 kilometres northwest of the Auckland city centre. The suburb is in the Albany ward, one of the thirteen administrative divisions of Auckland Council. One of the city's newest suburbs, it was until relatively recently a town in its own right, and still has a feeling of not being truly a part of the city, which lies predominantly to the southeast of it. Much of the land to the north of Albany is still semi-rural.

The Māori name for the area was Okahukura (literally, 'place of rainbows' or 'place of butterflies'). The town was originally known as Lucas Creek, but was renamed in 1890 after Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, a son of Queen Victoria. The name Albany derives from Alba (Gaelic for Scotland) and its Latinisation.

In 2005, there were plans to turn a major swath of Albany into a planned mini-urban centre, described as a "happy mix of businesses, hotels, shops, apartments, and entertainment (including) an environment of parks and lakes and of tree-lined streets, paths and cycleways linking to the new Albany park-and-ride bus station and the rapid-busway lanes along the Northern Motorway to downtown Auckland", according to a newspaper report. It would be home to 10,000 people. Authorities wanted sound-proofed apartments against outside noise. Initial plans called for hotels, library, municipal swimming pool as well as the headquarters for the North Shore City Council. In some respects, development has proceeded accordingly, but the 2008–09 economic downturn has blunted some of this activity.

The population was 3,057 in the 2013 Census, an increase of 888 from the 2006 Census. There were 1,092 occupied dwellings in Albany in 2013, and demographic makeup was 73% European, 5% Maori, 2% Pacific peoples, 22% Asian, 3% Middle Eastern/Latin American/African, and 1% other. The median income of $32,600 was higher than for the Auckland Region of $29,600. Unemployment in Albany was 7.0%, lower than the Auckland average of 8.1%. 91% had internet access and 88% had cell phones. Cars were prevalent. A near majority (48%) were born overseas. Ethnically, in keeping with the wider North Shore, Albany was predominantly Pakeha and Asian, and had a relatively high proportion of recent migrants from both elsewhere in New Zealand and overseas.