Hobson Street, Auckland
Hobson Street is the major street on the western side of Queen Street. It is a commercial and high-rise residential street, and provides access to the Auckland Northern Motorway going south, and the Northwest Motorway going west. For most of its length it is one-way. One block to the west is Nelson Street, which is one-way in the other direction and provides access to the central city for traffic exiting from the motorways. One block to the east is Albert Street, part of Mayoral Drive, and Vincent Street. The area encompassed by these streets  is called Hobson Ridge by Statistics New Zealand. Demographics. Hobson Ridge, comprising the statistical areas of Hobson Ridge North, Hobson Ridge Central and Hobson Ridge South, had a population of 8,190 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 1,092 people (15.4%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 3,657 people (80.7%) since the 2006 census. There were 3,540 households. There were 4,422 males and 3,762 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.18 males per female, with 441 people (5.4%) aged under 15 years, 4,398 (53.7%) aged 15 to 29, 3,138 (38.3%) aged 30 to 64, and 213  (2.6%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 22.5% European/Pākehā, 3.2% Māori, 2.8% Pacific peoples, 67.2% Asian, and 8.7% other ethnicities (totals add to more than 100% since people could identify with multiple ethnicities). The proportion of people born overseas was 81.1%, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people objected to giving their religion, 40.7% had no religion, 25.4% were Christian, and 30.2% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 3,348 (43.2%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 378 (4.9%) people had no formal qualifications. The employment status of those at least 15 was that  3,852 (49.7%) people were employed full-time, 1,554 (20.1%) were part-time, and 423 (5.5%) were unemployed. History. Hobson Street existed by 1842 but it was not initially entirely urban, with the Auckland City Council being asked to prevent cattle from obstructing its footpaths in 1870. The Nelson Street-Hobson Street one-way system was in place in the early 1970s.