REGIONAL REVIEW LOWER HUTT
With a population hitting 110,000 people, Lower Hutt on the eastern side of Wellington Harbour, has six swimming pools, eight libraries, more than 100 schools, 50 playgrounds, 25 parks, hundreds of kilometres of tracks and trails, the Hutt River and five regional parks.
It is easier to find cheaper property than in Wellington city: whether it be a home on a hill, an apartment by the water, or an easy-care flat. Bargains can be found in suburbs like Naenae, Taita and Wainuiomata.
Lower Hutt also has one of the finest examples of Brutalist architecture in the country: the monumental Avalon TV studios tower block, poking up from a sea of 1930s and 1940s bungalows like a giant concrete middle finger to the rest of the country. The 1970s-built wonder is being converted into one and twobedroom apartments.
It also has acres of emerald hills, criss-crossed with hiking trails, and scenic walks, the glittering Hutt River, meandering Waiwhetu Stream, and flocks of native wildlife.
