My Wellington: You can’t beat Brooklyn on any day
Monday, 19 January 2026
**Alex Matthews is in business in the digital production/IT/games sector, is a public speaker, *an avid futurist passionate about Aotearoa’s role on the global stage,* and a regular columnist for The Post.**
My favourite thing about Brooklyn in Wellington is….
There's too many to list but when I first visited Wellington 22 years ago it struck me how three dimensional the city was; with its vertical climbs, winding corners, hidden staircases and gardens. It's often reminded me of a piece of artwork by Escher. The roads sometimes feel like a endless luge track that Rotorua could only dream of having. Wellington's geography is unique, compact, magical and we make such amazing use of it. I also love the integration of the city plan with the town belt and all the green spaces that connect the city.
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A hidden gem in my hood is…
I have two hoods — Brooklyn where I live and Cuba St where I work. But I've been lucky to live in many parts of Wellington, in Kelburn, Te Aro, Northland, Newlands, Newtown, Aro Valley and now Brooklyn.
The Vogelmorn is where it's at! Especially for families with little kids. Now that my daughter is old enough we spend more time there, so that the adults can catch up over over a cold drink while the kids play together!
Otherwise, for me it's all about the Brooklyn Community Centre, it has incredible shared facilities, playground, community activities and events. Our daughter loves being there. It’s a tight and deeply friendly community with extremely diverse people.
The best place to get coffee and bump into neighbours is….
Caribé Café and Chimichurri Argentinian Café in Brooklyn are top notch and run by really lovely people. There is a genuine community and neighbourly sense in both cafes and high-quality Wellington coffee!
To get to work in Cuba St I walk because …
We live close to Central Park so my commute is a walk through one of our most beautiful verdant parks. It's a real source of joy each day. We don't own a car so most of our travel around Wellington is on foot, through parks, the town belt, or the shortcuts you find and love in Wellington after enough time here.
If you’re looking for somewhere to eat in Brooklyn you can’t go past…..
We are spoiled for choice! Brooklyn Fish Supply is as good as the best fish and chip shops in Wellington and their burgers are especially good. Swagat India is also fantastic. Our takeaway options are as good as any you'd find in the CBD.
My favourite place to take a visitor to Wellington would be …
Around the bays - all the way from Oriental Bay, Hataitai, Miramar, stopping for a swim at Scorching Bay, and around to Red Rocks is really special. You get a sense of how beautiful the Wellington geography is, the little coves, bays, and communities, and great views of the city. You also see how the Hutt Valley and Eastbourne are part of the harbour, distinct but connected.
Some of our best views - Mt Vic lookout, the Wind Turbine and its amazing WWII bunkers I've recently came to love, but there’s also Mt Kaukau and so on. I’ve been taking panoramas of Wellington for years. I’d love to do a photo exhibition and print these out really big.
The most contentious issue on my neighbourhood Facebook page is …
I don't follow any neighbourhood Facebook pages! I think there’s a housing crisis for my generation. We would love to buy a house in Brooklyn, it’s super, super lovely, but you need to be a millionaire. We’re still saving.
The perfect Saturday morning is …
A leisurely start with a coffee then a family walk from Brooklyn down to the Kilbirnie pools for a swim, followed by some hot chips and stopping at a few of the playgrounds on the way home for our daughter to get some extra zoomies out.
I usually train kung fu on Saturday afternoon at the Wing Tsun Academy on lower Cuba St, which I highly recommend for anyone wanting to try a martial art or join a Wellington kung fu community.
Not many people know this about Brooklyn but …
Many of the streets are named after American leaders — so Washington Ave, McKinley Cres, Lincoln, Garfield, Jefferson, Taft, Coolidge, Cleveland, and Hoover streets. I don't know the exact history but we also borrowed street names in other parts of the city from the likes of Cuba, India, the UK, and I think it shows how multicultural and integrated with global peoples we are.
When I need to clear my head, I go to…
The stream in Central Park is cool, full of fresh oxygen wafting down the valley from the giant trees, and it’s magical on a really dark night because there are glow worms, especially further up the stream near the waterfalls.
My guilty pleasure in the city is to go to …..
Rogue & Vagabond on Glover Park for a cold beer after work on a hot day.
If I were mayor for a day I would….
To touch on just a few things from recent articles I would build a recycling innovation accelerator hub at the landfill and expand the tip shop, invest in Wellington as a global center for GovTech, create a new risk assessment framework for public spending, create policy to make it easier to sustain events in Wellington and launch a campaign to promote all the amazing public amenities Wellington has on offer.