A short straight street a little under long, Baldwin Street runs east from the valley of the Lindsay Creek up the side of Signal Hill towards Opoho, rising from above sea level at its junction with North Road to above sea level at the top, an average slope of slightly more than 1:5. Its lower reaches are only moderately steep, and the surface is asphalt, but the upper reaches of this cul-de-sac are far steeper and surfaced in concrete for ease of maintenance and for safety in Dunedin's frosty winters. The top section climbs vertically, an average gradient of 1:3.41. At its maximum, about from the top, the slope of Baldwin Street is about 1:2.86. That is, for every travelled horizontally, the elevation changes by.
History
The street's steepness was unintentional. As with many other parts of early Dunedin, and indeed New Zealand, streets were laid out in a grid pattern with no consideration for the terrain, usually by planners in London. In the case of Baldwin Street, the layout was surveyed by Charles Kettle in the mid-19th century. The street is named after William Baldwin, an Otago Provincial Councillor and newspaper founder, who subdivided the area. For cars it is a cul-de-sac, but Baldwin Street is linked across the top by Buchanan Street, a footpath following an otherwise unformed road linking it with Calder Avenue and Arnold Street, which are unformed in their upper reaches where Baldwin is steepest. The streets running parallel to Baldwin are all quite steep: Arnold Street, Dalmeny Street, and Calder Avenue. In 1987, Baldwin Street was officially recognized as the world's steepest street by the Guinness Book of Records following a two-year campaign by the broadcaster Jim Mora. At the time, Baldwin Street topped two competing streets in San Francisco, which hitherto had held the title of being the steepest streets in the world. On 16 July 2019, Baldwin Street lost its title of Worlds Steepest Street to Ffordd Pen Llech, with Baldwin Street being at a gradient of 35%, and Ffordd Pen Llech being at a gradient of 37.45%. Otago Chamber of Commercechief executive Dougal McGowan remarked that it could lead to a drop in visitor numbers to Baldwin Street but added that it could be a "blessing in disguise for some residents fed up with crowds of visitors, trampled gardens and bad driving decisions on the street." Mayor of DunedinDave Cull said that the Dunedin City Council could consider altering the signage wording from the world's steepest street to the southern hemisphere's steepest street. On 8th April 2020, after an extensive review of an appeal to return the title to Baldwin Street filed by several Dunedin residents led by surveyor Toby Stoff, it was decided that the steepness of the street must be based on the central axis, which meant that Ffordd Pen Llech had a gradient of 28.6% compared to Baldwin Street's 34.8%. This meant that the title of Steepest Street was returned to Baldwin Street.
Associated events
The street is the venue for an annual event in Dunedin, the Baldwin Street Gutbuster. Every summer since 1988 this exercise in fitness and balance involves athletes running from the base of the street to the top and back down again. The event attracts several hundred competitors annually and the race record is 1:56. In March 2001, a 19-year-old University of Otago student was killed when she and another student attempted to travel down the street inside a wheelie bin. The bin collided with a parked trailer, killing her instantly, and causing serious head injuries for the other student. Since 2002, a further charity event has been held annually in July, which involves the rolling of over 30,000 Jaffas. Each Jaffa is sponsored by one person, with prizes to the winner and funds raised going to charity. This event follows a tradition started in 1998, when 2,000 tennis balls were released in a sponsored event raising money for Habitat for Humanity. On 2 January 2010, Cardrona stuntman Ian Soanes rode down Baldwin Street on a motorcycle on one wheel. On 26 January 2018, 11-year-old Harry Willis raised over $11,000 NZD for the Ronald McDonald House in Christchurch by ascending the street on a pogo stick. The climb took around ten minutes. Willis's effort has since been commemorated with a plaque at the top of the street. On 10 January 2019, a man rode a Lime scooter down Baldwin St, the same day that the scooters had been introduced to Dunedin and a week after Dunedin's mayor, Dave Cull, had said he was relying "on people's common sense" not to take the scooters down the world's steepest street.
