A city of ill repute: Hamilton is ‘hot’ – in spite of lack of respect from the rest of New Zealand

For decades Hamilton has held a reputation of being one of the most boring, uncultured places in the country, but an unlikely epithet is increasingly being used to describe the city: Hot.

While “hot” and “Hamilton” might seem to be two words that don’t belong in the same sentence – except, perhaps, in the height of the summer – marketing, publicity and innovation experts canvassed by the Waikato Times are certain that, with very little effort, its allure could easily become irresistible.

Their heady assessment follows a provocative appraisal of the city in KiwiBank’s latest Our Take report – a monthly economic assessment of the country and its regions – that contains a mix of praise and criticism for the Waikato.

“The rising star of the North is Waikato … [but] the region’s biggest barrier to growth is a skills mismatch in their workforce,” the report declares.