andre' salvador
PHOTOGRAPHY & WATERCOLORS
The line is starting to move towards the cable car ticket booth.
A view of Lambdon Quay Street, Wellington.
Our tour group as we started to form a queue line for the Wellington cable car to get up to the Botanic Gardens. We are right on Lambdon Quay Street in downtown Wellington.
The street sign at the start of Baldwin Street at it's lower elevation.
Other notably steep streets include:

The Côte St-Ange in Chicoutimi, Canada with a 33% gradient (about 18°). 
Canton Avenue, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States; it is officially measured to be a 37% grade. However, that angle of 37% only extends about 6.5 metres, whereas Baldwin Street's steepest part stretches considerably farther. 
Eldred Street in Los Angeles, California, United States; one of three streets in Los Angeles between 32% and 33.3%,.
Filbert and 22nd Streets in San Francisco, California, United States each have 31 to 31.5% (17°) for 60-70 meters. Several short pieces of San Francisco streets are steeper, including a 30-foot section of Bradford street paved in 2010 that averages 39-40% grade. 
Waipio Valley Road (20°7′11″N 155°35′36″W / 20.11972°N 155.59333°W / 20.11972; -155.59333 (Waipio Valley Road)) on the island of Hawai'i, 25% for 0.6 miles with peak gradients much higher. This is a paved public road but it is not a residential street and is open only to 4 wheel drive vehicles.
A view of Baldwin Street from the intersection where the street started.

The street's steepness was unintentional. As with many other parts of 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 (and much of the Dunedin street plan), 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 (i.e. unpaved) 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 (1:3.6), Dalmeny Street (1:3.7), and Calder Avenue (1:5.4).
Baldwin Street is considered the steepest street in the world based on the Guinness Book of Records.
A view of Baldwin Street from our bus. The steepest part is near the top and we were not allowed to go up and take pictures to protect the privacy of the residents.

Guinness officially recognizes Baldwin Street as the world's steepest street at a 35% grade.
Manila street kids.
The street sign at the start of Baldwin Street at it's lower elevation.
The street sign at the start of Baldwin Street at it's lower elevation.
The street sign at the start of Baldwin Street at it's lower elevation.
See photo in original gallery.

All photographs on this site © by Andre'Salvador