Now considered to be one of the cultural centres of Auckland, since the 1980s–1990s it has been undergoing a slow process of gentrification, and is now known for off-beat cafes and boutique shops.

Before Europeans appeared Auckland was occupied by several Māori iwi each of whom apparently used the same name for the Karangahape Ridge but with slightly different meanings.

[1] Until the mid 20th century Karangahape Road was the only street in central Auckland with a Māori name, undoubtedly due to its use as a thoroughfare in pre-European times.

Just before the Royal Tour in 1953 there was another push to rename the road; this time as "Elizabeth Street" but again the original name survived.

As it was a travel route used by the pre-European Māori, Karangahape Road is an older thoroughfare than Queen Street, which was only developed by Europeans in the 1840s.

During the interwar period most of Auckland's main shops selling furniture, musical instruments, radios and household appliances were located here.

[4] The Karangahape Road Business Association (KBA) had begun in 1911 as an informal gathering of businesspeople in the area.

On 15 April 1932 the Queen Street unemployment riot of the night before, extended to Karangahape Road,[7] with 43 shops having their windows broken.

[8] During the middle of the 20th century the Karangahape Road Area was a destination shopping centre, especially busy at night with family groups travelling in (often on public transport) and traversing the district.

At this time the street had five cinemas (The Avon, Vogue, Newton Palace, Playhouse and Tivoli) and probably as many dance halls (The Music Academy, Peter Pan Cabaret), including the Druid's Hall in Galatos Street which is still in operation as a music venue (Galatos).

After 1965, K' Road lost most of its local customer base when construction of the inner-city motorway system resulted in over 50,000 people having to move out of the surrounding areas in Eden Terrace, Grafton, and Arch Hill.

This accelerated the decline, and by the early 1970s the low rents in the western portion of the street meant it had acquired a rather seedy reputation as Auckland's red-light district, although the adult industry never accounted for more than 4% of the businesses in the area at any time.

Karangahape Road is probably the most notorious street in the country, as most people imagine it is lined with strip clubs, brothels and adult shops.

[5] Even at its height of its reputation (between the 1970s and 1990s) as the biggest red light area in the country, there were never more than 12 adult businesses at a time on the street.

Since the early 1990s it has developed as a focus for nightlife; its restaurants, bars and nightclubs make it a major part of Auckland's social scene.

This is largely due to redevelopment of the Queen Street valley in the 1980s as increased rents made many nightclub venues relocate to the K Road ridge.

Since the mid 1990s K Road has become a centre for much of Auckland's bohemian scene, with many venues for alternative music and fringe art as well as the LGBT community.

The organisation became part of the Te Papa National Museum Standards programme and currently occupies space just off of K Road on Howe Street.

Pearson's morning announcer was a young woman called Maud Basham who later became famous as Aunt Daisy.

It plays reggae, dub, lounge, jazz, blues, funk and hip-hop in an attempt to reflect the diverse and alternative culture of Karangahape Road.

The Auckland office of the New Zealand Film Archive was located in 300 Karangahape Road until about 2012, where the institute had a reference library and exhibition space.

[32] The song "Verona" by New Zealand rock band Elemeno P, from their album Love & Disrespect, refers to the café/restaurant/bar of the same name at 169 Karangahape Road.