The suburb is dominated by St Peter's College, an independent boys' school, which is wholly located within the suburb and occupies a 75-acre (30 ha) site, about 60% of the suburb's area. Located at this site since 1854, the school grounds contain three heritage-listed buildings.[2][3][4]
Romilly House in the southwest corner of the suburb, on North Terrace, is also listed on the Heritage Register.[5]
Prior to the 2018 election, the stateLabor government decided to build in 2016–2017 a $160 million tunnel for the O-Bahn Busway from north of North Terrace, Hackney, through the Adelaide Park Lands to the corner of Grenfell Street and East Terrace on the eastern edge of the Adelaide city centre. As part of this work, the middle of the entire length of Hackney Road, Hackney, from the River Torrens to North Terrace was rebuilt to provide buslanes and an entrance to / exit from the tunnel. The cost/benefit ratio of this project was questioned, traffic disruption was considerable, and the Labor party did not win the 2018 election.[6][7]