johns89
Reviews
"Only lasted a year, cant stand it anymore."
We moved to Devonport after we had read people reviews and visited a few time. We purchased a house, which are cheap enough but generally older and need a bit of renovating.
We have noticed people are not friendly, after living here for a year we still have not met any of our neighbors.
Devonport has the highest crime rate in Tasmania which is now evident after living here. We can see all the Centerlink people walking around on drugs and alcohol ( Devonport has way to many alcohol store for the amount of people living here).
Whilst there a few nice parks near the bluff, they are always covered with dog feces. People disregard the no smoking signs everywhere and are on the play grounds with their kids smoking. Right outside Coles and Kmart people are also smoke and it always smells of urine.
PAID PARKING EVERYWHERE! - The paid parking is ridiculous, if we can even find a park its paid parking. Paid parking to; movies, banking, most clothes shops/restaurants/cafe/council building/service tas (which is department of transport) and paid parking to go to library as it only has a very small car park. There is no concession for parking and only council employee get free parking.
Fuel is always around $1.35 a litre, despite other places like the gold coast being $1.20 and to take rubbish to the local rubbish dump (waste transfer station) its a minimum of $7 despite how much rubbish as apposed to free waste transfer stations in most other cities.
There are a rampart amount of drugs, local police are always going on about how much drug crime there is in Devonport, yet nothing ever seems to get done.
Private primary schools are great, very cheap in comparison to the Gold Coast. Would never go to a public school here as I have hear really bad things.
All in all we are moving back to the Gold Coast after 1 year in Devonport, whilst parts of the city "seem" nice the true Devonport is revealed soon enough.... Oh and the cold sux, winter is from basically April to November despite what other people will tell you, our heater in on constantly.
Great for
- Paid Parking
- Drugs
- Alcohol
Not great for
- Unemployed Everywhere
- Way behind times
- Very Cold
- Bad stores
- Before 5pm - parking anywhere near the main shpping centres is not free, except for the large supermarkets.
- High density of bogans
I have to agree with John. I have lived in Devonport for the past 10 years and the drugs here are a huge problem. The high schools are riddled with drugs and the city has become polluted with unemployed.
My children attended the excellent senior public high school Don College here in Devonport . It had better teachers than the ones in a beachside area of Sydney where they went previously and both gained admission to the U niversity of Tasmania. They never encountered drugs though admittedly that was 5 years ago. My daughter is employed as a counsellor in the area of drug and alcohol rehabilitation. She has also done work in mainland regional and outer suburban areas and on the central coast of NSW. According to her, the problems of unemployment and drug and alcohol usage are sadly nationwide in such areas and no worse in Devonport or other areas of Tasmania than anywhere else.
I am totally in agreement with helenp13. Such a negative view on life by johns89. So much of his terrible diatribe about Devonport is so inaccurate. I look at newspaper and TV news reports. Now there you can find serious crime , murders and drugs on sale. Maybe he just didn't like the quiet life and the beautiful weather of Devonport - no 35 plus and 40 degree days here, no monsoonal floods and no sharks cruising in the internal waterways. As for Jennifer, if she thinks there is a huge drug problem here in Devonport perhaps she could get the official statistics for Devonport and match them to parts of Melbourne, Sydney, the Gold Coast just to mention a few and see how little old Devonport matches up then. Hpw many drug shooting murders, drive-by house shootings, home invasions to name a few things associated with the drug trade a have we had here in the last 12 months? None I think is the answer. Give me Devonport any time.
Absolutely agree with you ianc17 & helenp13. I've lived in Devonport all my life and I have nothing at all to complain about. The weather could be a little warmer perhaps but in the main it's pretty perfect.
I'm living for these John comments and the way the community are responding, it really shows some sass and pride of where the locals live.
Am considering making a move from Melbourne and regarding the parking - how much exactly are we talking? A couple of dollars per hour, $15 a day.... would love to know specifics.
The way the locals are standing up for their hometown makes me want to be a part of the community!
I absolutely disagree with the comments of the above reviewer who has now returned to live on the Gold Coast in Queensland.
Sure, as in all cities, especially in rural cities, there are some poorer parts of Devonport but by and large I have found this small city to be clean and friendly, with everything you'd reasonably need in the way of shops and stores. I have lived here for many years and not seen much evidence at all of the alleged social problems, although it's true that there is a slightly higher level of unemployment in the northern coastal areas of Tasmania compared to either Hobart and Launceston. As of December 2016, the official unemployment rate of Devonport was 7.32%. (This is just a fraction higher than the reported (February 2016) unemployment rate of the Gold Coast at 7.1 %.)
According to official Commonwealth Government statistics, the average /median age of Devonport residents is 41 years of age compared to 37 in Gold Coast City and 36.9 in Melbourne.
86.2% of people living in the suburb of Devonport were born in Australia - one of the highest levels of native born in the country.
According to a 2014 independent audit of crime levels in Australia, Tasmania has the lowest rate of serious crime in the country and among the highest rates of crime solved. (The next lowest being the ACT.)
Devonport is beautifully situated adjacent to Bass Strait and between the Mersey and Don Rivers. It is ringed right around on all the water edges by greenery and bike riding tracks, starting with the lovely Victoria Parade.
The above negative reviewer obviously loves the hot and humid climate of Queensland and is completely wrong about the climate in Devonport which has a very temperate climate. In fact the whole of the north coastal area of Tasmania has one of the most temperate climates in the world. Its latitude is the equivalent distance from the Equator as southern France and northern Spain is in the northern hemisphere. I am sitting here today, June 21st and the sky is completely blue with not a cloud in the sky and the sun is streaming into the house. It's about 14 degrees and feels warmer with the sun. The cold weather starts to set in in mid July and continues until mid October, but that is no different to Melbourne. It never gets as cold as Hobart, which is located much further south. (Even Hobart doesn't get anywhere near as cold as either London or New York!!).
The only thing that he was accurate about is the parking meters which are very prevalent in Devonport, (except for in the large parking areas of the two major supermarkets.)
The other thing that has to be remembered is the relatively low population base of Tasmania, with its TOTAL population of about 515,000 - concentrated mainly in the south. In contrast, the estimated resident population of Gold Coast City alone as of 30th June 2016, is 567,644. So naturally the 'feel' of a small city/town like Devonport (population 30,500) would be very different indeed to where the Queensland reviewer came from. One distinct advantage of smallness of course is the lower levels of urban density and traffic and the ease of getting around.
Despite its small size, a major urban renewal project is currently underway in Devonport - the largest one ever undertaken in regional Tasmania. LIVING CITY will revitalise Devonport through the creation of new retail, business/service and waterfront precincts focused on highlighting the region's tourism, arts, food and services.
It's interesting to read that the above reviewer moved back to the racy Gold Coast after only one year. The Gold Coast is known to have a rampant drug trade as well as documented problems with organised crime. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-07-21/gold-coast-becoming-crime-capital/2803830
He comes across to me as a real winger, completely unsuited to the quieter life of a small city and I'm not surprised that he couldn't make any friends here. His return to Queensland is Tasmania's gain.