moomoocow

I am really sorry to hear that you had such unpleasant personal experience however you cannot generalize based on your individual experience. Like anywhere else there are good and bad spots to every Sydney suburb. I grew up in area and my parents still live in Matraville near the shopping center (Australia Av.) Matraville is very quiet family area and very close community indeed. Our house has never been broken into and to contrary my opinion about Matraville is quite different and very positive. If you check the latest NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and research figures you’ll be surprised to find that facts are very different from your personal view expressed here. Waverley or Woollahra are both ranked much higher than LGA Randwick / Matraville for Break& Enter.

Regards,

Emma Smith

The crime is an unfortunate fact of life. Every Sydney’s suburb is affected by this problem although worldwide comparison and statistics suggests that Sydney compares well as a safe city. Some suburbs are affected more than others. I lived in Darlinghurst for a couple of years and my car have been vandalised and broken into at least 10 times. I love dole day, because I live near heaps of homeless people and people of low socio economic standing / means (READ - boozehounds and addicts) so when they get paid it's like a symphony of crazy/drunk/stoned people yelling outside my house all night. I wouldn't walk around in the dark in most places to be honest... I grew up on the upper north shore and that usually felt pretty safe. I now live in Pyrmont and its nice and quiet around here too but Ultimo is a stones throw away and I wouldn't walk around there.... that’s how quickly the "safety factor" can change. You can't just single out certain areas because everywhere has potential to be unsafe at night when you're alone. It's unfair to just single out Cabramatta just because it has a reputation, has anyone saying they'll never go there actually experienced it for themselves? Bad things happen everywhere, not just in one area you can single out.

I am puzzled with your description because the area you are referring to, (Lexington Place, cnr. Beauchamp & ANZAC Pde & Duffy Cnr) is on the South Maroubra and Malabar border. It is pretty safe now and a lot better than before but you still have the dodgy element because you are quite close to DOH area and Long Bay jail. I’ve never heard of anything bad happening to my friends who live there though.

My office is in Matraville and I feel pretty much safe there. No worse than anywhere else. For people who feel unsafe I think that this is more likely due to general perception of the area or stigma attached to the suburb. This idea that some suburbs are safer than others is a bit silly and some of Sydney's more affluent and perceived safe suburbs actually have more break-ins. Break ins are quite frequent in higher socio-economic areas for simple reason – there is more to steal!. Living in more affluent suburb will give you the false sense of security. I would have no qualms about moving to Matraville but of course common sense city living rules would apply.
I wouldn't walk anywhere by myself at night in Sydney... but if you enjoy walking around alone at night, try living in, say - New Zealand.

I agree with you that the home alarm system is a very important for personal safety and everyone should have one, regardless whether you live in Mosman or Blue Mountains.