Goldcoast

[bazz]

Hi guys,

 

I am moving to gold coast in 3weeks but want to know best parts, places with low crime, high crime etc.

 

I have been looking at mermaid beach. I would like somewhere not to busy but not far from busy lively areas, also would like to know that its a nice area not known as bad crime area.

 

any advice welcome

 

thanks

[nevsm]

All the central and northern costal areas of GC are busy. Mermaid is a good suburb with so called millionaires row of Hedges avenue. It is close to broadbeach and pacific fair shopping centre and the casino. Surfers (not my cup of tea) is close by I would say that most GC suburbs have good and bad areas. Not sure about crime statistics but would think its not too bad. Need to consider where you are working and travel times in peak traffic as coast is basically a 50 km strip and infastructure not keeping up with growth.

[Guest steve the spark]

Hi guys,

 

I am moving to gold coast in 3weeks but want to know best parts, places with low crime, high crime etc.

 

I have been looking at mermaid beach. I would like somewhere not to busy but not far from busy lively areas, also would like to know that its a nice area not known as bad crime area.

 

any advice welcome

 

thanks

 

most places on the left of the M1 going north :wink:

 

well i would say that wouldnt i living in worongary :wink:

biggest crime lately was that mrs miggins cat went missing

[Burnett]

For info about the Gold Coast, go online to Gold Coast Bulletin

 

it's the Gold Coast local newspaper

 

Everything you need to know. Plus at the top you'll find 'Crime' which will keep you up to date

 

CLICK HERE :Gold Coast Bulletin News :: Latest Gold Coast Stories and Information from Australia and around the world | goldcoast.com.au | Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia

 

Then, when the Gold Coast Bulletin page comes-up, hold your cursor over the 'News' icon, up the top bar in blue

 

then go down to 'Gold Coast' and you'll find the local news as opposed to State or National

 

 

I lived on the GC for over 40 years with some breaks in between. Have never known the crime to be as bad as it is now

 

In fact, the crime and low employment are what keep us from moving back there

 

The GC pulls in, on average, about 1,200 'incomers' each month, year-in, year-out and always has. They keep the GC solvent. As do the number of people leaving

 

All the buying and selling of houses is the GC primary industry, I think, combined with selling 'education'

 

The Queensland Labor Premier has stated she wants more and more migrants and she'll be pulling them from the Sub-continent, apparently - 300,000 was the figure quoted. Don't know if that's per annum. Probably exactly what it means

 

Add to that the tens of thousands (mostly unemployed) who flock to the GC from every Aussie State, plus New Zealand

 

When people move from an area of high unemployment to an area of equal or greater unemployment (the GC unemployed figure is usually always higher than elsewhere) then the migrants are not entitled to welfare for I think 13 weeks. What do they live on during that time and where do they live ? Most have a drug habit and most want to live on the supposedly 'glamorous' GC in preference to their current hell

 

They steal to eat. They steal for money to buy drugs. They break-in and grab computers, tvs, jewellery --- anything they can pawn or sell in the pub for money for their next fix. Some of them just rob and break in and steal because .. seriously .. it's their profession. It's what they did before they moved to the Coast. It's what they'll always do. So take out insurance cover

 

And there you have the recipe for the high crime rate, although the actual crime rate is kept under wraps so as not to frighten the tourists and potential migrants

 

The following is an example of today's Gold Coast news:

 

A PIZZA delivery man was threatened with a knife after he confronted a bandit who stole his pizza's in Palm Beach on the Gold Coast last night

 

That's the Gold Coast -- they're so hungry & broke and desperate, they lurk in wait so they can steal pizza !

 

Here's some more from today's Gold Coast Bulletin:

 

' Two in Court over alleged 1 kilogram heroin bust'

 

' Cash stolen from Racing Club '

 

' Coast Cops Hunt Robbing Youth Gang '

 

' Two in Court on Coast Drug Charges '

 

' Chef Hid Loaded Pistol in Underwear '

 

' Court Told Of Alleged Baseball Bat Attack '

 

' Gunmen Rob Gold Coast Tavern '

 

' Bashed and Glassed, Waiting for Coast Cab '

 

' Russian Mafia Running Coast ATM (cash point) Scam '

 

 

I grew up on the Gold Coast, after emigrating with my parents from the UK. It lived up to its name of Paradise then. Wonderful days, priceless memories

 

Moved back there in order to raise our children there. Owned businesses there. Still have most of my immediate family there and go back a couple of times a year for holidays

 

But if we were to return today, to live permanently, despite loving the place, we would feel less safe than we do currently, close to Sydney CBD

 

It's not all that long ago that I used to walk up and down Burleigh esplanade, at dawn and then again in the evenings, often after dark. I always felt (fairly) safe

 

But these days, news reports focus on random bashings of people by violent gangs of three or four against total strangers waiting at bus stops, in the middle of the day, in the middle of town. And violence generally has increased to levels I would never have believed possible a decade or so ago

 

When you go to the Gold Coast Bulletin, be sure to read the 'Comments' under the news items. That's the Coast-living public speaking. They're far more likely to tell you the truth than the censored 'news' items

 

And be prepared for the usual lies from the Bulletin regarding real-estate, lol. According to GC real estate agents, it's all 'up, up, up' -- despite that literally thousands of Gold Coasters are desperate to sell and have had their property on the market for well over a year and no lookers, no takers. They're desperate to sell before their property is repossessed. And the reason they face repossession is because they can't find or have lost their jobs - most of which are part-time, no perks

 

The Gold Coast currently has 55,000 small businesses, according to a recent article in the Gold Coast Bulletin. Divide that into the population of approx. 500,000 and you realise that people moving to the Gold Coast buy themselves a business as a way of buying themselves a job, which is another GC primary industry, lol. It's been going on for as long as I can remember. People moving to the Coast buy themselves an ice-cream shop or mens-wear shop, whatever. Dummy books. Going broke. Sell it on to the next fool, who does likewise after losing life-savings ... on and on

 

Be careful

 

Gorgeous place if you don't need to work -- if you don't have children or worse, teenagers who will turn you grey from worry of all kinds (unemployment being just one) -- if you can afford to live in basically a luxury, gated community with its own security

 

Yes, people manage to live there safely. We did. But it's more by luck than design, these days, when you risk being attacked in a car-park or bus stop

 

I hate what's happened to the Gold Coast. It used to be great, although finding work was always a problem, always, even back in the 50s and 60s, when drugs were unheard of and when we, like most on the Coast, would never have thought to lock our doors, even at night

 

 

.

[Guest FO4]

like your honesty burnett, but blimey your going to scare to poor guy off going om 3 weeks lol

[kissofthegypsy]

Hi

 

Not sure you can have close to lively areas and no low crime.

 

You watch the news and there is as much crime over here if not more than some parts of the UK.

 

We had the same idea as you but sacrificed being close to lively areas to live somewhere where crime was really low and thats why we are building in coomera waters.

 

Its only an hour commute into brissy and 10-15 minute drive to the beach, its quiet, quite expensive, but give me that instead of surferesque areas any day. Surfers is like blackpool at night, with less stag parties and glassings are big over here so we dont venture out to the valley or surfers after sunset.

 

Other areas which are nice IMO Hope Island, Sanctuary Cove, Paradise Point, Robina, Mudgeraba, but with nice comes a price.

 

Have a drive up and down the coast when you arrive and see what you like, for me, I prefer quiet and loud if I want to be arsed to travel. Not the other way around :-)

 

Let me know if you have any ideas about where you want to live and I will do my best to help, although I have only been here 13 months so havent been around the blocks as many as some.

[Burnett]

like your honesty burnett, but blimey your going to scare to poor guy off going om 3 weeks lol

 

 

Granted, but better they be forewarned / forearmed

 

So many move to the Gold Coast unprepared. It's seductive, all that blue sky, warm weather, golden sand. Like a dream at first for many. They're cashed-up. Pay through the nose, courtesy of predatory, conscienceless estate-agents. They mistake the Gold Coast for their happy, childhood memories of holidays 'at the sands' in the UK and make the mistake of believing nothing bad could happen to them or theirs in such an apparently lovely place

 

The Queensland and Gold Coast tourist bureaus (to say nothing of the migrant-hungry Federal government with its endless propaganda over there in the UK, selling to sun-starved Brits) paint the place as one big, glorious holiday with perfect weather, jobs aplenty, 'good schools', 'opportunity', etc. etc. Who wouldn't fall for it, especially if they or someone they know has been there for a holiday or has lived there six months incident-free ?

 

It *is* a great place to live. I love that place. My love is based more on memories of the Gold Coast of the past of course. If they could roll it back 30 or 40 years and get rid of the desperates and low-lives and interstate criminal gangs, you'd be happy to recommend it to sweet little retired folk and happy young families alike.

 

But maybe we're underestimating our intrepid Brits ? Maybe more gritty Brits is what the place needs ? More 'can-do' Brit attitude. And more ' don't mess with me kid ' type Brits. Because the Gold Coast police are stretched to the limit and with the namby-pamby approach now forced on police generally, maybe thousands of Brits accustomed to surviving on the supposedly mean-streets of the UK will put the Gold Coast back on track and clean it up. That appeals to me

 

LOL. Even Brit age-pensioners are making their mark on the Coast, as evidenced in a Gold Coast Bulletin news item of a few months back, where a 70-something female attending one of the ex-pat Brit social clubs 'glassed ' a fellow male member during a disagreement. Claims and counter-claims of how it occurred were detailed in the article and the woman in question appeared to be the epitome of respectable suburbia with neat grey perm and spectacles on a chain, etc. Boudicea LIVES !

 

Seriously though, as someone posted above, living in a region (no matter how attractive) which continually attracts thousands of people per month from all over Australia and New Zealand - AND attracts thousands of thrill-crazy teenagers - AND attracts the bottom-feeder criminal-element - AND attracts the unemployed wishing to live in the sun rather than in southern misery - AND attracts those who live on the back of the drug and sex trades - etc. etc. - well, it's not going to be like Noddy-Land, is it ? It can't be. And people who plan to live there need to be aware of that and remember their parents' warnings of ' .. everything that glitters is not necessarily gold '

 

To maintain some semblance of peace of mind on the Gold Coast (as elsewhere) you can't afford to drop your guard just because it's sunny and you're thousands of miles from the UK. You need to get the locks changed and security-screens installed. Fences and gates are a good idea. A dog. Lock up at night and even during the day, because even in the good old days, one of the most common robbery-tactics was to enter houses from the back while the owners were gardening happily out the front yard

 

Vigilance as far as children are concerned must still be maintained on the Gold Coast. And why not enroll the kids in self-defence classes -- good exercise and what they learn could save their own or someone else's life as well as increasing their confidence generally

 

Several years ago, Brits were warned about the dangers of Florida, US. It got to the point that in order to safeguard Brit tourists in Florida US, the hire-car industry was instructed to put ordinary registration plates on cars, because the criminal element had been targeting hire-cars full of Brit tourists. So, Brits were made aware of the dangers there. And even though warning Brits intending to live on the Gold Coast may pop some of their bubbles, it might also spare them grief

[bazz]

Thanks everyone for your input.

 

I am very disappointed to hear how bad it is in the gold coast, as it seemed like a better option out of queensland, our first choice was cairns but there is not enough employment there! Although from the sounds of it neither is there in the goldcoast??

 

we will be staying in mermaid beach for 2weeks and wil have a drive around to see what we can find/think.

[Guest steve the spark]

Thanks everyone for your input.

 

I am very disappointed to hear how bad it is in the gold coast, as it seemed like a better option out of queensland, our first choice was cairns but there is not enough employment there! Although from the sounds of it neither is there in the goldcoast??

 

we will be staying in mermaid beach for 2weeks and wil have a drive around to see what we can find/think.

 

 

give us a shout when you arrive guys, more than happy to show you around

and for what its worth i think burnetts view is a crock of ****e

IMO its sensationism, scaremongering and cherry picking the worse reports to back his own views and nothing else

 

go google any city you like add violent crime to the search engine and you`ll be inudated with reports just the same

when i was i kid in salford / north manchester 40 years ago we always had the door on the latch nieghbours would walk in sit down and chat

is it still like that? no

if you googled the place now ( without knowing the area ) you`d **** yourselfs, in fact just done it 67,000 hits

 

yet a couple of million people call it home and wouldnt have heard of the "infamous manchester gangs" who supposedly run the city

[PontePom]

Well from what i saw when we came over for 3 weeks we loved the Gold Coast and settled on Helensvale as a place for us to live.

It's at the northern end of the Gold Coast and about 15 mins car ride to the beach.

We arrive on the 18th August...

 

We just can't wait

 

Howard

[kissofthegypsy]

Well from what i saw when we came over for 3 weeks we loved the Gold Coast and settled on Helensvale as a place for us to live.

It's at the northern end of the Gold Coast and about 15 mins car ride to the beach.

We arrive on the 18th August...

 

We just can't wait

 

Howard

 

I biased as I love the gold coast, helensvale is about 5 minutes drive down the road from us and should have everything you need.

 

If you ever venture into coomera waters give me a shout, we do have a tav (as well as electricity and running water) :biggrin:

 

Dont fret, youll love it.

[ChrisH1]

I lived on the Gold Coast for almost a year, and now live in FNQ (which I absolutely love). In between I lived in rural far south NSW.

The stats clearly show that Surfers' is one of the two most dangerous places in Queensland (the other being Fortitude Valley in Brisbane). There are other suburbs that you should avoid as well, but many that are much safer than any city in the UK.

However, Surfers' is a very small part of the GC that gets a disproportionate amount of negaive coverage in my opinion. I initially lived in Burleigh Heads and then Elanora. I loved living on the GC.

My recommendation would be to rent carefully away from the Coolangatta flight path and Surfers' for a few months. During that time have a local such as steve the spark show you around to get a good idea of the better places that fall within your budget and meet your needs.

All-in-all there aren't many better experiences than a great brunch with friends in Burleigh Heads then wandering along the beach on a Sunday morning.

 

Surfers is for tourists and those who determinedly pursue the consumption of large amounts of alcohol. If that is your chosen lifestyle in the UK then just as in the UK you'll end up in the local Emergency Dept eventually. But you would have done in the UK anyway. If your lifestyle is family focused, beach loving and looking for great housing with space, then many parts of GC will offer you that and more.

 

If you haven't already, look on Real Estate, Property, Land and Homes for Sale, lease and rent - realestate.com.au to get an idea of house and aprtment rental costs and to start to gain an appreciation of purchase prices for the future.

 

Good luck and enjoy.

[nevsm]

Hi Bazz

There are elements of truth in Burnetts post re estate agents and people coming here and being ripped off etc and there are suburbs with more crime .Recent statistics I could find included suburbs such as Upper Coomera, Nerang , Labrador, Southport Helensvale. Crime is much lower than Brisbane and stats I could find had Queensland lower than other states in Oz . I have never felt unsafe in a car park, don't use buses nor do I live in a gated community . My teenage daughter ( at school) does have a job as do many of her friends. It is harder to find work locally as tourist industry suffering as is construction and people do have to travel to Brisbane. As your nearly here have a look around and see what you think, if you are buying a business heed Burnetts words and be very careful. Good Luck.

[Guest steve the spark]

Surfers' is a very small part of the GC that gets a disproportionate amount of negaive coverage in my opinion. .

 

spot on

so many times ive heard i couldnt live on the gold coast because surfers is realy tacky

 

its the same as saying i cannot live in lancashire as blackpools really tacky:wink:

[Guest sh7t man no way]

hope island,and paradise point are nice quite places to live

[anthony molloy]

hi , i agree with ya about surfers being like blackpool as i lived there for 18 years.

[Guest]

I have mixed views on all of these post! I understand you are going to get trouble all over the world.

[calNgary]

The OP is more than likely here now anyway as this thread is a couple of years old,, hence will close

 

Cal x