King Cross, Sydney

I was born in Manila, now live and work here in New Jersey. I consider Australia as my second home because of two reasons, Kings Cross and Bondi Beach. Kings Cross is pure kindergarten compared to newark, nj as far as crime is concerned . There are cops ,uniformed and undercover almost everywhere specially at night. Enjoy your ice cold beer while in kings cross and nobody will bother you...vice versa... as long as you dont bother anybody.

Try and avoid Kings Cross, it's no more dangerous than any other red light district in the world but it's just plain ugly.

Bucks nights, perverts, drug dealers, prostitutes, drunks, trannies, pimps and thieves.

The train station is renowned for bag snatchings.
Be sure not to photograph bikers without asking for their permission. It is a general rule of thumb to not photograph inside tattoo parlours also.
There are much nicer places to go out in Sydney, but if it is dodgie night clubs full of drunk teenagers then this may well be your place.

I have heard many reports about females beeing raped in kings cross & gangs targeting young people.

People have been bash & killed in the past.

There is also allot of drug users around town.

you can visit KC during the day but stay the hell out of it at night

Kings Cross may feel more unsafe than it really is. It's well lit on the main streets and always populated.

Redfern, near the train station, is a potentially much more dangerous area, especially late at night or on weekend nights, when gangs of youths or small groups of youths can be roaming around .

Kings Cross is lively, Redfern can be deserted and eerie.

Other areas that may occasionally be or feel unsafe include Surry Hills, Chippendale, Woolloomooloo and Waterloo. A taxi driver once told me that drawing a staight line on a Sydney map between Redfern and Kings Cross would show you the potential trouble spots at night. Truthfully, Sydney is largely a safe place, but there are some (a very small number) of less pretty streets, but really only at night.

Kings Cross has cleaned up a lot - and i've been there a couple of times
clubbing. Just be aware, like you would in any other place, that your drinks can be spiked.
I've never usually worried about this - but have always never left
my glass and carried it around with my hand around the top so
nothing could be slipped in. Unfortunatly one night someone put
something in my best friend's drink - we didn't realise what had happened
at the time because she just said she was feeling tired and wanted to go home.
We didn't know till the next day when she said she was shaking and feeling
dizzy.
So my advice - take care - anywhere in the world - I decided to post this advice
here because that's where we had the encounter.

Compared to even so-so streets in Chicago, King Cross is a joke of a bad neighborhood. The area does cater to baser desires. There are a lot of sex shops (including some nice ones) and some drugs and prostitution are visible on the street but I seriously doubt most people will face any real danger here. It never hurts to be careful and keep a look out though. The panhandlers are too lazy to be aggressive, preferring to send their girlfriends instead. Even the darker side streets didn't seem to hold much in the way of danger.

The truth is, I didn't even think this was a bad neighborhood until I told a few people I went there and watched their eyebrows go up. I just thought it was the red light district.

I've lived in Sydney my whole life and basically Kings Cross is our red light district. It's a strange and interesting place. It's where the rich meet the poor and they all seem to live happily together. It's also the most densely populated part of Sydney. In general when you walk through this area at night just keep your wits about you. The same can be said for the Darlinghurst area. The areas to avoid in Sydney are Eveleigh Street, Redfern. This street is right near Redfern Train Station. The police do not go down this street and neither should you. The suburb of Waterloo is a no go area particularly at night. Also as you go further in land places such as Cabrmatta, Villa wood should be avoided.

At night the suburb of Kings Cross comes alive. It can become a bit rough and seedy and brings out all kinds people in all kinds of dress. Kings Cross is known for prostitution, the red light district of Sydney, so it may not be the place to take the family.