Alice Springs

When I arrived at the airport in Alice Springs around 8 pm, I took a taxi to the apartment I had booked for the next few days. The taxi driver, a lady, accompanied me to the gate and advised me not to walk around Alice Springs alone when it's dark. (I am a female solo traveler.) Since then, I have been a bit scared to walk around the town.

When I was last in the Alice, in 2002, it was a quiet town, with no mention of crime issues.

A quick check of the stats shows it was relatively stable until quite recently (maybe circa 2015?).

Can anyone explain? I assume it has something to do with changes to legislation?

Need to visit for work alone, plan on staying somewhere like the double tree, Mercure etc. I don’t plan on going out after dark - only out during the day straight for work and then back to the hotel. Are these hotels safe? Are there any precautions I should follow inside/outside the hotel?

My family and I are crossing the ditch and moving to Alice Springs. I have heard all the shit about it being unsafe and the crime, but I need to hear some good stuff. Places to visit, nice restaurants, entertainment, good story's....

I've been to Alice Springs several times throughout my life, but this recent visit a couple of weeks ago was like nothing I'd seen before. Being from interstate, and having lived in the NT previously, you read about things in the media but wonder if they're embellished or for real...

Todd Mall and the CBD used to be a thriving hub of people and stores, and a bit of a tourist trap. Slightly sketchy at times, but was totally fine 99% of the time. On this visit, it's become a ghost-town with a jaw-dropping number of places closed/boarded-up/broken windows, and almost zero foot traffic. A handful of actual shops are open to trading. Totally unrecognisable and was really sad to see.

While passing through Todd Mall with my partner and our 16mo in a pram, there was someone having a full-blown outburst, yelling obscenities and gesticulating wildly, storming around and challenging anyone to interact with him, and spoiling for a fight. He moved quickly into the heart of the mall lunging toward people, and the situation clearly wasn't safe. I don't know if was mental illness or alcohol related, but it was extremely confronting, and something that we needed to be well clear of. We walked the other side of the mall at a brisk pace, and headed for the bank (it seemed a safe place to go, but doors were shut).

Thankfully the outback fitters directly across were kind enough to see our predicament and let us inside and lock the doors behind us. That was genuinely appreciated!!! They told me this happens several times a week, and you could see the frustration from the owner, and how upset she was by it. Some poor guy had just been set-upon and assaulted, sought refuge in her store, and obviously called the cops and ambulance. It truly broke my heart seeing her on the verge of breaking point.

What annoyed pissed me the most was the laziness of the police. Literally moments before this kicked-off, we had seen 3 cops leaning against a wall at a cafe in the mall (30m away), and another 2 walking around about 40m away. Zero chance they couldn't have heard what was going on. It took well over 5mins for any of them to bother coming and doing anything. They came to the store to review footage, and had the biggest IDGAF attitude, even joking about it.

I really had to fight the urge to question their laziness and smug attitude...totally unacceptable performance and duty! If you did your job better, maybe things would improve???

My GF and I (24 and 25 from Germany) What areas are the safest to stay at (hotel, air bnb etc.?) We were thinking of Braitling