Fremantle, WA 6160

We moved to Fremantle and could not have been more excited to get here. The hip venues, the beach/portside lifestyle, rottnest's doorstep but it wasn't long until all that wore off. Fremantle is a dump. Locals are judgey, gossipy and have a huge sense of entitlement, which is fine, because the place is crawling with crime, litter and a woke/broke council. Place has so much potential, but sadly it's never going to progress the way it is.

The high-end shopping has moved to Claremont Quarter, so don't expect Prada, Gucci, Swarovski crystals or Chanel in Freo. There were once eclectic one-off stores but those are GONE there are only TACKY souvenir shops along the main street remaining, and Target (aka shoplifters paradise) is surprisingly still running in one of the CBD buildings. There is a Red Dot and Chemist Warehouse as if the local junkies weren't spoilt enough.

I grew up in "freo" spending 20 years bearing witness to the destruction of the vibrant tourist destination. I will forever sleep with ear plugs as a consequence and therefore search for that suburb that can provide a quiet, safe and friendly community as it's always been a messy place at night. Fremantle does not offer safety nor does it offer quiet and never has. Its a hostile ghetto that is heavily used as an open drug den. You can find deros, junkies and the in-betweeners sleeping wherever they drop. Feaces smeared on walls and not to mention the broken windows. A homeless person pulled their pants down in front of my 3 year old son and defecated in front of us, just 100m away from the police station on high street. I hate coming to Fremantle to visit family, as my hometown constantly gets worse. Nothing will ever change as a big part of the problem is political correct policies by the hipster mayor.

The esplanade park, the old buildings, the cappuccino strip, bathers beach and the harbour is beautiful! Yummy choice of cuisines! Only downside is druggies. They are scary. Parking is expensive but you can find free parking a little further out. The cat bus is free which is great! The council has let Freo go downhill, hasn’t cared for it, therefore, it has gotten dirty and some shops have been boarded up which along with the druggies and big new project in kings square, has driven tourists away. Hopefully it changes soon for the better.

Apparently government workers who are relocating here to apparently spend and stimulate fremantle.it needs far more than that.

Well i have not been to Fremantle for years. Its spot where it takes forever to get to via public transport, its dirty, vile. Rubbish, graffiti, druggies, local riff raff. Boarded up shops.

The council are definitely corrupt to let it get in this state. Its not safe, drunk people in the morning already , people high on drugs. Corners of shops smells like a toilet.

Fremantle looks like the bronks in America or a slum. Dont waste your time traveling here. Disgusting pit of a place. Not even a cockroach would live here.

Grimey, seedy, slightly menacing... I hardly recognize the place. It's still lively enough on Fri/Sat/Sun but it's not enough, and the businesses and the locals look sad. The restaurants are bad, the cafe strip is disgusting. Some buildings are boarded up and neglected. Shops are empty.

Brand new developments in the town square and historic areas are ....dubious at best.... Sorry, but they are dull, generic, and utilitarian and that's not something that should be associated with Fremantle. I realise we live in changing times, but if Mandurah, and even Midland can get quality inner-city developments then so should Fremantle.

The gorgeous surrounding areas are still fantastic and are as eclectic as ever, but the city itself is ruined by elitist, virtue-signaling city planners who don't want to address the problems that are driving the shoppers and tourists away in droves. How can they not see what their decisions are doing to this once pretty and charming town?

Was a hamilton hill girl so had alot to do with fremantle, over the last few decads have watched this quaint town go to pak cappuccino strip still does well but you go around where target and westgate mall looks like the bronx you have homeless and drug addicts hanging around felt very uneasy , coles mall was no better looks rundown ,ever since coles variety store with the cafeteria and myer closed down as well ,freo has lost a lot of its charm , i feel sorry for people comming of the cruise line ships , as they get of pretty much as they walk out of the terminal there first site they see is an old wool shed covered in graffiti how embarrassing for fremantle it has looked like this for20 yrs or more ,as for what has happened to the end of high st with the most ugly looking yellow stripes on heritage listed buildings is just outrageous , the Mayor of Fremantle should be assamed of himself. Somthing needs to change fast yeah there are pockets of nice but there is a hell of a lot wrong , Maybe time for new Mayor and councel

Love, the quirky vibrant, arty yet chill vibes. Im not phased by the occasional drunk person on the street as Ive lived in Sydney and cities "you know the deal" But theres a gorgeous port right there with dolphins swimming past & amazing markets & restaurants to suit every taste and budget. Plenty of entertainment and easy access to everything, including Rotness Island.

It's a nice place to stroll around but couldn't spend a lot of time here mostly due to barely any parking areas and where there is parking its all paid parking

Great to go when I was young. The place only looks good when your drunk at night. Its pathetic how most people have to catch a train to Perth first and then a train back to Fremantle. No wonder its dying, its such an effort to get there. I used to like it but now its shameful it still exists. Council is corrupt and have spent no money. to little to late. Tourists stay away, dirty, high crime, expensive and public transport to get there is a sham.

Can't see what the fuss is all about. This place is pretty dirty. They have a cafe strip but the one in vic park is more authentic. If you just want pizza, pasta, steak and ice cream cooked 1980's style plain and safe fremantle is where it's at! Haha

But seriously Victoria park kicks the living crap out of Fremantle for food. Perth night markets. Hell... Even Hillary's boat harbour is better than Fremantle. I think if anyone from Fremantle actually went to vic park they would die from real flavour, diversity and multiculturalism.

The Fremantle markets are a stock standard feel good exercise in fake organics. If you love being able to tell your friends you 'shop local and organic' it's where to be. Never mind the majority of sellers sell made in china garbage and they sell fruit and veg they get from the spud shed by the airport in bulk ripping off local farmers lol. Again people more concerned with how others perceive themselves rather than actually doing something about it.

Housing and rentals are insanely expensive. Unless you have $$ or live there already you have zero chance of moving in. But then again why would you want to.

Seriously though I see a couple of other reviews that sum the place up nicely. Underdeveloped, time wasting council who spends 2 hours arguing over 12 bike stands rather than trying to solve the crime or garbage problem. I was at that council meeting. Don't even bother

The towns been dying for 30 years and it'll be another 30 years before something good comes of it.

Just moved out of Freo.

Sick of the traffic. Stupid designs. They didn't use a town planner at all.

Was thinking about buying into the Knox apartments until they did a sly 'P.S. 25% of them are state housing....'
$600k for a studio flat when the guy beside, in front and under me pay 20% of their wage, $80 while they deal drugs out of the place. While I'm paying $900 p/w... No thanks.

Sorry Fremantle town council but I'm not paying for your stoner kids to own the unit next to me at 1/10 the cost causing me to foot the bill. You can look after your own kids.

After we got over the initial excitement of moving in we are so so glad we are moving out.

We noticed developers seem to get shown around with a carrot on a stick but once the money has been spent Fremantle pulls the wool out from over your eyes and you can see it for what it really is.

There are much much MUCH nicer suburbs than this one with half the price tag. Also, I'd have to agree with the below comment. The council seems pretty corrupt.

I'd suggest if you want the coast head to Rockingham or Mandurah. You'll spend about the same time on the freeway getting to the city in peak traffic and you wont have to deal with 'locals' and drunks wondering around looking for somewhere to relieve themselves. You can get a whole house with its own jetty for the same price as a unit in Fremantle. And the suburb scores higher.

Its got an ok dining scene. We also walked around kings square? that one with no lights. On a Friday night and got robbed. We couldn't ID the people and the cops didn't seem to care. First thing they asked was if we could ID them and when we said no they said 'well did you want to file a report? because honestly probably nothing will happen...'

Maybe we just had a bad experience here. Who knows. All I know is we are so so so glad we left. I would recommend this suburb to maybe stoners, hippies, old people looking to land bank, beggers.

Theres no jobs unless you want to work for $16 an hour cleaning tables. Then try to pay your $400 p/w rent from your $600 pay.

Just a suburb gone horribly wrong.

Constant bikers and muscle cars.

High crime.

Zero improvements in 30 years...

Myers is gone.

Targets going...

Fremantle dockers are going...

City is dying because council is corrupt. They don't want to raise or use taxes, rezone or allow development without the council and central city residents getting their 'handout - wink wink nudge nudge'

Tin shed granny flats are popping up everywhere. Bad bad idea. Cheap nasty housing will only attract cheap nasty workers.

Walk 5 mins from the cafe strip in any direction and the place turns into derelict and dilapidated housing.

Melville and Booragoon, top 5 perth suburbs are a stones throw away and are much much much much nicer than this worn out under developed greedy little 70+ ranked district. On par with midland rockingham, clarkson for rankings...

The only thing it has going for it is the cafe strip and the coast. Other than that late night noise, high crime, and everyone voting against any development unless it raises house prices in the area makes this suburb, Perths once bright and expanding sister city, into the nightmare uncle you wouldn't leave alone with your children...

Its council and jobless hippy 50's+ residents are the sole reason Canning bridge district and Rivervale/Belmont are now becoming Perths Sister Hubs. Vibrant, alive, clean and with a sense of community.

Fremantle had 50 years of opportunity to maintain the roads and encourage its young to strive and achieve but they are happy to keep as many people as they can out. Reminds everyone that no matter what you do, if someone got their first you're screwed even if they didn't deserve it life's not fair. In 50 years they will be dead and real progress can be made. Until then all we can do is avoid the Fremantle area like the plague unless you want to spend your years living in sub standard living with hostile neighbours and drunks walking up and down your street like most the streets have thurs-sun.

So many misleading reviews. Rent in Fremantle for 6 months prior to buying and you'll see exactly what I mean.

I rent an apartment in the town centre. I love Fremantle as a place to live, being able to walk into town for coffee or a beer, and having so many attractions and eateries on my doorstep. The markets are an absolute must, and I am delighted to shop there every weekend and stick two proverbial fingers up at Coles & Woolworths. The downside is that the noise from drunks can be VERY wearing, as it is not confined to weekends. I am regularly woken up at 2am by some pissed idiot shouting in the street outside my window. Also, I have seen that the legions of beggars and panhandlers that now line the cafe strip and marina area make people nervous, with some of them being pretty aggressive and/or off their heads on something.
That said, if you can afford Freo property prices, you will love the ambience, sea breeze, going for a sunset beer at Little Creatures, walking along South Beach etc.

Love the feeling of the surrounding. Always a fresh sea breeze. Great diverse people and you think you are at a Mediterenian Reviera. Love it.

I was on my travels through Australia and spent a week and a half in the town of Fremantle. After spending all my time and money on my travels my hair was looking pretty shabby. I walked into Cafe Styles on Cantonment street in freo and was blown away. The girls were a breath of fresh air, made me feel so good about myself, and did the best job i have ever had done on my hair!!!! Makes me wish i could live in perth just so i can have Cafe Styles as my regular hair salon.
Thankyou girls! You made my week in fremantle so much more !!

With a population of over 26,000 Fremantle is about 20 kms from Perth and is at the mouth to the swan River. Fremantle is an important port city used for large exports of commodities to overseas buyers. Fremantle has everything you would expect in a city of this magnitude, large fully air conditioned shopping centres, preschools primary and secondary schools including state, catholic and private and is the main campus for the University of Notre Dame. There are many galleries, museums and historic heritage listed buildings to see. There is sporting clubs and venues of all descriptions to suit most and is home to the Fremantle Dockers AFL Football Club. There are many good medical centres and allied health professionals and Freemantle is well serviced by the Fremantle Hospital which is also a teaching hospital. Fremantle has a local bus service, a service to Perth as well as rail services. The Fremantle Airport Shuttle Service ferry people from Fremantle to the airport in Perth. As with any large city so close to the capital property prices tend to be higher than other more regional centres and Fremantle is no different and the WA prices are fast catching up with the eastern states.