Cabramatta (NSW) - Are people still afraid?

HAL on 13/04/2014 - 01:43

Hi All,

Had an interesting chat with a few people recently, it seems some of them have never been to Cabramatta! The overall view was that it is a dangerous and violent part of Sydney that should be avoided.

I found that amazing… Cabramatta to me is a huge gem! In my humble opinion it is a very unique part of Sydney's culture and something that should be promoted and cherished. I understand that it can be pretty full on the first time, like being transported to SE Asia but Cabramatta has really cleaned up its act and shares very little with its infamous past.

A few things I love about Cabramatta:

  • Food ( Amazing variety of Vietnamese + SE Asian food)
  • Drinks (Fruit smoothies and Sugar Cane juice)
  • Groceries (cheap and fresh!)
  • Everything is CHEAP!!!

I'm curious to see other views on Cabramatta…

Have you been? if not why not?
What's your favourite things?
Anything to recommend?

General Discussion

Comments

  • rlam on 13/04/2014 - 06:37
    +7

    2014 still afraid. wow

    Cabra was my childhood and memories.

    Still always make an effort when I fly back to Sydney to eat at Cabra.

    • Serapis on 14/04/2014 - 19:47
      +3

      This shooting happened in nearby Canley Vale back in January and a guy i know was questioned over it as they heard the shots:

      http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/emotions-run-high-…

      Still… the food there is worth dying for =D

      • mafmouf on 15/04/2014 - 08:41

        Baaaaad. Shakes head

      • Nirraic on 15/04/2014 - 18:48

        I know the guy who was shot he was one of my class mates in High School, it was a tagic thing that happened, in my opinion the driveby was meant for his older brother who is in a motorcycle club.

        Growing up in the Canely Hights and Cabramatta area duing my high school years it really is a great place to get some cheap food and there is such a great viraitey of SE Asian food.

        • watty on 15/04/2014 - 19:04
          -1

          Eye sea ;)

          Edit: Really seems like you were in a rush.

    • Scrooge McDuck on 14/04/2014 - 09:36
      +17

      You can't even spell Warrior.

      • mafmouf on 15/04/2014 - 08:40

        Instant void of prior and all future arguments hahahaha. Thanks for the morning giggles Scrooge.

    • [Deactivated] on 15/04/2014 - 19:54
      +1

      Foreign invasion ruined Cabramatta? Is this a tongue in cheek reference to Europeans arriving?

      • [Deactivated] on 16/04/2014 - 04:58
        -4

        Not singling European out at all. Foreign is simply anything not native.

        • [Deactivated] on 16/04/2014 - 14:19

          Well, Considering that anthropologists have evidence that life originated in Africa to begin with, we slowly migrated throughout the world, saying foreign without specifying a time also includes Indigenous Australians too. Perhaps you should assign a time period to your anti foreigner stance.

          Also, an Invasion is something is done illegally. 99.9% of residents of Cabramatta would have either come under refugee intakes, legally migrated, or be born here. As for "White Australia", I am not sure which migration laws they violated when they settled.

          Perhaps you could advise.

        • [Deactivated] on 16/04/2014 - 17:26
          -5

          $100 and I'll advise you. Deal?

        • [Deactivated] on 16/04/2014 - 17:35

          I'd back off with a stupid remark to pass off my ignorance if I were in your situation too. No harm done. Have a good one.

        • [Deactivated] on 16/04/2014 - 17:36
          -6

          Are you attempting to intimidate me?

        • [Deactivated] on 16/04/2014 - 17:38
          -8

          Foreigners are bad. Native is good. Noone will ever intimidate me to say otherwise.

        • GateauBoeuf on 16/04/2014 - 18:50
          +2

          Much wow.
          Such multiculturalism.

          Enjoy ranting from your ivory tower. Or better yet, cease to exist because at some point or another your ancestors migrated to Australia as "foreigners".

        • [Deactivated] on 16/04/2014 - 18:55
          -5

          So if my ancestors migrated here as foreigners then I should say foreigners are good and native is bad? How exactly are natives bad? They destroy foreign habitats?

        • [Deactivated] on 16/04/2014 - 19:47

          Intimidate? No. Mock? yes.

        • HAL on 16/04/2014 - 22:30

          This instantly pops into my mind…

          http://youtu.be/NwwY9y6O3hw

        • scrimshaw on 17/04/2014 - 19:36

          I get it now.

          warier = Keyboard warrior?

        • [Deactivated] on 17/04/2014 - 21:32

          warier = Keyboard warrior?

          So true, you should see me in the attack chopper in battlefield. 60-5 is my score if I get in that chopper. Be scared!

  • uraha on 13/04/2014 - 09:43

    What was wrong with cabramatta?

    • HAL on 13/04/2014 - 14:07
      +5

      Used to be the Heroin capital of Australia

      Watch the SBS docu once upon a time in Cabramatta while not telling the whole story it does a great job…

      • Jackson on 14/04/2014 - 23:31

        Don't forget the home invasion capital also

        • Baghern on 15/04/2014 - 08:54

          go on where is this info from?

          Like most ethnic areas, people know each other, talk to each other

        • Jackson on 17/04/2014 - 19:49
          -1

          Like most ethnic areas, people don't trust banks, why would you trust your money with anyone when you come from many of these countries people come from? No banks=big time home invasion. Common knowledge at the time. Just two years ago there 5 houses in my mums street of 21 houses were broken in to, and my neighbour was held at knife point as he closed his gate on the way out in the car. He now has security cameras and a rotti that just attacked my mums Maltese and nearly killed it.

          If you think I could be bothered finding facts for you do your own homework. Knowledge is powor for those who have it

  • Peck on 13/04/2014 - 09:48
    +2

    My impression is that the drugs and turf wars evaporated many many years ago. I feel very safe there during the day. I dont know about nights.

    • mafmouf on 15/04/2014 - 08:44
      +1

      Nights are quite ok. Never seen dodgy people roaming the streets. Most people are sound asleep apart from occasional doof doof sports cars making noise.

      I did once see some people at a local park at night set fireworks alight and watched it tip over and shoot straight into the fence. That's about as much danger as I witnessed while I lived there.

  • r3ckless on 13/04/2014 - 09:56
    +2

    its a safe place. relax

  • retiredfeline on 13/04/2014 - 10:24
    +6

    Those people you talked to must be still living in the last century. The turnaround was many years ago. There was a SBS doco about it.

  • Jaxr on 13/04/2014 - 10:51
    +1

    Last time I was there, (a few years ago), dude came up to me, mid Saturday morning in busy shopping area, with a syringe and asked me to shoot him up.
    Lots of cops around stopping and searching cars.
    Wouldn't go on my own or at night.

    • NamandSpam on 13/04/2014 - 11:24
      +3

      That's a few years ago mate, things change. You're still in an egg shell. Relax and bust some shells and acquire all types of gains.

      • Jaxr on 13/04/2014 - 22:05
        +10

        It don't matter where you live there are two sides to every neighborhood.

        And btw it was the real good old days in Cabra when I was out and about the most late eighties and nineties, at night, no mobiles on my own to meetup friends. All of us 17yo girls dodging the Drug dealers , pimps, random shootings and local rapists Yes they were all there.

        Dudes used to drive around with vans full of girls selling them out of the back and if you stood still for 30 seconds you would get approached to buy drugs.

        So no egg shell here, find some Gen Y to compare eggshells. Gen X they hung a door key around our necks and assumed someone knew where we were.

        If I got a shell it's hard boiled, dude, I'm fairly local and grew up fairly local. Seen my share of dead dudes bleeding out over dud drug deals and too young funerals in the area. The guy with the needle didn't freak me I just smiled and had a chat.

        So if Cabra is all shiny now, it sounds like if you want to bust your shell you may need to come over to Livo.

        • Jackson on 14/04/2014 - 23:33
          +3

          I used to live in Riverside Drive. What a sh!thole

        • T1OOO on 17/04/2014 - 08:49
          +2

          Ur not that chick from housos are ya ?

          Lmao

        • Jaxr on 18/04/2014 - 00:10

          At least 4th gen Aussie traditional middle/working class.

    • HAL on 13/04/2014 - 14:25
      +2

      As a kid in Cabramatta it was common to see syringes and junkies all over the place.

      But that was years ago… the junkies and dealers have moved on.

      I sometimes go to Cabramatta early morning (~2am) by myself for a pork roll (open 24/7!)… never had any issues…

      • NamandSpam on 13/04/2014 - 16:56
        +1

        Hal, where you live. I'll come over.

        • pmupsinep on 13/04/2014 - 20:15
          +2

          Where do you live? We'll drop in.

        • NamandSpam on 13/04/2014 - 21:01
          +3

          Cabramatta.

        • mafmouf on 15/04/2014 - 08:46
          +9

          NEXT OZB MEETUP! 2am at the bread shop on John Street!

        • [Deactivated] on 15/04/2014 - 16:50
          +3

          Reckon we'd get a discount for a group buy of banh mi?

          If so, I'm down!

        • mafmouf on 17/04/2014 - 12:57
          +2

          Bonus stern look when you ask for discount. That's your free gift.

      • Jackson on 14/04/2014 - 23:35
        -1

        There's still junkies and dealers there. If you were going to score a hit you would be getting one much faster than it takes to get a pork roll.

        Still it's nothing like it used to be.

      • rlam on 17/04/2014 - 19:36

        24/7 pork roll = WIN

    • StewBalls on 14/04/2014 - 13:05
      +3

      dude came up to me, mid Saturday morning in busy shopping area, with a syringe and asked me to shoot him up.

      Were you wearing your nurse's outfit??? Sounds like an honest mistake to me… ;)

      • Jaxr on 14/04/2014 - 15:46
        +6

        Lol, I think because I prob looked the least like a druggie so less likely to steal his hit.

    • Miss Dior on 15/04/2014 - 23:31

      Sounds like you know it well. Personally I don't think its changed much, if anything for the worse. Nor has Canley Vale. Liverpool has though. Once it was a nice district - a very long time ago. I don't know any local woman who likes going there now. Violence, crime, drugs, cultural divisions and tensions. The business post office was bombed in Liverpool and that's quite some years ago. Not even Westfields feels safe. Bigge Park is another place to avoid. I now see drug deals in Liverpool that once I would only have seen in Cabramatta. A number of friends in retailing have taken their first opportunities at transfers to get out of there. I've known these districts all my life and still do. We have a family history of around a century in the area and the older members of the family who have been there to see the changes feel much more unsafe now than 20 years ago (and you have clearly depicted what it was like around that time). As a local we have the benefit of knowing the district and sometimes (but, even then, not always) the streets and places that should be avoided and those that offer a modicum of safety. Like you I wouldn't go on my own or at night.

      • Jaxr on 17/04/2014 - 08:31
        +1

        I used to say in Liverpool you were safe from random crime. There was lots of violence but usually personal.

        But you are right that has changed.

        I always thought that Bankstown was the most scary of the lot.

    • [Deactivated] on 13/04/2014 - 13:22
      +4

      meaning there's more prostitutes and pimps

      Wha? Really? lol I'm so naive. Hadn't noticed anything like that.

      • NamandSpam on 13/04/2014 - 16:53
        -5

        I was kidding guys. It's not filled with prostitutes and pimps. It's a beautiful place to go to. You guys got to stop being so unaware of these ghetto like suburbs. It's changed and so has the people. It's wonderful, the people, the environment and the atmosphere. Bright and colourful.

        Black town is worse. Shootings, rapings and homicides. I'll limit my exploring there.

        • [Deactivated] on 13/04/2014 - 18:17

          Okay, I'm more gullible than I am naive. lulz

        • NamandSpam on 13/04/2014 - 20:55
          -2

          yes you are. he he ha ha

  • [Deactivated] on 13/04/2014 - 13:29
    +8

    I'm a young half-Asian female and have been to Cabra by myself countless times for the insanely good food and to stock up on groceries from the Asian grocery shops (which sell the same things cheaper than at most other Asian grocery shops elsewhere).

    I go there nearly every weekend, often with my mother who knows the place inside out. Ie. she knows where the good food is at.

    I've seriously never been afraid being there. The train that passes through Cabra can be a little unsettling at times if you've got some, uh, dodgy people on the carriages, but that can happen on any train line.

    In all the many visits there, I've never seen anything drug related going on. Can't even recall seeing anyone who looked like they were under the influence. I reckon I've seen worse in Blacktown lol. Now there's a place I genuinely fear for my safety.

    I really enjoyed the SBS series covering the history and people of Cabramatta. Excellent view into the past and how much things have changed. Pretty sure it's still viewable on the SBS site, otherwise it won't be hard tracking it down elsewhere online. YouTube even.

      • NamandSpam on 15/04/2014 - 17:28
        +1

        what's ASL?

        • nismo on 15/04/2014 - 20:10
          +13

          It's analogue internet..

          Like ADSL without the Digital bit..

        • cornholyio on 15/04/2014 - 22:45

          Age Sex Location… was mostly used in chatrooms like yahoo's in the early 2000's

  • 2jzzzz on 13/04/2014 - 13:42
    -3

    Bit like Footscray in Melbourne then? Get the odd junkie, but gentrification is happening. I just feel that once the Vietnamese community becomes established, it is very hard to shake. Not saying it is a bad thing, love the food and atmosphere, but very hard to turn it into a 'nice' suburb, it will be 'intetesting'.

    • Jackson on 14/04/2014 - 23:38

      You've been negged but it's not altogether unfair what you said. There isn't a Frank Lowy coming to Cabra to clear buildings and make the next megamall. Having said that why would you want that? Cabra should stay Cabra, if you want that you can go to any other place. It's got character.

    • [Deactivated] on 15/04/2014 - 20:12

      I think you are being negged because the community is established, it's rich, and it's fantastic. I lived there for 2 years around 2007. The only thing that sucks about Cabramatta is it's distance from Sydney (if you work in the CBD). One of my two favourite suburbs in the country.

  • HAL on 13/04/2014 - 14:21
    +7

    What I find really strange in Sydney is the fact that all "trendy" inner city Vietnamese restaurants are packed and flowing with people (usually non- Asians).

    Cabramatta it's rare to see anyone who is non-Asian (though it has been getting the last few years).

    Cabramatta has similar or better food than these "trendy" restaurants and is much cheaper! Plus you get a cultural experience too… why don't we see more non-Asians in Cabramatta?

    • pyro love bird on 13/04/2014 - 19:37
      +2

      Well I think that the trendy inner city restaurants are leaning to a more western demographic, so they're a little overpriced for "gourmet" food, but when you go to places like cabra, there's no wishy washy, its just straight authentic. Though I went there a few years ago, the place wasn't very clean and felt like I stepped right into the heart of VN… I saw roaches everywhere! So I don't know if the health department is just sort of overlooking that area or what.

      In Melbs, isn't Richmond also not so great in terms of reputation? I remember going there a few years back and had someone come up to me and offer me cocaine? I think, little bags of white powder. I was shocked, and noticed how openly he'd show passers by to get them to buy it..

      • tc4101 on 15/04/2014 - 03:54
        +2

        We need the roaches to have the complete Asian feel ;)

        • pyro love bird on 15/04/2014 - 11:58
          +2

          Guess seeing them scutter around was better then having them in my salad!

          Never again will I eat at Sumo Salad :/

        • rustynail on 16/04/2014 - 15:07
          +2

          You don't like a protein top-up?

        • pyro love bird on 17/04/2014 - 00:42
          +1

          I really don't need that kind

    • SydStrand on 13/04/2014 - 20:53
      +1

      Cabramatta has similar or better food than these "trendy" restaurants and is much cheaper! Plus you get a cultural experience too

      Yes, but that would require travel to Cabramatta. For someone like me, it's quite far and inconvenient. Also, it's unfamiliar roads and there's still the fear of getting your car stolen or being hit up for cash (a stereotype that many people believe in the east and lower north shore).

      Why don't we see more non-Asians in Cabramatta?

      Many inner-city suburbs like Newtown have Vietnamese restaurants that aren't too expensive, taste good, and it doesn't require contact with scary locals. It's like asking why some tourists just eat at the hotel buffet or 5 star restaurants instead of street food. Some people are more adventurous than others.

      • cheng2008 on 14/04/2014 - 02:10
        +1

        It's strange to hear of Cabra, which is only 45 min from the city, as some sort of far away foreign land to inner city types.

        • Baghern on 14/04/2014 - 08:30
          +1

          its no different to Leichardt or the many suburbs that want to be the new 'little Italy'

          Except Italians are less distinguishably different than 30-50years ago.

          I remember going to Leichardt 20 years ago for dinner, the whole restaurant paused and stared at us as we entered. We didn't leave there disparaging the locals, for staring or stop us from going there, I embraced their uniqueness and didn't look for things to negatively distinguish them from us.

        • Jackson on 14/04/2014 - 23:41
          +1

          only if you live or were from around Cabra is it strange

        • Ryk on 15/04/2014 - 19:08

          "45 min from the city"
          that's it right there, says it all.

      • NamandSpam on 14/04/2014 - 10:24
        -3

        I cannot stress this enough, cabramatta isn't a place like a decade ago. You're not going to get robbed and you're not going to get hi jacked. Simple as that. Stop with this mindset of yours and go explore. Ignorance in people. Seriously.

        Source - I live in cabramatta. I walk at night in cabra park. It's nothing. You guys have this stereotype and cannot seem to change at all.

        And stop being a pussy mate. If anything, visit canley heights instead. Safer in your terms and more packed with the youth, especially at night. Trendier restaurants as well as authentic ones. And it's right next to cabramatta.

        Pussies. Meow.

        • SydStrand on 15/04/2014 - 20:33
          +7

          Stop with this mindset of yours and go explore. Ignorance in people. Seriously.

          How about you stop feverishly white-knighting your area for a minute and read my goddamn comments, which says just that. I'm explaining that theses are indeed stereotypes that still exist in 2014. It's a bit rich for you to claim ignorance when your comments in this thread ado one of two things; antagonising others by repeatedly calling them pussies, and then acting like you're a local tough because you grew up in Cabramatta. With that belligerent alpha male bullshit, no wonder your area has such a horrible reputation.

      • Wyzard on 15/04/2014 - 00:00
        +2

        Admitting to stereotyping doesn't make it ok to stereotype. You sound ignorant nonetheless.

        • SydStrand on 15/04/2014 - 20:37

          Derp. I mention in this exact thread that I've visited Cabramatta recently and taht I don't feel unsafe there. I'm merely repeating a common sentiment from people I know, who still believe the bad image. Ignorant? Puh-lease. This reflexive hostility and inability to separate two disparate thoughts in your brain is the definition of ignorance.

    • Jackson on 14/04/2014 - 23:49
      +1

      Cabra is a pain in the arse to go and park at, the traffic is horrendous, mainly because the main drags is a one lane one way street that you cant turn off once you are on it, people walk across the road like they own it, but that's fair enough as the traffic is going so slow anyway, and they don't bother to cross at the crossings even though there's 5 of them. Anyone who's parked at the car park behind BKK knows you can spend half an hour trying to get out.

      Having said that complaining about any of the above is like complaining about Vietnam in Ho Chi Minh City. But expecting that all the above, coupled with the roughness (drug, junkie and gang related) of the place 10+ years ago only, means that heaps of people won't or at least can't be bothered going.

      If you grew up there you are desensitised to all this so you will go there for cheap food and stuff and to check out the local birds and get to work on the train. Even pork rolls at 2am are ok now if you are with a mate

  • Somni on 13/04/2014 - 14:39
    +22

    Cabra is (profanity) terrifying.. to find parking in.

    • HAL on 13/04/2014 - 14:52
      +1

      *only on weekends :p

    • [Deactivated] on 13/04/2014 - 18:21

      I only ever drive there after 2pm, more often than not around 3pm or so. Far easier to get a spot in either car park (not the multi-storey one though) or on the street.

      :D

    • mini2 on 14/04/2014 - 11:09

      +193840973575945

      Even the paid parking is constantly full and the spots are tiny.

    • japik on 14/04/2014 - 16:21

      Cabra means female goat in Portuguese and used as an offensive word to insult women, just some random info for you all!

    • Serapis on 14/04/2014 - 19:49

      Driving through John st in the afternoon is worse…

    • rlam on 17/04/2014 - 19:40

      hectic as!

  • tonyjzx on 13/04/2014 - 15:20
    -3

    during the worst of the "5T" gang hysteria in the 90s when they were finding bodies in dumpsters regularly there was news stories where randoms were selling heroin to people on John St.

    HAS THIS EVER HAPPENDED?

    like was there ever a time when an avg. person was offered drugs?

    no

    if you want drugs, you know who to look for

    drugs dont come out to seek you

    it was always a overblown news story

    • [Deactivated] on 13/04/2014 - 20:01
      +5

      Back in the early 90s one of my mates who lived in the area was - wait for it - offered drugs. He was just on his way home from the station when it happened. So, YES it happened.

      • StewBalls on 14/04/2014 - 12:57
        +8

        Absolutely it happened…I used to live in the area around that time & would often be offered drugs when either entering or leaving Cabra station.

        Meh, it was no biggie to me, I would say no thanks, they would say no worries & we'd both go on with our lives in peace.

        • Baghern on 14/04/2014 - 13:11
          +6

          was it at the train station?

          I saw that happen all the time.

          I saw no problem with it, they weren't aggressive.
          And looking at it from an economic point of view, if 90% of white people coming off the train want drugs, you give them the service.

          It didn't help the cops did nothing about it, until it went out of control

        • StewBalls on 14/04/2014 - 13:44
          +4

          Yep, it was always on the footpath just at the entry to the train station.

          I saw no problem with it, they weren't aggressive.

          That was my perspective too, they were actually rather polite IMHO.

        • Serapis on 14/04/2014 - 19:50
          +15

          Better customer service than Bing Lee

    • Jaxr on 14/04/2014 - 18:47
      +2

      Ummm yes, you would be approached around 5 times in 2 minutes going to and from the station.

      "it was always a overblown news story" Where did you get your info? If anything it wasn't spoken of much and lots of people visiting the area would get caught out cause they didn't know.

      Yes I was offered drugs many times (when a minor).
      Yes the boys were always approached by pimps.
      Yes my friends have been chased and attacked.
      One friend killed (over drugs) not sure where it happened.

      I always thought the worst of it was the home invasions, then the gangs of teenagers and their random initiation murders.

    • Jackson on 14/04/2014 - 23:55
      +1

      I have been on trains that stopped there and there was a 12 year old or so dealer at every door of the train asking every person getting off indiscriminately if they wanted drugs with their trade mark 'You waaan?' catch call. So if anything, yes it was understated on the news.

      • Baghern on 15/04/2014 - 08:58
        -2

        I went to Cabra a lot as a kid, I never saw this…

        So you were at every train door at the same time were you?

        From what I saw they just asked all the white people… 90% of the time they were right.

        • Jackson on 17/04/2014 - 19:38

          I lived there and caught the train to uni daily, and yes, there would be 10 of these kids right across the platform, isn't that what I said? and yes of course you can see them. It's wasn't like that every day, but I saw it numerous times. This isn't meant to offend anyone, it's a fact

        • Jackson on 18/04/2014 - 00:05

          You can watch Once Upon a Time in Cabramatta right now on sbs on demand and Tony Hoang corroborates this, saying that if you were a westerner [or non Asian] you would be asked at least a few times before you left the platform

    • OzJD on 15/04/2014 - 22:55

      I have to agree with the others. In the early 2000s I was a teen living in Mt Pritchard, which is a short bus ride from Cabramatta (across Cumberland Highway).

      It was more often than not, that I'd get 'You right?' at least once per visit. I was only a teenager, and the guys selling were normally viet teens who would hang around the arcade shop.

      It was pretty much any Caucasian wearing casual clothing near the station that would get approached, which (unfortunately for them) often included plain clothes police officers. It didn't seem to stop them though.

  • watty on 13/04/2014 - 16:21
    +1

    Woot J's Kitchen! Honestly the worst part of cabramatta is the post office (ridiculous long lines and the employees there are really lazy!). All the yoghurt stores, fruit bars, pearl drinks and sushi stores have frightened all the gangs and blah blah away so Cabra is pretty safe imo.

    • NamandSpam on 13/04/2014 - 16:49
      -5

      Js kitchen is the shittest cheapstake (intended) restaurant. And I mean ever. Pre cooked steaks on the grill stacked layer upon layer. When needed its reheated to a dry toilet paper texture. Very disgusting. The cleanliness is horrid. Stop supporting money hungry businesses please. Representation of food is below par. Love.

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