A British expat living in Melbourne has slammed the former ‘most livable city in the world’ for being a hotbed of crime.
Jack Kimber, 25, woke on Monday morning to find his car missing from out the front of his home in the upmarket suburb of Kew, 7.5km east of the Melbourne CBD.
It is the second bout of car crime he has personally experienced in as many months, and he and his brother, who live together in Kew, are now considering moving.
‘My brother’s car was broken into two months ago, my car was stolen early Monday morning. Loads of other cars have been broken into in Kew and on my street,’ Mr Kimber told The Daily Mail.
‘My neighbour’s girlfriend had her car broken into by a guy holding a machete two months ago too. It’s not what I expected to happen after hearing all these good things about Melbourne.’
The Brit shared a video to social media on the day of the car theft, where he described his disbelief.
‘My car was stolen this morning,’ he said. ‘It just got me thinking, because I’ve lived in America for two years and never had a problem with my car being stolen or broken into.
‘Obviously I’ve lived in England my whole life and I had had a car there for about five years. It never got broken into or stolen, nothing.’
Jack Kimber (pictured) had his car stolen from outside his home in Melbourne on Monday
He and his brother live in Kew (pictured) which is considered one of the more up-market locales in the city
The 25-year-old pointed out these were just the incidents that happened on his street that he knew about.
‘We live in Kew, which is one of the nicest suburbs in Melbourne. These things aren’t supposed to happen,’ he said.
‘I’m absolutely speechless. Melbourne’s is supposed to be the the most livable city in the world apparently, but it seems more theft has occurred here for me.’
Commenters weren’t shocked to hear about the theft and shared their own experiences of living in the Victorian capital.
‘Melbourne has a new pandemic, crime. It’s all over the place and unfortunately the nicer the area the bigger the hit,’ one wrote.
‘If you have to do on street parking, invest in an old school physical wheel lock,’ another said.
‘You can thank Jacinta Allan!’ another wrote.
‘Within six months of living in Melbourne my car got broken into. Moved straight away and haven’t had any issues,’ another said.
Mr Kimber (pictured) said he’s lived in several other countries and never faced car theft before moving to Melbourne
Just a decade ago, Melbourne topped The Economist Intelligence Unit’s global livability index in 2015.
But following a world-record Covid lockdown and the state racking up a massive debt, it has lost its crown in recent years.
The city still remains at number four in the 2025 list, however, despite complaints of a crimewave and the CBD being brought to a standstill by protests seemingly every other weekend.
Topping this year’s list was Copenhagen in Denmark, Vienna in Austria and Zurich in Switzerland.
Other Australian cities to make the top ten were Sydney at number six and Adelaide at number nine.
