Police on the scene of a major incident in the Cairns suburb of Manoora. Police have blocked off Murray St and ambulances are on the scene. Picture: Grace Uhr. Source: News Corp Australia

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It’s a typical North Queensland street with palm trees everywhere. In case you need reminding you’re in the tropics, nearby cross streets include Lychee Cl and Avocado Cl.

Murray Street Manoora may not be the flashest street in the flashest suburb in Cairns, but as local mum Jackie Teasdale said in an article in The Cairns Post 17 months ago, Murray St Manoora is a perfect place to raise her young family.

“Everyone knows everyone. My next door neighbours are great and really friendly,” Mrs Teasdale said.

“It’s a family-oriented street. On the Christmas holidays a lot of the kids will play cricket in the street.”

Today’s news is almost impossible to process. Source: News Corp Australia

But the suburb of Manoora has more than its share of detractors too.

In an infamously insensitive review, the site CairnsLifestyle said this of Manoora and surrounding suburbs.

“If you live in Cairns or are planning to be living in Cairns, you need to know this. There are a handful of suburbs that you want to avoid, and these are the suburbs west of Cairns that start with the letter M. The suburbs include Manunda, Mooroobool and Manoora.

“The Cairns M suburbs are densely populated with housing commission rental properties, and due to the presence of this demographic these suburbs should be considered a write off. Violence and crime are common in these suburbs and many locals do not recommend them worthy for rent or purchase.”

A review on the website Life in Queensland was just as blunt. It called Manoora “Probably the worst burb in Cairns.”

Other sites speak of high crime rates and a predominance of housing commission residences. But this is an area in flux. Manoora is just 4km west of the CBD, and Cairns is now Australia’s 14th most populous city.

As the city grows and spreads, real estate agents say property values in Manoora will continue to increase. Indeed there is already a chartered accountant and a financial planner in the small complex of shops on the corner of Murray St. You don’t tend to have those in the “worst burb” of any city.

News.com.au spoke this afternoon to one former business owner who preferred not to be named. He has run a business on the corner of Murray and Pease Streets for 20 years. While he endured a couple of minor break-and-enters in the first three years, he said he had seen not even a minor incident of crime in the last 17 years. “It’s generally very much a family area,” he said.

Murray St has a community centre and a park where Cairns Regional Council often hosts movie nights.