Atherton vs Mareeba

Atherton and Mareeba are two nearby Queensland areas with very different layouts. Mareeba is far more compact, with a street connectivity score of 23 compared to just 2 in Atherton. This makes Mareeba much more walkable, as 42.9% of its homes have a 15-minute-city walkshed, while Atherton's figure is 26.7%. Mareeba also has far more homes within a 15-minute walk of groceries (46.2% versus 25.5%) and health services (39.1% versus 26.4%). In contrast, Atherton has better outcomes for First Nations people, with a higher Year 12 completion rate of 38.6% and a much lower unemployment rate of 14.0%, compared to 32.3% and 25.7% in Mareeba.

Both areas are almost identical in the share of people who speak a First Nations language, at about 6%. They are also equally reliant on cars for longer trips, as neither has any homes within a 10-minute walk of public transport. While both are mostly car-dependent, Mareeba's walkability score is a little higher than Atherton's.