Launceston vs West Tamar - Latrobe

Launceston and West Tamar - Latrobe are two Tasmanian areas with very different levels of accessibility. Launceston is very walkable, with 77% of homes within a 15-minute walk of groceries and 72.1% near a school. In contrast, West Tamar - Latrobe is mostly car-dependent, where only 40.3% of homes are within a short walk of groceries and 35.7% are near a school. Launceston also has a far higher share of homes within walking distance of health services, at 61.7% compared to 26% in West Tamar - Latrobe.

The two areas share a similar landscape, with almost identical average terrain slopes. This physical commonality exists alongside other similarities, such as the share of people who speak a First Nations language, which is around 2% for both. However, some gaps are widening; Launceston's walkability score is now far higher than that of West Tamar - Latrobe, with a gap of 2.4 points.