Mount Palmer vs Southern Cross

Southern Cross (WA) and Mount Palmer are two different types of rural landscapes. Southern Cross (WA) is a small town with 572 people, while Mount Palmer is largely non-residential with a population of zero. This leads to a huge gap in services and access; for example, 70% of Southern Cross (WA) homes are within a 15-minute walk of a school, compared to 0% in Mount Palmer. Southern Cross (WA) also has a walkability score of 3.9 (mostly car-dependent), which is far higher than the 0.0 (car-dependent) score for Mount Palmer.

Both areas are almost identical in their mean terrain slope, which is around 3% to 4%. Beyond the land shape, however, the two places differ sharply. Southern Cross (WA) has more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and is the only one of the two with public transport stops and routes. While Southern Cross (WA) is mostly car-dependent, it is far more walkable than Mount Palmer, where almost no homes are within a short walk of groceries, health services, or parks.