A notorious YouTuber came looking for trouble in my suburb – but we surprised him

My suburb is not perfect, but it’s real. And you know that you live in a particularly “real” suburb when a famed YouTuber looking for drama decides to take a walk through holding a selfie stick.

I guess I can understand why criminal-turned-content-maker Spanian visited Doveton in February during his tour of the world’s “most dangerous and notorious neighbourhoods”. My suburb has gone through some difficult times. But for those of us who live here, it’s a place with a unique charm and history.

Doveton is not about flash or pretension; it’s about community and endurance. It’s a suburb that has weathered economic storms and emerged with its spirit intact. The working-class egalitarian ethos that once defined the factory floor is still alive and well here.

Located 31 kilometres south-east of Melbourne’s CBD, between Dandenong and Hallam, Doveton is bound by three major arterial roads – the Monash Freeway, South Gippsland Highway, and Princes Highway. There is no train station, but plenty of buses.

Named after Captain John Doveton, who settled in the area in the late 1800s, the suburb was built almost overnight in the post-war era as part of a bold public housing project to accommodate workers for three international factories (Heinz, International Harvester, and General Motors/Holden).

At its peak, Doveton embodied working-class Australia, a place where factory work was a way of life shared between generations, and unemployment was less than 1 per cent. But when the factories closed in the ’90s, the area was left to grapple with the consequences of an unemployment rate that soared well above 20 per cent. Many feared Doveton’s best days were behind it.

Yet, the town has shown incredible resilience, largely thanks to targeted government programs, public investments, and the spirit borne from its halcyon manufacturing glory days.

Doveton packs a lot in for a suburb that spans less than four square kilometres (five if you include neighbouring Eumemmerring, which shares the same postcode, but sought a “divorce” in the 1970s — a story for another day). Residents enjoy a full-sized public pool, complete with a splash park and waterslides, which the council dared not demolish after a hard-fought public campaign to save it in 2022.

There’s the award-winning Myuna Community Farm, a free public golf course connected to the neighbouring Workers Club, a skate park, two Aussie Rules/cricket clubs, three soccer clubs, a rugby league club, and even a hotel and conference centre, complete with a boutique brewery serving Doveton-named ales.

One of our proudest points is the annual Doveton Show, held each September at Myuna Farm. Attracting up to 20,000 visitors, the free, volunteer-run event is a celebration of the area’s spirit.

Our town has long been viewed as a rough-around-the-edges, working-class suburb. The local Prince Mark Hotel hosted the likes of Johnny O’Keefe and Johnny Farnham (as he was known then), but with time became notorious. Like the pub, Doveton’s reputation has evolved in recent decades. But we’re still not without our issues. Doveton is no different from other lower socio-economic towns – petty crime and other social problems persist, including hoarding and squatting among some of the older, dilapidated houses that are slowly being replaced by the new and growing housing stock.

I first moved here in 2012 when l married a Doveton-born-and-bred girl. I fell in love with the suburb too. We now live eight doors down from the house she grew up in. Our first house in Doveton was one of the original old concrete-block public houses, built in the ’60s to last 20 years – though most are still standing to this day. It was all we could afford, but I remember the instant connection with neighbours who shared the same house plan. We bonded over common problems, swapping tips on how to fix things and making improvements based on lessons learned by those who had done it all before. That sense of shared experience has endured through my years in Doveton.

The suburb has quietly reinvented itself, thanks to a new wave of migrants who have embraced its sense of community and breathed new life into the town. New families have moved in, drawn to the affordable housing and public amenities, helping to revitalise the area and halve the unemployment rate from its peak. The cultural mix is now as diverse as the streets themselves, with Afghan naan, kebabs, and curries superseding the glut of traditional fish and chips and pizza shops (four of each) that lined the shopping strips for years. Doveton’s diversity is adding to our tight-knit community. Although the suburb has changed, a sense of shared existence remains, thanks to the many surviving public spaces.

Doveton may be a humble suburb, but it has produced its share of significant Australians from all walks of life. Esteemed political journalist Niki Savva grew up here, as did long-standing former Victorian government minister John Pandazopoulos. The Pattinson brothers, Darren and James, who excelled in cricket, proudly hail from Doveton, along with renowned actor/singer Michael Cormack. More recently, Hawthorn footballer Connor MacDonald made headlines for his unique “3177” celebration, a nod to his hometown, which shaped him and his father.

No, we’re not gentrified yet (thankfully), and attempts at opening standalone coffee shops have yet to froth. But for us Doves, that’s not what matters. What matters is the pride we feel in our town and the promise we see in its future.

So what did Spanian find when he visited? A welcoming community, albeit with a bit of an edge. His video, which caused some locals to fear for our reputation, was actually a heartening watch. The YouTuber was given a tour through our streets by Doveton Boxing Club founder and lifelong resident Ryan Wilson. He was met outside the Linden Place shops and the Aboriginal Gathering Place by polite kids wanting a selfie and to say “hi”. It showed a town that embraces its roots while acknowledging its imperfections. And that’s who we are: proud, diverse, resilient, and grounded.

Doveton’s story isn’t just about survival – it’s about reinvention, pride, and community. And that’s something worth celebrating and putting your roots down for.

Stefan Koomen is the chair of the Doveton-Eumemmerring Township Association and led the 2022 Save Doveton Pool campaign.

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