townie,
There are places in virtually all cities that have unsafe areas - this capital is far from being an exception - only very safe capital I've lived in was Nuku 'alofa, Tonga - that was in the 1980s - so cannot speak for now.
It was as near to a paid idyllic holiday as you're likely to see - I lived 20 yards above high water mark of a beautifully placid lagoon. I worked 6 days a week, took a full weekend off every month and went to Samoa about every 3 months.
Only one problem - everybody watches everybody else - status is everything in Tonga and by 7-8 yrs of age, children 'know' where to sit at a communal gathering, and all a Tongan can do is lose status, so being ''a good watcher'' can give you the ammo to put the boot on others.
As a Brit, I was not in the gossip status competition, but they automatically watch you as you're 'new kid on the block'. In short there is no privacy - took full weekends on a very small desert island ''on me tod'' - brilliant - the only person on it, and courtesy of King Tupou