Northside vs southside - is one really better than the other?

old canberran said :

Spherical said :

In the 1950s when my parents bought a house on the north side of the lake my grandparents were perplexed why they would do such a thing. Manuka and Kingston were the main shops, unless you went to Queanbeyan for an important shopping trip.
* Remember: the Commonwealth Bridge WAS washed away in the flood.

As far as I can remember, Commonwealth Bridge was never washed away. It was closed once when the water rose to within a foot of the roadway for a day or so. I would be interested to learn otherwise.

The present bridge was never in danger. The old railway bridge to Civic was washed away in 1922. That’s probably the rumour’s source. See http://www.engineer.org.au/chapter02.html

RHW said :

…Lived in London for ten years…

Norf or souf o da river?

Spherical said :

In the 1950s when my parents bought a house on the north side of the lake my grandparents were perplexed why they would do such a thing. Manuka and Kingston were the main shops, unless you went to Queanbeyan for an important shopping trip.
* Remember: the Commonwealth Bridge WAS washed away in the flood.

As far as I can remember, Commonwealth Bridge was never washed away. It was closed once when the water rose to within a foot of the roadway for a day or so. I would be interested to learn otherwise.

I was born and bred in Canberra and when I was 10 the population was around 8,000 and even then there was a barrier in the form of the Molonglo River which separated the North and South. As far as I could work out, the North South rivalry stemmed from the fact that the South was where the money was and the North was where the workers lived. Ainslie, Braddon, Reid and Turner were guvvy houses occupied by blue and some white collar workers. Forrest, Red Hill and Yarralumla were where the snobs lived, the embassies, the Grammar Schools, Parliament House, East and West Blocks. The South also had blue collar housing but that was more than offset by the moneyed areas.

If the rivalry still exists today it would be a hangup from the past but with far different reasons. You used the word “friendly” in the title but that was far from reality back in the past. School sports days were bloody especially footy matches between Grammar and Canberra High and gang warfare between kids from opposing factions were frequent. If you are confused Alex, don’t worry about it as the present situation is way different from days gone bye.

The travel quirk is a Canberra thing. The culture is big on comfort and routine so many Canberrans aren’t willing to travel far within Canberra. I have a friend who will happily have me come to her home, but won’t come to mine because ‘it’s too far’! It’s only a 15 minute drive each way and is no shorter for me! I’ve learnt to accept it over the last 40 years. I’d personally go mad if I didn’t venture out of my nest once in a while!

In the 1950s when my parents bought a house on the north side of the lake my grandparents were perplexed why they would do such a thing. Manuka and Kingston were the main shops, unless you went to Queanbeyan for an important shopping trip.
* Remember: the Commonwealth Bridge WAS washed away in the flood.

I have lived in the inner north for over twenty years. I actively discourage suggestions that we visit, eat or shop anywhere further south than Manuka. But the same applies to anywhere further north than Dickson – it’s just too far!

This whole debate makes me laugh – Oh Canberra, you are glorious all over and you don’t appreciate yourself.
Lived in London for ten years so to travel around here is bliss. I came here 35 years ago and have always lived in Fraser, but have friends all over the place and as kids grew up their interests made me visit so many suburbs for different sports or hobbies and later in retirement for my own interests.

North or South Canberrans you are so spoiled, but it is the happiest place I’ve ever lived as long as you ignore Capital Hill.

Alexandra Craig said :

JC said :

Alexandra Craig said :

JC said :

Alexandra Craig said :

Okay. So I may have confirmed with the office of one of the ACT Federal MPs. The zoo is in Fraser. Northside. Even though the address is Weston Creek. I am confused and I think this is stupid but debate has now been adjourned.

What exactly is there to be confused about? Electoral boundaries sometimes don’t follow suburbs boundaries and Canberra the Lake or the Molongolo River has not always been the defining feature. Indeed in 1996 there were 3 electorates with the division of Canberra straddling both sides of the lake. Where electoral divisions boundries are set all depends upon how they can best split the population to give more or less proportional representation in each electorate within the state or territory.

Besides when it comes to North/South divide its not the lake that divides Canberra in two rather the Murrumbidgee River, it just so happens that the lake is the most obvious feature of the river. Besides when it comes to the lake what dividing line do we use considering it is a crescent shaped lake?

Yes, but when you search Weston Creek on Find my Electorate on the AEC website it says it’s in Canberra. If a suburb is in two electorates it will list both. This is why it’s confusing. I can’t work out who is at fault here, the AEC or whoever decided the Zoo was in Weston Creek.

There is no suburb called Weston Creek. It is a district and the zoo address is consistent with rural addressing where there is no suburb and the district name is used instead. So it is just a quirk of the address of the zoo.

It’s interesting though, if you look at google maps and click Weston Creek, the highlighted area doesn’t even get close to the zoo. See here: http://tinypic.com/r/iqkaqg/8

I thought it might have something to do with the roads, like if a road starts in one district than the rest of the area alongside that road will be that same district if there are no other suburbs around. If you follow the Tuggeranong Parkway on google maps, you can get up past the Arboretum and it still identifies as Weston Creek. It’s Weston Creek until you hit Black Mountain. I’m also interested to know if there are any other areas of the ACT where a suburb or a district continues way out of where the suburb or district physically is.

There is your mistake you used google maps. The definitive map of Canberra is the territory plan which quite clearly shows the borders of the district of Weston Creek. Basically the border is is the Tuggeranong Parkway north until the Cotter Road, it then follows the Cotter road east until Lady Denman Drive, then northish up to the road that leads to the Arboretum, including the Arboretum then back towards the RSPCA and along the old alignment of Cotter Road around Duffy etc.

10.2 of the plan shows all the districts of the ACT.

Below is the link to Weston Creek, and note the bit in the top right that includes the land the Zoo and the Arboretum is on.

http://www.legislation.act.gov.au/ni/2008-27/copy/94066/pdf/2008-27.pdf

Alexandra Craig said :

I’m also interested to know if there are any other areas of the ACT where a suburb or a district continues way out of where the suburb or district physically is.

Lyneham extends all the way to Exhibition Park, and a substantial way up Flemington Road towards Mitchell, which isn’t obvious.

Alexandra Craig said :

I thought it might have something to do with the roads, like if a road starts in one district than the rest of the area alongside that road will be that same district if there are no other suburbs around. If you follow the Tuggeranong Parkway on google maps, you can get up past the Arboretum and it still identifies as Weston Creek. It’s Weston Creek until you hit Black Mountain. I’m also interested to know if there are any other areas of the ACT where a suburb or a district continues way out of where the suburb or district physically is.

That’s the point though, it doesn’t go way out of where the district physically is, it’s just that the district is bigger than the urban areas. The suburb you are thinking of is Weston, the district is Weston Creek. Similarly the suburb of Belconnen is around the town centre but the district of Belconnen is a much larger area from the Barton Highway to Ginn Cr and the Molonglo river.. You can go look at the district maps on the website:

actmapi.act.gov.au/

MonarchRepublic said :

Alexandra Craig said :

However if you want to divide it by Northside and Southside rather then specific areas:

2014 – North side: 24151
2014 – South side: 18004.

2013 – North side: 27309
2013 – South side: 18199

2012 – North side: 27665
2012 – South side: 21349

2011 – North side: 30305
2011 – South side: 23474

Need to be a little careful taking these at face value, and be clear on assumptions. For example, interestingly Parkes is included in the ACT Pol Northside stats, but most people here would class it Southside, being south of the Lake/Molonglo. Also, you have civic in the mix, which is a hard one to classify (IMHO). While located North of the lake, one could argue that it is quite evenly frequented by North and South siders, has comparatively fewer fixed residents (in the city itself), and could arguably skew results due to it’s popularity as a nightspot and the resultant alcohol related incidents.

Assuming Civic gets removed from the mix, and parkes gets shifted south, the figures would now be:

2014 – North: 21,127
2014 – South: 18,262

2013 – North: 23,992
2013 – South: 18,438

2012 – North: 24,283
2012 – South: 21,640

2011 – North: 26,385
2011 – South: 23,933

I’m not saying the above are correct either – there are many ways to skin a cat – however the disparity between North and South may not be as severe as the face value stats indicate.

I added the crime infringements up manually by suburb. I didn’t even realise there was a north and south side section on the ACT Policing website? Would have saved me a bit of time!

JC said :

Alexandra Craig said :

JC said :

Alexandra Craig said :

Okay. So I may have confirmed with the office of one of the ACT Federal MPs. The zoo is in Fraser. Northside. Even though the address is Weston Creek. I am confused and I think this is stupid but debate has now been adjourned.

What exactly is there to be confused about? Electoral boundaries sometimes don’t follow suburbs boundaries and Canberra the Lake or the Molongolo River has not always been the defining feature. Indeed in 1996 there were 3 electorates with the division of Canberra straddling both sides of the lake. Where electoral divisions boundries are set all depends upon how they can best split the population to give more or less proportional representation in each electorate within the state or territory.

Besides when it comes to North/South divide its not the lake that divides Canberra in two rather the Murrumbidgee River, it just so happens that the lake is the most obvious feature of the river. Besides when it comes to the lake what dividing line do we use considering it is a crescent shaped lake?

Yes, but when you search Weston Creek on Find my Electorate on the AEC website it says it’s in Canberra. If a suburb is in two electorates it will list both. This is why it’s confusing. I can’t work out who is at fault here, the AEC or whoever decided the Zoo was in Weston Creek.

There is no suburb called Weston Creek. It is a district and the zoo address is consistent with rural addressing where there is no suburb and the district name is used instead. So it is just a quirk of the address of the zoo.

It’s interesting though, if you look at google maps and click Weston Creek, the highlighted area doesn’t even get close to the zoo. See here: http://tinypic.com/r/iqkaqg/8

I thought it might have something to do with the roads, like if a road starts in one district than the rest of the area alongside that road will be that same district if there are no other suburbs around. If you follow the Tuggeranong Parkway on google maps, you can get up past the Arboretum and it still identifies as Weston Creek. It’s Weston Creek until you hit Black Mountain. I’m also interested to know if there are any other areas of the ACT where a suburb or a district continues way out of where the suburb or district physically is.

MonarchRepublic said :

Assuming Civic gets removed from the mix, and parkes gets shifted south, the figures would now be:

2014 – North: 21,127
2014 – South: 18,262

2013 – North: 23,992
2013 – South: 18,438

2012 – North: 24,283
2012 – South: 21,640

2011 – North: 26,385
2011 – South: 23,933

I’m not saying the above are correct either – there are many ways to skin a cat – however the disparity between North and South may not be as severe as the face value stats indicate.

Good work, but you probably still have to make these [i]per capita[/i] figures to be more meaningful.

…and don’t forget to compare against Queanbeyan, because if there’s one thing North and South *can* agree on it’s that West is Best.

MonarchRepublic said :

Alexandra Craig said :

However if you want to divide it by Northside and Southside rather then specific areas:

2014 – North side: 24151
2014 – South side: 18004.

2013 – North side: 27309
2013 – South side: 18199

2012 – North side: 27665
2012 – South side: 21349

2011 – North side: 30305
2011 – South side: 23474

Need to be a little careful taking these at face value, and be clear on assumptions. For example, interestingly Parkes is included in the ACT Pol Northside stats, but most people here would class it Southside, being south of the Lake/Molonglo. Also, you have civic in the mix, which is a hard one to classify (IMHO). While located North of the lake, one could argue that it is quite evenly frequented by North and South siders, has comparatively fewer fixed residents (in the city itself), and could arguably skew results due to it’s popularity as a nightspot and the resultant alcohol related incidents.

Assuming Civic gets removed from the mix, and parkes gets shifted south, the figures would now be:

2014 – North: 21,127
2014 – South: 18,262

2013 – North: 23,992
2013 – South: 18,438

2012 – North: 24,283
2012 – South: 21,640

2011 – North: 26,385
2011 – South: 23,933

I’m not saying the above are correct either – there are many ways to skin a cat – however the disparity between North and South may not be as severe as the face value stats indicate.

Parkes actually straddles the lake so is neither north nor south.

Also, I think the stats probably have more to do with population distribution and demographics rather than any northside criminal leanings, despite my previous facetious posts.

Grimm said :

All the housos and people of questionable character I know are on the south side. Just sayin…

So somebody recently hooked their rig up onto Charnwood and Florey and towed it South of the lake, did they?

Alexandra Craig said :

However if you want to divide it by Northside and Southside rather then specific areas:

2014 – North side: 24151
2014 – South side: 18004.

2013 – North side: 27309
2013 – South side: 18199

2012 – North side: 27665
2012 – South side: 21349

2011 – North side: 30305
2011 – South side: 23474

Need to be a little careful taking these at face value, and be clear on assumptions. For example, interestingly Parkes is included in the ACT Pol Northside stats, but most people here would class it Southside, being south of the Lake/Molonglo. Also, you have civic in the mix, which is a hard one to classify (IMHO). While located North of the lake, one could argue that it is quite evenly frequented by North and South siders, has comparatively fewer fixed residents (in the city itself), and could arguably skew results due to it’s popularity as a nightspot and the resultant alcohol related incidents.

Assuming Civic gets removed from the mix, and parkes gets shifted south, the figures would now be:

2014 – North: 21,127
2014 – South: 18,262

2013 – North: 23,992
2013 – South: 18,438

2012 – North: 24,283
2012 – South: 21,640

2011 – North: 26,385
2011 – South: 23,933

I’m not saying the above are correct either – there are many ways to skin a cat – however the disparity between North and South may not be as severe as the face value stats indicate.

JC said :

Alexandra Craig said :

JC said :

Alexandra Craig said :

Okay. So I may have confirmed with the office of one of the ACT Federal MPs. The zoo is in Fraser. Northside. Even though the address is Weston Creek. I am confused and I think this is stupid but debate has now been adjourned.

What exactly is there to be confused about? Electoral boundaries sometimes don’t follow suburbs boundaries and Canberra the Lake or the Molongolo River has not always been the defining feature. Indeed in 1996 there were 3 electorates with the division of Canberra straddling both sides of the lake. Where electoral divisions boundries are set all depends upon how they can best split the population to give more or less proportional representation in each electorate within the state or territory.

Besides when it comes to North/South divide its not the lake that divides Canberra in two rather the Murrumbidgee River, it just so happens that the lake is the most obvious feature of the river. Besides when it comes to the lake what dividing line do we use considering it is a crescent shaped lake?

Yes, but when you search Weston Creek on Find my Electorate on the AEC website it says it’s in Canberra. If a suburb is in two electorates it will list both. This is why it’s confusing. I can’t work out who is at fault here, the AEC or whoever decided the Zoo was in Weston Creek.

There is no suburb called Weston Creek. It is a district and the zoo address is consistent with rural addressing where there is no suburb and the district name is used instead. So it is just a quirk of the address of the zoo.

It’s within the boundaries of 2611, as is the Arboretum, both north of the Molonglo.

Alexandra Craig said :

JC said :

Alexandra Craig said :

Okay. So I may have confirmed with the office of one of the ACT Federal MPs. The zoo is in Fraser. Northside. Even though the address is Weston Creek. I am confused and I think this is stupid but debate has now been adjourned.

What exactly is there to be confused about? Electoral boundaries sometimes don’t follow suburbs boundaries and Canberra the Lake or the Molongolo River has not always been the defining feature. Indeed in 1996 there were 3 electorates with the division of Canberra straddling both sides of the lake. Where electoral divisions boundries are set all depends upon how they can best split the population to give more or less proportional representation in each electorate within the state or territory.

Besides when it comes to North/South divide its not the lake that divides Canberra in two rather the Murrumbidgee River, it just so happens that the lake is the most obvious feature of the river. Besides when it comes to the lake what dividing line do we use considering it is a crescent shaped lake?

Yes, but when you search Weston Creek on Find my Electorate on the AEC website it says it’s in Canberra. If a suburb is in two electorates it will list both. This is why it’s confusing. I can’t work out who is at fault here, the AEC or whoever decided the Zoo was in Weston Creek.

There is no suburb called Weston Creek. It is a district and the zoo address is consistent with rural addressing where there is no suburb and the district name is used instead. So it is just a quirk of the address of the zoo.

Alexandra Craig said :

JC said :

Alexandra Craig said :

Okay. So I may have confirmed with the office of one of the ACT Federal MPs. The zoo is in Fraser. Northside. Even though the address is Weston Creek. I am confused and I think this is stupid but debate has now been adjourned.

What exactly is there to be confused about? Electoral boundaries sometimes don’t follow suburbs boundaries and Canberra the Lake or the Molongolo River has not always been the defining feature. Indeed in 1996 there were 3 electorates with the division of Canberra straddling both sides of the lake. Where electoral divisions boundries are set all depends upon how they can best split the population to give more or less proportional representation in each electorate within the state or territory.

Besides when it comes to North/South divide its not the lake that divides Canberra in two rather the Murrumbidgee River, it just so happens that the lake is the most obvious feature of the river. Besides when it comes to the lake what dividing line do we use considering it is a crescent shaped lake?

Yes, but when you search Weston Creek on Find my Electorate on the AEC website it says it’s in Canberra. If a suburb is in two electorates it will list both. This is why it’s confusing. I can’t work out who is at fault here, the AEC or whoever decided the Zoo was in Weston Creek.

Alexandra,
Its a quirk of the ACT.

The Zoo isn’t in the suburb (division) of Weston Creek, it’s in the district of Weston Creek. It actually isn’t officially in any suburb.

JC said :

Alexandra Craig said :

Okay. So I may have confirmed with the office of one of the ACT Federal MPs. The zoo is in Fraser. Northside. Even though the address is Weston Creek. I am confused and I think this is stupid but debate has now been adjourned.

What exactly is there to be confused about? Electoral boundaries sometimes don’t follow suburbs boundaries and Canberra the Lake or the Molongolo River has not always been the defining feature. Indeed in 1996 there were 3 electorates with the division of Canberra straddling both sides of the lake. Where electoral divisions boundries are set all depends upon how they can best split the population to give more or less proportional representation in each electorate within the state or territory.

Besides when it comes to North/South divide its not the lake that divides Canberra in two rather the Murrumbidgee River, it just so happens that the lake is the most obvious feature of the river. Besides when it comes to the lake what dividing line do we use considering it is a crescent shaped lake?

Yes, but when you search Weston Creek on Find my Electorate on the AEC website it says it’s in Canberra. If a suburb is in two electorates it will list both. This is why it’s confusing. I can’t work out who is at fault here, the AEC or whoever decided the Zoo was in Weston Creek.

JC said :

Alexandra Craig said :

Okay. So I may have confirmed with the office of one of the ACT Federal MPs. The zoo is in Fraser. Northside. Even though the address is Weston Creek. I am confused and I think this is stupid but debate has now been adjourned.

What exactly is there to be confused about? Electoral boundaries sometimes don’t follow suburbs boundaries and Canberra the Lake or the Molongolo River has not always been the defining feature. Indeed in 1996 there were 3 electorates with the division of Canberra straddling both sides of the lake. Where electoral divisions boundries are set all depends upon how they can best split the population to give more or less proportional representation in each electorate within the state or territory.

Besides when it comes to North/South divide its not the lake that divides Canberra in two rather the Murrumbidgee River, it just so happens that the lake is the most obvious feature of the river. Besides when it comes to the lake what dividing line do we use considering it is a crescent shaped lake?

The Murrumbidgee river?

This sounds like a secret plot to co-opt us all into being Northsiders, no deal.

Those dexterous doco-makers from SBS need to look into this.

JC said :

Alexandra Craig said :

Okay. So I may have confirmed with the office of one of the ACT Federal MPs. The zoo is in Fraser. Northside. Even though the address is Weston Creek. I am confused and I think this is stupid but debate has now been adjourned.

What exactly is there to be confused about? Electoral boundaries sometimes don’t follow suburbs boundaries and Canberra the Lake or the Molongolo River has not always been the defining feature. Indeed in 1996 there were 3 electorates with the division of Canberra straddling both sides of the lake. Where electoral divisions boundries are set all depends upon how they can best split the population to give more or less proportional representation in each electorate within the state or territory.

Besides when it comes to North/South divide its not the lake that divides Canberra in two rather the Murrumbidgee River, it just so happens that the lake is the most obvious feature of the river. Besides when it comes to the lake what dividing line do we use considering it is a crescent shaped lake?

Make that the Molonglo river as I said in first para. Had Murrumbidgee on my mind from the other thread about Tuggeranong!

Alexandra Craig said :

Okay. So I may have confirmed with the office of one of the ACT Federal MPs. The zoo is in Fraser. Northside. Even though the address is Weston Creek. I am confused and I think this is stupid but debate has now been adjourned.

What exactly is there to be confused about? Electoral boundaries sometimes don’t follow suburbs boundaries and Canberra the Lake or the Molongolo River has not always been the defining feature. Indeed in 1996 there were 3 electorates with the division of Canberra straddling both sides of the lake. Where electoral divisions boundries are set all depends upon how they can best split the population to give more or less proportional representation in each electorate within the state or territory.

Besides when it comes to North/South divide its not the lake that divides Canberra in two rather the Murrumbidgee River, it just so happens that the lake is the most obvious feature of the river. Besides when it comes to the lake what dividing line do we use considering it is a crescent shaped lake?

Okay. So I may have confirmed with the office of one of the ACT Federal MPs. The zoo is in Fraser. Northside. Even though the address is Weston Creek. I am confused and I think this is stupid but debate has now been adjourned.

SR1985 said :

chewy14 said :

Felix the Cat said :

I’d be interested to see the crime stats between North and South, you seem to hear about a fair bit of stuff happening in Tuggeranong.

That’s only because crime is such a rarity on the Southside that something like Mrs Jones having her letterbox knocked over is a big news story.

On the Northside serious crime is so common it doesn’t even rate as news, it’s simply another day ending in “y”.

By “serious crime” are you referring to the three southside homicides this year so far… to zero in the northside?

In 2014 there was three homicides. Two in Belconnen, one in Woden.

In 2013, there was four homicides. Two in Belconnen, one in the Inner North, one in the Inner South.

In 2012, there was eight homicides (sheesh!). One in Belconnen, three in the Inner South, three in Woden, one in Tuggeranong.

In 2011, there was four homicides. One in Belconnen, two in the Inner North, one in Weston Creek.

As far as overall crime statistics go, in 2014 the highest amount of incidents was in the Inner North (over 10,000), followed by Belconnen (over 9000) and then Tuggeranong (over 7000).

2013, and 2011 followed the same pattern. 2012 saw Belconnen with the highest incidents beating out the Inner North by about 200.

However if you want to divide it by Northside and Southside rather then specific areas:

2014 – North side: 24151
2014 – South side: 18004.

2013 – North side: 27309
2013 – South side: 18199

2012 – North side: 27665
2012 – South side: 21349

2011 – North side: 30305
2011 – South side: 23474

SR1985 said :

chewy14 said :

Felix the Cat said :

I’d be interested to see the crime stats between North and South, you seem to hear about a fair bit of stuff happening in Tuggeranong.

That’s only because crime is such a rarity on the Southside that something like Mrs Jones having her letterbox knocked over is a big news story.

On the Northside serious crime is so common it doesn’t even rate as news, it’s simply another day ending in “y”.

By “serious crime” are you referring to the three southside homicides this year so far… to zero in the northside?

Zero in the Northside but not zero committed by Northsiders.

chewy14 said :

Felix the Cat said :

I’d be interested to see the crime stats between North and South, you seem to hear about a fair bit of stuff happening in Tuggeranong.

That’s only because crime is such a rarity on the Southside that something like Mrs Jones having her letterbox knocked over is a big news story.

On the Northside serious crime is so common it doesn’t even rate as news, it’s simply another day ending in “y”.

By “serious crime” are you referring to the three southside homicides this year so far… to zero in the northside?

Born and raised southside but live in the north now. So hard to determine what people mean when they say “better”, because everyone priorities are different.

Usually the argument should be rephrased not as better but “MORE OF” as that what it seems people are seem to usually be banging on about. like some sort of set of scales and the heaviest side wins.

having lived, worked and owned businesses in both the north and south and every town centre. The north is really winning the “more of” battle. And even when I was a southsider I always thought is was strange trying to win some sort of battle when most of our cities facilities are in the north lol.

Canberra stadium, Netball centre, Hockey Centre, Arena, EPIC, Convention Centre, Chinatown (Dickson lols) Farmers Market

But the Canberra Tip is Southside so I guess there is that.

All the housos and people of questionable character I know are on the south side. Just sayin…

Felix the Cat said :

I’d be interested to see the crime stats between North and South, you seem to hear about a fair bit of stuff happening in Tuggeranong.

That’s only because crime is such a rarity on the Southside that something like Mrs Jones having her letterbox knocked over is a big news story.

On the Northside serious crime is so common it doesn’t even rate as news, it’s simply another day ending in “y”.

I’d be interested to see the crime stats between North and South, you seem to hear about a fair bit of stuff happening in Tuggeranong.

arescarti42 said :

Alexandra Craig said :

I put some more thought into this overnight… The zoo is in the electorate of Canberra, so that pretty much makes it south side by default doesn’t it?

I think you’ll find the electoral boundary follows the Molonglo river, with Fraser to the north and Canberra to the south.

The zoo is to the north of the Molonglo.

The Zoo is clearly Southside. It is south of the lake. It is walking distance from Yarralumla and Curtin. The closest expression of Northside is several kilometres away.
You can have that aboriginal museum-thingie which virtually nobody knows exists though.

Alexandra Craig said :

I put some more thought into this overnight… The zoo is in the electorate of Canberra, so that pretty much makes it south side by default doesn’t it?

I think you’ll find the electoral boundary follows the Molonglo river, with Fraser to the north and Canberra to the south.

The zoo is to the north of the Molonglo.

VYBerlinaV8_is_back said :

As someone who lives outside Canberra, I look on with amusement.

Well there is one thing that Canberrans from both the north and south side are united in agreement on, and that’s that Queanbeyan is a hole.

Alexandra Craig said :

gooterz said :

Alexandra Craig said :

MonarchRepublic said :

Alexandra Craig said :

SR1985 said :

And just to point out that National Zoo and Aquarium is on the north side of the lake not the south.

But the address is Weston Creek? I just looked it up on google maps and I reckon it is only *just* south of the middle.

It’s north of the Molonglo River, which feeds into/from LBG. North/South of the lake is how many people define the border.

That makes sense. I just took a closer look and the Zoo is literally about 200 metres from the north/south border. You win this time, Northside…

The key word in that sentence being lake. As formed by the Scrivener Dam. Which is north of the Zoo. Thus making the zoo on the south side of the lake!

We also have the lions share of the hills and NASA!

I put some more thought into this overnight… The zoo is in the electorate of Canberra, so that pretty much makes it south side by default doesn’t it?

It should be in the electorate of Fraser according to this map.

http://www.aec.gov.au/profiles/act/files/2005/2005-aec-map-act.pdf

The boundary follows the lake shoreline, until the dam and then follows the Molonglo river. The zoo is between the dam and parkway putting it in Fraser.

gooterz said :

Alexandra Craig said :

MonarchRepublic said :

Alexandra Craig said :

SR1985 said :

And just to point out that National Zoo and Aquarium is on the north side of the lake not the south.

But the address is Weston Creek? I just looked it up on google maps and I reckon it is only *just* south of the middle.

It’s north of the Molonglo River, which feeds into/from LBG. North/South of the lake is how many people define the border.

That makes sense. I just took a closer look and the Zoo is literally about 200 metres from the north/south border. You win this time, Northside…

The key word in that sentence being lake. As formed by the Scrivener Dam. Which is north of the Zoo. Thus making the zoo on the south side of the lake!

We also have the lions share of the hills and NASA!

I put some more thought into this overnight… The zoo is in the electorate of Canberra, so that pretty much makes it south side by default doesn’t it?

As well as living in Canberra I have lived in Sydney, Brisbane, and Perth. The North/South divide is a feature of life in all these places, not just Canberra.

It’s just another version of the east/west divide, or the Mainland/Tasmania divide, or the Aussie/NZ divide…. Take your pick, we’re all parochial when it comes down to it!

OpenYourMind said :

I’m a Southsider. Not sure if this is a regular thing, but I turned off GDE onto Barton Hwy about 5:45pm last Wednesday and it was very slow bumper to bumper traffic all the way to the big roundabout. Not sure if that’s a regular thing, but it would be enough to make me never want to live in Gunghalin.

Yes, this is why improved transport infrastructure is needed.

I grew up in Canberra and have lived on both sides. I had no idea there was any rivalry until a new neighbour from interstate mentioned it.

Alexandra Craig said :

MonarchRepublic said :

Alexandra Craig said :

SR1985 said :

And just to point out that National Zoo and Aquarium is on the north side of the lake not the south.

But the address is Weston Creek? I just looked it up on google maps and I reckon it is only *just* south of the middle.

It’s north of the Molonglo River, which feeds into/from LBG. North/South of the lake is how many people define the border.

That makes sense. I just took a closer look and the Zoo is literally about 200 metres from the north/south border. You win this time, Northside…

The key word in that sentence being lake. As formed by the Scrivener Dam. Which is north of the Zoo. Thus making the zoo on the south side of the lake!

We also have the lions share of the hills and NASA!

MonarchRepublic said :

Alexandra Craig said :

SR1985 said :

And just to point out that National Zoo and Aquarium is on the north side of the lake not the south.

But the address is Weston Creek? I just looked it up on google maps and I reckon it is only *just* south of the middle.

It’s north of the Molonglo River, which feeds into/from LBG. North/South of the lake is how many people define the border.

That makes sense. I just took a closer look and the Zoo is literally about 200 metres from the north/south border. You win this time, Northside…

I’m a Southsider. Not sure if this is a regular thing, but I turned off GDE onto Barton Hwy about 5:45pm last Wednesday and it was very slow bumper to bumper traffic all the way to the big roundabout. Not sure if that’s a regular thing, but it would be enough to make me never want to live in Gunghalin.

It’s definitely a sensitive point for most northsiders.

Its interesting that the north side/ south side/ north Canberra/south Canberra mean 4 different things.

58 years on the Northside. In the old days south of the river/lake didn’t hold much attraction. There was the Causeway, Yarralumla, Red Hill etc but Tuggeranong didn’t exist until the mid 70’s. Civic was the centre as there was the Monaro mall and you could do the laps of Civic by driving right through the centre where the merry-go- round is.
At high school back then there was definitely rivalry between the north and south and long term Canberrans tend to have a strong preference.

I grew up in West Belconnen, left for 10 years and lived in Weston Creek, and then moved back to Belconnen and now live in the Mckellar, Spence, Evatt Area I love it, I still visit Weston Creek every now and again, but do travel around can get from one side of Canberra to the other within half an hour.

I think it’s nothing more than whimsy. That said, northsiders seem to bang on about it a lot more than southsiders.

As someone who lives outside Canberra, I look on with amusement.

vintage123 is isn’t just about the dwelling it’s the whole package. Everything revolves around Civic so the closer the better. I’m a 15 minute drive from there so I don’t pay exorbitant cab fares on a Saturday night and when I need to get to the ice rink in Woden for hockey, it’s a quick hop to the parkway. From the rubbish shops at the hyperdome and belconnen mall it’s not hard to see that Civic is the only place to go shopping, particularly for clothing.

rubaiyat said :

Rollersk8r said :

I’m not convinced there is a rivalry – but if there is it’s because people simply don’t need to leave their immediate district for 99% of stuff. I have absolutely no time or need to drive all the way down one end of Canberra just for a look.

However, a more serious issue is some areas do feel neglected – as all the new facilities and infrastructure (hello light rail and NBN) seems focussed on Gungahlin. There’s no tram or fast internets for us across the road in Belconnen.

There would be if there wasn’t the insane objections to the first sign of (different) progress.

Politicians like to take their battles, one at a time.

Belconnen would have to be worst planned township in Canberra. All its problems stem from that, not any particular singling out for neglect.

You want better transport/trams go demand it off your local members. You want better Internet don’t vote for the Troglodytes who got confused and thought the Internet is two cans connect with a string.

See interesting I reckon Belconnen is the best laid out township in Canberra. Town centre more or less in the middle 3 east west main roads that run basically parallel to each other. Tuggeranong town centre off to the side makes no sense and Gungahlin wouldn’t know where to start.

Rollersk8r said :

I’m not convinced there is a rivalry – but if there is it’s because people simply don’t need to leave their immediate district for 99% of stuff. I have absolutely no time or need to drive all the way down one end of Canberra just for a look.

However, a more serious issue is some areas do feel neglected – as all the new facilities and infrastructure (hello light rail and NBN) seems focussed on Gungahlin. There’s no tram or fast internets for us across the road in Belconnen.

Might have something to do with the simple fact that Gungahlin is where the main developments have been the past 20 years. Just like in the 80’s Tuggeranong was getting all the shiny new stuff and the 70’s and early 80’s it was Belconnen. Just follows the growth rather than any rivalry.

farnarkler said :

Once you get past Kaleen on the Northside and Mawson on the South, you’re in sh*tsville. As for Gungahlin, don’t make me laugh. Oh and I’ve been here since 1976 so have seen it all.

Past Kaleen? Past Lyneham. Inner.

Alexandra Craig said :

SR1985 said :

And just to point out that National Zoo and Aquarium is on the north side of the lake not the south.

But the address is Weston Creek? I just looked it up on google maps and I reckon it is only *just* south of the middle.

It’s north of the Molonglo River, which feeds into/from LBG. North/South of the lake is how many people define the border.

farnarkler said :

Once you get past Kaleen on the Northside and Mawson on the South, you’re in sh*tsville. As for Gungahlin, don’t make me laugh. Oh and I’ve been here since 1976 so have seen it all.

I live in Red Hill so its a moot point, however i have some friends who live in Nicholls and Amaroo and where they live it is definately not sh*tsville, in fact its actually just as nice as my place.

Alexandra Craig said :

SR1985 said :

And just to point out that National Zoo and Aquarium is on the north side of the lake not the south.

But the address is Weston Creek? I just looked it up on google maps and I reckon it is only *just* south of the middle.

Who cares what the address says, which side of the lake is it on? The lake is the definitive border.

This is only an issue because the south are unwilling to accept the fact that Northside is best.

And, yes, this whole “debate” is tongue in cheek, a bit of a laugh and all that. It’s definitely not to be taken seriously. I currently live in Kingston, but I still know Northside is best.

SR1985 said :

And just to point out that National Zoo and Aquarium is on the north side of the lake not the south.

But the address is Weston Creek? I just looked it up on google maps and I reckon it is only *just* south of the middle.

Once you get past Kaleen on the Northside and Mawson on the South, you’re in sh*tsville. As for Gungahlin, don’t make me laugh. Oh and I’ve been here since 1976 so have seen it all.

It’s all south of Murrambateman and north of Tharwa. In all the years I’ve lived in Canberra I don’t ever recall having a discussion about which point on the compass is better in regards to Canberra. Guess I’ve chosen my company well.

I have dual citizenship – born and raised in the South, live in the North. Good thing I keep my Southern passport valid with all the trips to Stromlo Forest Park, the Arboretum, the Cotter, Manuka for the footy, Kingston markets, various fun runs…

Rollersk8r said :

I’m not convinced there is a rivalry – but if there is it’s because people simply don’t need to leave their immediate district for 99% of stuff. I have absolutely no time or need to drive all the way down one end of Canberra just for a look.

However, a more serious issue is some areas do feel neglected – as all the new facilities and infrastructure (hello light rail and NBN) seems focussed on Gungahlin. There’s no tram or fast internets for us across the road in Belconnen.

There would be if there wasn’t the insane objections to the first sign of (different) progress.

Politicians like to take their battles, one at a time.

Belconnen would have to be worst planned township in Canberra. All its problems stem from that, not any particular singling out for neglect.

You want better transport/trams go demand it off your local members. You want better Internet don’t vote for the Troglodytes who got confused and thought the Internet is two cans connect with a string.

Oh the riveraly is real, and in some way validated by the two federal electrol divisions in Canberra, with lake Burley Griffin (and Molonglo river) diving the two (Fraser to the north and Canberra to the south).

My partner laughs every time I moan about having to go south of the lake, but having grown up on the northside it just feel like my side is better. This was reinforced back when I was going out to civic, the southsiders would try and claim that civic was neutral which every northsider opposed completely, as it is clearly on the north side of the lake. – Just a southside land grab attempt.

And just to point out that National Zoo and Aquarium is on the north side of the lake not the south.

I’m not convinced there is a rivalry – but if there is it’s because people simply don’t need to leave their immediate district for 99% of stuff. I have absolutely no time or need to drive all the way down one end of Canberra just for a look.

However, a more serious issue is some areas do feel neglected – as all the new facilities and infrastructure (hello light rail and NBN) seems focussed on Gungahlin. There’s no tram or fast internets for us across the road in Belconnen.

I grew up in the deep south, and the rivalry between Canberra’s north and south was definitely a point of contention, but it was always friendly and tongue in cheek. We’d joke about the dodgy suburbs in north Canberra, completely ignoring the fact that there were notoriously dodgy suburbs just across the road from us too.

That said, I’ve also always lived on the southside (even when I was buying property I didn’t bother looking northside); have to look up directions for Kippax, Jamison and Amaroo on Google Maps; and grumble about travelling 15 minutes from my place in the inner south to my work in Belconnen. Once a southsider, always a southsider, I guess 😉