#showusyourCBR: Ode to Ainslie

Posted on 21 September, 2020

This story is part of HerCanberra’s #showusyourcbr project, which encourages Canberrans to send us words and photos of their neighbourhoods and backyards.

Ode to Ainslie

I’ve only ever known the shadow of Mount Ainslie, which I stared out at from my childhood home from the time I was tall enough to reach the windowsill.

I’ve only ever loved the Ainslie Shops, even when it was little more than a corner store and not much else—certainly not the imported cheese utopia that is part of the constant and daily allure of today’s Ainslie IGA.

I know every nook and cranny of the inner north enclave, having learned to walk there, ride my bike there, gone to schools there and bought not one, but two houses there.

While I have watched the suburb go from intensely working class with the highest concentration of Government housing to commanding seven figures for a tiny and decrepit cottage, I love those cottages are still on every street—heritage-listed and protected for generations to come.

I love the Ainslie community—or as it is sometimes known, the People’s Republic of Ainslie or the Lentil-Belt. It’s an organic veggie patched, solar-panelled, worm-faming collective which is possibly the most left-wing in the city.

Ainslie is full of academics and journalists—people who question the status quo and go their own way (usually to the left). I love the exchange of ideas on every street corner and the fact that in a city where everyone knows each other, it is intensified in Ainslie so you can’t go beyond your driveway without having a conversation with someone.

I am prepared to share my suburb and I love seeing new people move in. Who can blame them for wanting to live within walking distance of the CBD while still staring at the mountain and hearing the birdlife squawk overhead.

Ainslie is also full of creatives, thinkers and aesthetes. So the new houses and renovations that are constantly underway usually delight me with their particular aesthetic. It’s not a place for big square boxes. Ainslie houses are prettier. Sometimes they are even painted bright pink.

I also love that Ainslie maintains its grungy underbelly despite the corporate influx—government housing still dots the suburb ensuring a level of acceptance of everybody whether they are rich or poor, successful or struggling.

Ainslie has it all. And it is so important to see.

Being one of the original Canberra suburbs, Ainslie is ageing. Its elderly residents stroll slowly to the ends of their driveways as the sun sets and congregate under the rows of blossom trees to dissect their day.

Imagine the seasons they have weathered in their little cottages. What must they make of the bustling gastronomic centre that is their local shops—hello, Saturday queues for Ainslie Bakehouse sourdough and the footpath laden with Edgar’s regulars.

Hopefully, the suburb’s original residents feel revered and cared for – with a supermarket that will deliver their groceries to their door, and an Ainslie community group which sprang up immediately after the COVID lockdown started to ensure the lonely and isolated were supported.

I can’t think of anywhere else in Canberra I would want to live. And one day I expect I will be old and grey and strolling down to the Ainslie IGA for yet another round of truffled brie and a baguette.

WANT TO SHOW US YOUR CANBERRA?

Write us a short piece (up to 400 words) on what you love about where you live and send us some piccies to editor@hercanberra.com.au or take us out with you next time you walk around and show us where you live on Instagram using the hashtag #showusyourcbr.

We want the lowdown on the best walks, the best local shops, prettiest views, cutest houses and favourite hangouts—whatever you love about your locality. And now that it’s spring, there’s no excuse not to be outside and soaking it all up.

Inspire the rest of us to come visit your Canberra!

FAQs

Do I have to live within the ACT to take part?

Nope! We love our surrounding “sister suburbs” of Bungendore, Braidwood, Yass, Queanbeyan, Sutton and beyond. If you feel like part of the HerCanberra community, we want to see your neighbourhood.

I have a private Instagram account; can I still take part?

It might be easiest for you to write us something about your suburb, as we can’t guarantee we’ll see the @hercanberra/#showusyourcbr tag in your stories if the Instagram account is set to private.

Images supplied by author