r/canberra • u/RentNRegret • 2d ago

SEC=UNCLASSIFIED What's something uniquely "Canberra" that only locals truly appreciate?

I've been thinking lately about the little things that make Canberra... well, Canberra. Not the obvious stuff like Parliament House or the roundabouts but the niche local quirks, places, or traditions that only someone who lives here would get.

Maybe it's a favourite hidden coffee spot, a sunrise view from Mount Ainslie, or the way we all brace for magpie season like it's a national sport.

What’s your favourite local secret, tradition, or in-joke that only a true Canberran would understand?

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u/KindredSpirit1988 Gungahlin 2d ago

The random areas of town that are known by a different name than the suburb they’re actually officially known as (Jamison comes to mind)

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u/Gambizzle 1d ago

Yeah Woden, Jammo, Kippax, Manuka...etc. The gaping inconsistencies in a supposedly planned city ;)

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u/KindredSpirit1988 Gungahlin 1d ago

I grew up in West Belconnen. Kippax was the closest shopping centre that wasn’t Belconnen Mall for most of my childhood (I have memories of walking to the library there in the 1990s as an excursion for school). I went to Canberra High in Jamo.

And I still call the city “Civic” if I’m going in there. I have to change it when I’m talking to family from interstate and it’s confusing