Moving to Oaks Estate from Griffith four years ago, Peter O'Dea was amazed his home insurance was cheaper thanks to a reduced risk of crime.
While Oaks Estate draws disproportionate, crime-related attention, Mr O'Dea said support services for transient people in public housing had addressed much of the problem.
A long-established progress association was more active these days, finishing a major upgrade of Oaks Estate Park and making its community garden more inviting for people to plant vegetables.
Only six vacant, unserviced blocks remain in the outpost suburb and residents would like to see more residential development.
After years struggling for planning for the future, community consultation will begin soon for a master plan for Canberra's forgotten corner, bordering Queanbeyan and often mistaken as being in NSW.
A development application for 54 townhouses on the site of a former petrol storage facility on the corner of Railway and Florence streets has lapsed after years of inactivity.
''We will strongly oppose intense development of Oaks Estate, because we have more than our fair share of multi-storey flats already for such a small community. There are seven blocks of flats, some are three-storeys high,'' Mr O'Dea said.
''It [Oaks Estate] is unique. Ten minutes from Manuka and you are in the country. It has a village feel [but] there are quite a lot of flats here and an interesting mix, an eclectic mix of people,'' he said.
Few services are available compared to other suburbs.
''A corner store, liquor shop and four light engineering businesses, and the bus service is nothing to speak of. And I spend a lot of time on the phone getting the Government to take seriously having garbage which is dumped by the side of the road picked up,'' he said. ''It takes a phone call to get the street sweeper to come out. We have to ask for things which in other suburbs you would take for granted, I suppose.''
He says having a small population means Oaks Estate residents have to wait for things. They are also doing without broadband services.
''Oaks Estate is pretty special [but] I don't know what you could do with it. We don't mind people having a second dwelling on a block to increase dwelling numbers. That's fine. because they are mainly quarter acre blocks. But no more flats.''
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