Young Canberrans and families are overlooking the original "nappy valley" for greener pastures across the lake as Gungahlin continues to drive Canberra's population growth.
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For Gungahlin's Jessie Graham the northside offers a more convenient, family-friendly lifestyle.
Ms Graham and her daughter, Sienna Shepherd, 22 months, moved to the suburb a few months ago.
"I did have a look in Tuggeranong and in other areas around Canberra. I found Gungahlin was the most family-friendly," she said.
"I don't really need a car, I'm so close to the town centre. I can walk to the supermarket and walk to the park.
"You're only 15 minutes from everything. Now they've opened the Majura Parkway, it's made a huge difference. You meet a lot of young families that have moved here."
While the town centre was still catching up with extra shops and amenities, more facilities, including a cinema, were in the pipeline.
"All the infrastructure is in place," Ms Graham said. "It's just a matter of it being developed."
Ms Graham isn't the only parent finding the grass greener in Gungahlin – and was among several young families enjoying Wednesday's sunshine at Yerrabi Ponds.
An extra 2981 Canberrans have called Gungahlin home since last stocktake, the region attracting the bulk of the territory's children and younger adults, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics figures.
Across the ACT, Gungahlin attracted the most net gains of children aged 14 years and younger (398), young people aged 15 to 24 years old (14,781) and adults aged 25 to 44 years old (1895).
The suburb of Crace finished on top in the 2013-14 year, pulling in a net gain of 774 locals.
The population boom is set to continue with the ACT government predicting growth across Gungahlin-Hall in the range of 20,500 people, a massive 58.6 per cent of the city's total growth between 2007 to 2019.
Gungahlin's boom is in stark contrast to Tuggeranong, the original "nappy valley", as it struggles through a population decline.
But Hamish Sinclair of the University of Canberra said the factors driving Gungahlin's remarkable growth are the same as those that made mums and dads flock to Tuggeranong years ago.
"It's sequencing, you can't develop everywhere simultaneously," he said.
"There'll come a time where we'll talk about Molonglo in the same way we're talking about Gungahlin, and Gungahlin the same way we're talking about Tuggeranong."
What separates Gungahlin from Tuggeranong is its potential for economic development.
"There's a schizophrenic relationship between Tuggeranong and Erindale, with Erindale competing to be the town centre. We've learnt a lot from planning issues at Tuggeranong," Mr Sinclair said.
The potential for light rail and access to the NBN means the population will continue migrating north – but don't write off Tuggeranong yet.
"Years ago when I looked at the urban design of Bradden it was quite rundown but we could see creative opportunities. Now I'm looking at Tuggeranong and am seeing the same opportunities there," he said.
