Much of the time Corio Villa Court in Lyneham is an idyllic circle of neat bungalows for elderly people.
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And sometimes it's a hellish nightmare.
There are well-kept gardens in the centre of the circle of public housing. Residents sit quietly in the shade of their porches. They help each other. They get along.
But when it turns nasty, it turns very nasty. It seems this refuge for people in the autumn of their lives has become a target for some of the feckless young.
There have been break-ins, attacks and terrifying abuse from outsiders. Old people say they have had their glasses pulled off. Being given the finger is routine. Outsiders sleep in the gardens.
They said that a 90-year-old was pushed off her chair and robbed. Another woman said she woke to find a man in her bedroom going through her handbag.
"A woman told me how much she hated me," 69-year-old Judy Hemming said of one incident.
"I've had windows smashed at 2 o'clock in the morning," 78-year-old Kate Carman said. She said she was terrified. She has since had a stroke.
"I've been abused. I've had stones thrown at me. I've had the door tried at night-time."
Young people demand money through the safety grills on front doors.
The gardens at the centre of the 17-unit complex attract drug and alcohol abusers, according to the residents.
It seems the complex for vulnerable people is seen as a soft touch by a small number of younger people who are desperate for cash or drugs, and for a secluded space to take the drugs - like the centre of the circle of public housing.
And that frightens residents. They want more police and more safety equipment like CCTV cameras, floodlights activated by movement, and ultra-secure doors.
They say that the police and the ACT government have not been reassuring in the responses to their pleas. They say that bureaucracy ignores them because of their age.
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A former policeman who lives nearby has taken up their case. "I fail to see why the Australian Federal Police can't have a car just cruise down here three times a week, just to show a presence," Bill Palmer said.
He refers to the miscreants as "scum-bags".
But the police and the ACT government only have limited resources.
The AFP says it has to prioritise when they get triple zero calls.
"The call centre works on a priority system, and when required may also reduce attendance to certain incidents including vandalism, low level thefts or traffic collisions with no injuries in order to attend current life-threatening incidents," a spokesperson said.
"Our operational priority is always the safety of the community which is a major factor in determining which jobs officers respond to immediately."
The ACT government said it would work with the police and the residents to improve the situation. "In terms of the request for CCTV, this and other possible security measures for the complex will be investigated and explored with the clients residing in the complex as quickly as possible."
Both the police and the ACT government said they took the safety of the residents very seriously.
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Steve Evans
Steve Evans is a reporter on The Canberra Times. He's been a BBC correspondent in New York, London, Berlin and Seoul and the sole reporter/photographer/paper deliverer on The Glen Innes Examiner in country New South Wales. "All the jobs have been fascinating - and so it continues."
Steve Evans is a reporter on The Canberra Times. He's been a BBC correspondent in New York, London, Berlin and Seoul and the sole reporter/photographer/paper deliverer on The Glen Innes Examiner in country New South Wales. "All the jobs have been fascinating - and so it continues."
