Canberra is an easy city to caricature. Public servants, roundabouts, cold mornings, school excursions, politicians.
Many people come here for work and end up staying. Why? Because the quality of life is so high. I’ve lived in Canberra most of my life. I’ve been away enough to get a good idea of what other cities have to offer, but I’ve chosen to stay.
The bush capital
Canberra is built around the bush. The city was planned as a series of town centres connected by large swathes of bushland. You can be standing in the middle of the city and feel like you’re actually in the middle of the bush.
In most cities, hillsides are where you’ll find the most expensive property. In Canberra, development was all planned primarily in the valleys, leaving the hills untouched.
Hills like Mt Ainslie, Black Mountain, Red Hill and Mt Taylor are all nature reserves that overlook parts of the city. I love being able to look out and see the hills. When you live on the southside of Canberra, you get an incredible view across the Brindabella Ranges.
Very little traffic
Canberrans love complaining about traffic, simply because we love complaining, but compared to other cities we are so lucky.
The TomTom Traffic Index put Canberra’s average 10 km drive in 2025 at 16 minutes and 37 seconds, and the average speed during rush hour was 30.5 km/h. Sydney’s average 10 km drive is 24 minutes and the average speed during rush hour is 20 km/h. Canberra is also relatively small. You can drive from one side of Canberra to the other in 30-40 minutes.
This has such a big impact on life. Dinner across town does not require strategic planning. Getting to a doctor, a friend’s place, the lake, the airport or a kid’s sport is quick and easy. The only downside is public transport isn’t as good in the suburbs. Where I live on the Light Rail corridor, it’s fantastic, but you still need a car for most places. The good news is that you don’t spend that long in the car and public transport is getting better.
An underrated food scene
We don’t have the celebrity chefs or flagship names, but Canberra has one of the best food scenes in the world.
There isn’t the same quantity of restaurants compared to the bigger cities, but the quality is top-notch. I’ve been lucky to eat at Michelin-starred restaurants, but the best meals I’ve had have been here in Canberra. The scene is understated – it’s best to seek out a local who can share where to eat, as the food guides simply don’t cover Canberra and the reviews, while very positive, are usually pretty sparse.
The Canberra wine region, which is both in and out of the city, produces some of the best European-style Shiraz, and I think the best Rieslings come out of Canberra too.
The food scene is growing. There are always exciting new places to eat in Canberra.
Four distinct seasons
Canberra has four distinct seasons. Autumn is probably the most famous. Canberra’s centre is home to a huge number of deciduous trees that turn beautiful autumn shades.
Winter is cold. But it’s actually many Canberrans’ favourite season. It’s not usually damp and miserable. Instead, the air is crisp, the sky is incredibly blue and there are many days with very little wind. So it’s actually amazing for going out and walking around. You get to own an entirely separate wardrobe for cold weather – I love being able to switch things up and wear a nice coat. The only thing missing is snow. It doesn’t snow in Canberra but I guess that does make life easier. You will see a dusting of snow on the mountains around Canberra during the coldest parts of winter.
Summer is hot. But the evenings are great for getting outside and walking around, visiting the lake, and going for picnics. There’s often a sea breeze – yes, Canberra does get a sea breeze – that will cool things down to make the evenings nice outside.
And spring is popular with tourists, mainly for Floriade. It’s my least favourite season because it’s often windier, but it’s honestly still pretty good seeing the transition day by day between winter and summer.
Arts and culture
Living in Canberra means having the country’s big cultural institutions as part of regular city life.
With the National Gallery, National Library, National Museum, Portrait Gallery, etc., there is always an exhibition, talk or tour worth going to and, more often than not, there is no cost.
In the last few years, Canberra’s alternative and independent arts scene has been growing. There are new live music venues, art spaces and groups. It’s not as visible as in other cities, but it’s growing fast.
A progressive city
Obviously this won’t appeal to some people. Canberra is Australia’s most progressive city.
The last right-wing Chief Minister was Gary Humphries, whose term ended in November 2001. And Gary Humphries was barely right-wing.
That progressive streak shows up outside local elections too. In the 2017 marriage equality postal survey, the ACT recorded a 74.0% Yes vote, the highest in the country. In the 2023 Voice referendum, the ACT was the only jurisdiction to record a majority Yes vote, with 61.29% voting Yes.
Canberra has pretty progressive policies that impact day-to-day life. We buy 100% of our electricity from renewable sources, which increases the national mix. Voluntary assisted dying is legal in the ACT. There are strong protections for women accessing health services, and drug use isn’t criminalised in the same way as in other states and territories.
There is also the education factor. The ABS says the ACT had the highest proportion of people with a bachelor degree or above of any state or territory in May 2025, at 46%. That does not automatically make a place smarter or kinder, but it does mean populist policies and fear-mongering just don’t work here.
It feels safe
Canberra is not a magic crime-free snow globe, but it does feel like a safe city. Obviously some people will feel differently depending on gender and background.
The Productivity Commission’s Report on Government Services found that in 2024-25, 87.5% of ACT survey respondents felt safe or very safe at home alone during the night, the highest result of any jurisdiction. The ACT also recorded the highest result for feeling safe walking locally at night, at 56.8%.
There is still crime – my bike did get stolen from my apartment – but it doesn’t feel like it’s a huge issue.
A healthy place to live
The ABS says life expectancy in 2022-2024 was highest in the ACT for both males and females: 82.0 years for males and 85.8 years for females. That will be tied up with income, education, access to services and plenty of other structural factors, not just people walking around the lake in expensive activewear. But the environment helps.
The air is usually one of the pleasures of living here: clear mornings, blue skies. It is also not perfect. The ACT State of the Environment Report notes that fine particle pollution, especially from wood heaters and fire smoke, remains the ACT’s main air quality issue. So no, the city is not pristine, but there is noticeably less smog than in most major cities. Canberra has the highest EV ownership rate in the country, which will continue to make a difference.
Active living
It’s pretty easy to be active in Canberra. We are missing the beach. So if you dream of waking up early and going for a morning swim, Canberra isn’t for you.
But it’s easy to get outside and go walking. I think most people live close to a nature reserve or bushland or a walking path. Tidbinbilla and Namadgi National Park are close by, with dozens of incredible hikes. Mount Ainslie is one of the most popular walks. But there are just too many to list.
There are also amazing mountain biking facilities at Mount Stromlo and Mount Majura, and most of the city has good bike paths that aren’t on roads.
