I know my neighbour and the cafe owner in my suburb. It’s all so disgustingly wholesome

The other day, I rushed out the door at 6.15am to catch the bus. I waved goodbye to my daughter and husband, and then smiled and even said “good morning” to the man who was picking up after his dog next to my driveway.

Five years ago, a man whose dog had fouled my footpath would have gotten a cold shoulder at best, let alone a smile. But Tarragindi, with its tree-lined streets and pockets of bushland, has turned me into that person.

For much of my adult life, I lived in apartments – either here in Brisbane or in New Zealand – and I never knew, or laid eyes on, my neighbours. I liked it that way. But living in this southside hub has changed me.

I know, and really like, my neighbour. I say good morning to fellow walkers. I engage with other parents at the playground. And I make small talk with cafe workers. My internal monologue regularly asks of myself, “Who are you?!”

Tucked between Annerley and Moorooka, Tarragindi is a gem of a place. I often joke that everyone either has a dog or a pram – or both. In just a 15-minute walk, you can go through bush to a dog park, into a cafe serving some of the city’s best matcha (we’re looking at you, Lola’s), and to a creek to spot turtles. All this less than 10 kilometres from the CBD.

It has such a family-friendly atmosphere that I barely needed to venture out of the area during my 12-month parental leave. In fact, one of the local cafes came to expect me and my sister every Monday with our babies in tow.

There’s a ripper scooter park and four playgrounds within walking distance of each other; two primary schools; great doctors at the local clinic; and those cafes are kid-friendly.

Tarragindi might not be front of mind when you think of a dinner spot – it’s no Paddington or Bulimba – but it’s holding its own.

Oh Monk dishes up the best beef and cashew stir-fry and coconut rice I’ve ever had, while Georgie’s Corner serves up a mean (and affordable) chicken burger. You can buy a tray of the best cinnamon doughnuts from Davies Bakery, and if you’re feeling bougie, you can browse the aisles of Good Things Grocer for items you won’t find in Woolworths. There’s even a fancy wine bar in a former post office.

On the cafe front, the team at Umu Kitchen are the friendliest you’ll ever come across, while Dijon Toasties has come to know my husband by his regular coffee and hash brown order.

Between meals, you can wander through Toohey Forest to see koalas, goannas and snakes. Or, if you’re afraid of coming across snakes like I am (despite growing up on a farm in north Queensland), you can see photos of them in the local community Facebook group.

Formerly known as Sandy Creek, Tarragindi was urbanised in the 1950s during the post-WWII housing boom. At the time, many of the homes were of an Interwar style – asymmetrically designed with a street-facing decorated gable.

We live in a home like this, and while ours has been renovated over the years, it has retained its character. These kinds of houses are slowly disappearing from the streets around us. Instead, mini-mansions on 300- to 600-square-metre blocks are taking over.

Don’t get me wrong, they’re stunning homes. I walked through one not too long ago and was blown away by the design. But the design is being mimicked by many builders in the area, so it’s all starting to look a little samey.

A five-bedder on a 405-square-metre block recently sold for $3.17 million

These homes come with huge price tags. A five-bedder on a 405-square-metre block recently sold for $3.17 million. Nearby, one on 614 square metres sold for $4.1 million.

It seems every few weeks there’s a post in the community Facebook page with someone selling a house, hoping to find a buyer who will retain its original character. A pipe dream in this flipping economy perhaps?

I’m not knocking these builds. We explored the idea of rebuilding ourselves. But a rough estimate of over $1 million to build a basic, no-frills home, without factoring in the cost of removing the existing house or building retaining walls, made the notion laughable.

You may have heard Brisbane was labelled the most expensive place to build in Australia last year. And as we get closer to the Olympics, I’m sure that will only get worse.

We’d consider trading up for a new (or newish) build, but the prices are an issue, and that also poses a question residents in other inner-city suburbs are asking: Where would we move to?

So for my family, for now, we’ll be staying put, surrounded by bushland and wildlife. Kookaburras wake us up in the morning, water dragons – or dinosaurs, as my toddler calls them – scurry through our garden, koalas get lost and turn up on our deck, and snakes definitely watch us from the shrubs.

In fact, I have to pinch myself to think this is where we live. And we’re still only a 20-minute bus ride from the city centre.

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