Some people say that the Sunshine Coast is like Florida, or California ten years ago, maybe a bit of Bali on the side, South African beaches, German hinterlands, Swedish service and Brazilian good cheer.
Long ago Professor Heffernan of the Sunshine Coast University identified at least 17 different village groups that make up the coast region, so presumably there are many varying attributes between communities.
So are these differences geographical, socio-economic, work or activity based, leisure oriented or maybe just age demographics.
Like ingredients in a recipe, these tribal and cultural factors are intermixed in any combination to make up the flavour of our communities.
And just like good food or pleasing spaces, you don’t need to understand all the elements to just enjoy where you live.
In many cases locals have probably evolved with their communities, which might explain why there are such strong protest groups within some areas.
So do people accept the community or does the community accept them? Some people are decisive and will choose gated orderly neighbourhoods, while others despise the homogenised sterility of planned communities.
Some people are quirky and prefer the organic, eclectic mix of the old town, while others eschew the mixed bag of old riffraff. What’s most important is to accept that communities change and that people need to find the community that feels right for them.
This is part of the reason why 43% of people move within 5 years, 30% of people stay for 5 to 14 years, and 27% remain for longer than 15 years in their house. People should not expect that the community will stand idle till they die, because of course, that is the death of communities.
Adrian Just runs Archicology Architects at Yaroomba and is current Chair of the Sunshine Coast region for the Australian Institute of Architects.
