Saskia Scott and Galen Cuthbertson knew that moving into a little lane in North Adelaide would bring them closer to work and the city, but they didn’t know it would also bring them closer to a sense of community.

Artist Saskia Scott and her partner, academic researcher Galen Cuthbertson, have neighbourliness in their blood.

“We always baked cookies for our neighbours when I was a kid,” says Saskia, “so I have always done it as an adult too – we are carrying on the tradition.”

The pair moved into a cul de sac in North Adelaide in the early part of 2017. They chose the home for its proximity to their respective workplaces, and also because of the compromise the parkland-meets-city spot provided between Saskia’s desire for green space and Galen’s preference for living in higher density areas. 

Galen and Saskia – Not delivering cookies to neighbours right now

After settling into the house, they decided to introduce themselves to their new neighbours using Saskia’s family’s traditional method.

“We made shortbread and took it to everyone we had met in the neighbourhood,” says Saskia.

“Mostly, they asked us to come in and gave us a tour of their house and told us how nice we are,” adds Galen.

Since then, the couple have found themselves slowly coming to know the people who live nearby better.

They tell CityMag about the mother and daughter from down the street who own a “really cute, really old dog” and their next-door neighbours who run a café in the city.

For both Saskia and Galen, these connections make the house they’ve moved into feel more like a home.

“It’s nice just looking out for each other and having someone to water your plants and put your bins out,” says Saskia. “I think it’s great – if you’re renting, it makes you feel like you live here instead of that you’re just passing through.”

“I think one of the big advantages of living in the city is the passive social life,” adds Galen, “the vague friction of interacting with people you wouldn’t otherwise talk with. That’s one of the main reasons I want to live in the city, because there are people around.”

Plants make a home like nice people make a community

The geography of Saskia and Galen’s street helps to facilitate these interactions.

Both walk to work, and to almost every other place they need to go – a habit that creates easy opportunities to stop and chat with others from the area.

“Everything is really close,” says Saskia. “We never drive now. We can walk to the supermarket, walk to the bottle-o, there’s a yoga place, there’s a community garden, there’s a library, there’s a post office – it’s so convenient.”

The street’s residents are close-knit enough that plans for a street party are in the works, and even the neighbour who only met Saskia and Galen for the first time while CityMag was present was immediately friendly.

The only concern for the couple, it seems, is that they might end up a little too attached to their home locale.

“We have friends in walking distance now,” says Galen.

“Going as far afield as the city has become an outing in my life,” says Saskia, “that’s pretty funny.”

Herbs grow in the community garden just over the road