My name's Jenny, and I've been a Docklands resident for about 17 years. I started off in Harbour Esplanade and decided that I really liked the place. I looked around all sides of Docklands and decided that I liked the facilities and feel of Yarra’s Edge. I originally rented and loved it so much that I ended up buying a place in Point Park Crescent.

I've been in Learning and Development for many years. Now I work for an organisation four days a week and I volunteer for one day with my little dog JJ as a therapy dog team. I also volunteer my time for the community and started up something called Yarra's Edge Action Group that works with the Council to ‘get stuff done’ around Yarra's Edge. That ranges from advocating to VicRoads, to cleaning the local area, getting the footpaths repaired, to local safety issues. There's a whole raft of things that we work on.

In November 2022 I coordinated an event called Celebrate at Yarra’s Edge: The Docklands Connection. We had just come out of COVID and the aim was to bring a sense of connection back Into the community, not just in Yarra's Edge, but all of Docklands. We organised speakers on a range of topics from electric vehicles to health and had a lot of vendors, they were locals with mostly small businesses. We were hoping to get about 250 people and ended up with around 650 on the day.

I've been volunteering my time on and off since I was about 16. I've always considered the need to give back and when I moved to Docklands I wasn't volunteering much, other than doing a few day events here or there. I just wanted to do more, whether it be as a therapy dog team with JJ going to different people’s homes or facilities or helping with one-off things. Bringing people together and seeing a smile on their faces is just amazing.

It was a boy initially. I was living in the suburbs before moving to his apartment. I really liked Docklands. It blew away my preconceived ideas about living in the city.

I grew up in Far North Queensland, eventually moving further north to live on a five-acre property. Before coming to Docklands, I had this idea that if you go anywhere near the city, it's a really cold concrete jungle. I was told that there was no community at all. It turns out that everything is the exact opposite of that.

I found that in Yarra's Edge I got to know my neighbours more than I ever did when I was living in a house in the suburbs. On top of all that I had all these facilities at my doorstep. I could jump on a tram and get to the city easily or just walk. There are beautiful coffee shops around and the walk along the Yarra is wonderful, especially first thing in the morning. It's just so peaceful here, you don't feel like you're in the city at all.

It’s the community support. Putting on the Celebrate Event, I put the word out there that I needed volunteers and had 20 at the drop of a hat, all of whom were all actively involved, drawing on their own strengths to help us bring the event to life. Again, when we formed the Yarra’s Edge Action Group we put the word out there. The City of Melbourne has been very supportive of the group through the local Neighbourhood Partner, and the amount of people that turn up to our meetings on an ad-hoc basis shows the active interest in helping our community.

I’ve made friendships here that will be life-long. Sometimes I have thought about moving somewhere else, but it really is the community and location that keeps me here. I think in Yarra's Edge that sense of togetherness, that culture, is really apparent. Looking up from where we sit in 18 Pence Lane, I see the cafe owner Andrew talking to Peta the photographer having an in-depth conversation. There are works from a local artist on the walls, and a room full of people whose faces and names I mostly know.

Andrew is a great advocate for the Yarra’s Edge community, and he creates a beautiful space here. The communal table is often full with locals eating and chatting with each other, and he’s opened the walls of the cafe to give Peta and other local artists a space to rotate and display their works.

For me, getting JJ was a big way to connect with a lot of people, and when 18 Pence Lane opened, I connected with a whole lot more. As we've been sitting here talking there are people that walk past and wave because they just know who you are.

We’ve got an ageing population in Yarra’s Edge, I'm one of the younger ones. Statistics show us that people stay here a lot longer and get to know each other a lot more. We genuinely care for each other. The other day I happened across an accident here, so I stopped to help out. So many other people stopped to help as well, they didn't just walk on by. We really do care about each other, and strangers. If you're in Yarra's Edge, you're part of our community.

18 Pence Lane is a big one, they do the best coffee around. But as I said, it's also a nice community space, so it's great to hold meetings here and Andrew opens the cafe for small events as well.

I love going to the Library at the Dock at sunset to sit in one of their comfy chairs reading a book and watching the sun go down and the boats come in . It's just magical.

I love walking along the river early in the morning. I walk past the wetlands and watch the swans nesting, taking care of their eggs and waiting for the cygnets to hatch. Walking across the Webb bridge at night is beautiful as well. I've been all around Docklands, but I love Yarra's Edge, it has a particular sort of feel to it.

In Yarra’s Edge we have the restaurants and cafes. The Think Pink Living Centre is situated under Forge, closer to the Bolte Bridge. This is a beautiful organisation that supports breast cancer patients and survivors and their families. I haven't had to use their services, but know they do an amazing job.

One of my good friends who still lives around that five-acre property comes to visit sometimes. He can't believe the country chick has now become a city chick, but he really likes it. I tell him that I have the biggest backyard ever. I get to look out on the Bay, across to the Bolte, I can see the Westgate. I can see so far, and it really does all feel like my backyard.

Visitors see the community here, and everybody saying hello, and they think that I'm a celebrity. I'm not, I'm just a normal person, but they just see so many people wanting to catch up when you walk by that it astounds them. You just don’t get that in the suburbs. Not to mention being stopped because people want to know why they are walking little JJ – One friend swore she was being accused of dog napping!

I guess just come and spend the day wandering around the precinct. You don't have to plan anything. Just wander, talk to people, and sit by the water to take in the view and nature of the area. It's so close to the city, but we have so many green spaces and so much birdlife around. It's just beautiful.

The community here is just beautiful. Unless you live here you never would believe how nice it is. So really, the shining light must be the people.

A lot of Melburnians don’t understand. They think all those old preconceptions of what Docklands is just aren’t relevant anymore. Don't believe what you've heard many years ago. Come and test it, have a look for yourself.

I think a lot of those notions are very dated. We've got so many facilities here. You can jump on a ferry to go to Portarlington, you can jump on a free tram to get into the city. Docklands is a lovely place to walk around, and the people are very friendly. We've got beautiful coffee shops and so many different food options as well.

Whatever your values are, I’m sure you’ll find something you love in Docklands, because we've just got so much.

It would be to see Docklands cultivated as a whole. Yarra's Edge, Victoria Harbour, and NewQuay may be individual precincts with different demographics, and different needs, wants, and desires, but we’re all still one Docklands. It would be great to link them all into a unified whole, and I believe a lot of those needs and desires can be fulfilled by greater connection between the precincts, by drawing on each other's expertise, experiences, and strengths and just working together more.