Whisper this - but there was a view in both Belconnen and Woden that the jostling over which of them should get the next stage of the light-rail was more about moving voters than moving passengers.
The Liberals have suggested that Belconnen might be a better terminus than the planned one in Woden. Labor stood by its plan to head the extension southward, and it has ignited Canberra's north versus south debate again.
"It's politics and I don't trust politicians," Junaid Kamal said outside the Westfield shopping centre in Woden.
"They all use election ploys," said another shopper standing nearby.
In Belconnen, on the other hand, Betty Hedge, leaning on her bike before doing Pilates, thought the Liberal suggestion was "probably to get in".
It's politics and I don't trust politicians.
Junaid Kamal
Fiona Mackie, on the waterfront in Belconnen, also thought the suggestion was politically motivated.
"That's what they do," she said.
She was generous towards another suburb: "Poor Tuggeranong. They are getting left out of everything."
Despite living in Belconnen, her vote wasn't going to shift because of the Labor-Liberal jostling.
She usually voted Green but she thought the tram extension might not be money well spent compared to improving the bus services.
Discontent with buses was a common theme in both the northern and southern suburbs.
Woden taxi driver Paramdeep Singh said he talked to a lot of passengers in his cab so he's got his finger on the political pulse of the place.
"The weekend bus service here is not good," he said.
And there was unhappiness about the health service. "My passengers say they want more from the hospitals," he said.
A random sampling of opinion at lunchtime in the two suburbs isn't a scientific assessment but transport did keep coming up as a recurrent theme of discontent - buses, certainly, but also cycle paths.
"We want smooth cycle tracks," Betty Hedge said. "It's not just for cyclists - it's for people with prams."
And buses cropped up again. She thought it would be "nice" if the tram came to Belconnen instead of Woden but given the cost, why not spend the money on a better bus service instead.
"They need to improve the bus service," she said.
Despite a widespread view that the vying over policy on the light-rail was about the election, and unlikely to result in much change after the election, there was a lack of cynicism about politicians.
Only one person was not enamoured of them. "Politicians will only look after themselves," Junaid Kamal in Woden said.
"They never care about people. Never".
"I haven't seen anybody decent in Canberra since Jon Stanhope," he added, referring to the Labor chief minister from 2001 to 2011.
But that discontent was rare.
People who had moved to Australia were noticeable in their praise for their adopted country.
"We are pretty happy. We've got everything we need. We've got heaps of parks and roads. I'm pretty happy," Sunny Singh said as he enjoyed the sun with his wife, Navjot, and three-year-old son, Kaur.
They came to Australia from India 18 years ago as students and have made a life here. They love the country and the capital city.
Her only gripe was the cost of childcare at $130 a day. The couple are expecting a baby in November. It will be another boy.
In Woden, Alex Iwad who came from Palestine 20 years ago said: "Coming from a war, this is a beautiful country ... I love it."
