1950s

Dino’s household eats all their vegetables and lots of fruit from the garden, and his mum preserves tomatoes and olives. They also get milk from Carolina the goat and sometimes pigeon meat. All the houses have vegetable patches except Sarah’s. Her mum buys vegetables at the green grocer. The households all shop in small shops, getting meat from the butcher and bread from the baker. They cook with basic ingredients. At the Gundry’s, they grow their own vegetables and keep chickens.

1960s and 1970s

Many households in the street have given up veggie growing, but there are still fruit trees and eggs from backyard chooks in two houses. A lot of household food is still made from scratch, but more foods come in tins or plastic wrappers. Sarah and Robert’s mum still buys basic ingredients from lots of shops, and their grandma supplies that household with home-produced food from their farm.

1980s and 90s

There is no food grown at home, and more and more food comes from supermarkets rather than smaller shops as the years go on. Many of the meals are now ready-made and packaged.

2000s

Most households live like Jesse‘s: food comes from supermarkets, and more and more meals are takeaway and ready-made. Things are changing in the street though – at Alisha and Olly’s, a lot of food is grown or produced at home and they grow vegetables for households beyond their own. They also get eggs from their chickens. Jesse contributes some of this food to his household economy after helping in their garden and playing with the babies. It makes a change from the highly processed, packaged food from the supermarket that makes up most of his family meals.

2010s

Although most Australian households are buying a lot of packaged food from the supermarket and lots of take-away meals, in Rianna and Jake’s households, lots of the food is grown in the garden. Food is cooked from scratch, even the bread. Grain and other dry goods are bought in bulk from a food co-op, and the wheat is processed into flour at home.

2020s

Food is produced in multiple places over the four blocks is and often shared between the households. Vegetables and fruit come from the gardens, dairy foods from the goats, honey from the bees and eggs from the chickens. In the rest of society, there is a lot of food waste produced, and Kit’s household salvage packaged and processed food that gets thrown out.

1950s

Dino’s household has a thriving household economy. Lots of food grown and processed at home, and his mamma is good at fixing things, and making do on a small income. She spends much of her time looking after the younger brothers – another big part of the household economy. Although Sarah’s household doesn’t grow food, there is still a lot being done in the household – looking after young children, preparing food and keeping the house clean and tidy. In all these households it is common to fix things rather than get new things.

1960s and 70s

In all four households there is still a lot of food preparation, housework and childcare happening, but there is less food growing. Mr Gundy still makes and fixes things in his workshop and passes on some of these skills to Lucy.

1980s and 90s

Not many things are happening at home in Toby, Luke or Kate’s households. The adults are at work most of the day and the younger people are at school and after school care. There is less time spent on housework as most houses have driers for clothes, and dishwashers become more common. Some of the households pay others to do the household tasks for them, and it is becoming less common to repair things. There is no food grown at home, and many of the meals are ready-made and packaged. Mr and Mrs Gundry no longer keep chooks or a veggie garden, but Mrs Gundry still cooks from scratch and Mr Gundry is still active in his workshop.

2000s and 10s

In most Australian households there is very little happening in the household economy, but things are changing in this part of Aussie St. At Rianna and Jake’s houses, there are people doing lots of different things: baking bread, growing food, fixing and repurposing things. This feels very different for Jesse, who is used to all food coming from supermarkets or takeaway shops, and very little being done in the home.

2020s

The household economy is thriving in all four houses! There are people growing, making and doing all sorts of different things.

1950s

Dino contributes a lot at home – he is a useful member of the household. He milks and looks after the goat Carolina, and helps Mamma and Papa in the house and garden. When his brothers get older, they will be expected to help out too. Next door, the children do not have as many jobs to do, but they are expected to look after their younger siblings.

1960s and 1970s

Lucy and her brothers are expected to do household tasks, and Lucy also contributes eggs to the household economy. Sarah and Robert also do household tasks and their older brother Brian helps their dad in his workshop while he learns the mechanics trade.

1980s and 90s

Toby, Luke and Kate have basic tasks to do in the household, such as helping stack the dishwasher and cleaning their rooms, but their contribution to the household economy is minimal.

2000s

Jesse and his brother do some housework, but Jesse also contributes some of the food he gets from next door to his household economy after helping out in their garden and with the babies.

2010s

Rianna and Jake help with many productive activities as part of their daily routine: looking after the chooks, helping with baking bread and other cooking, and working in the garden. They also work on bigger projects with Gareth or other adults.

2020s

All the young people in the houses make large contributions to their household economies in lots of different ways. Besides working in the gardens, orchards, kitchen and workshop, Rianna’s goats provide milk and Jake’s work brings honey. Kit contributes to the household economy through sharing all food preparation, building projects and housework as well as contributing to the household income through fixing bikes. Although she is younger, Kekipi helps out with all sorts of tasks as she moves between the households.

1950s

The kids in the street spend a lot of time playing by the creek, making cubby houses, swings and forts. Television is very new even in the late 50s, and only one household in the street has one. Dino doesn’t get much leisure time between going to school and helping at home, but he enjoys going to cut branches for Carolina.

1960s and 1970s

The kids still spend a lot of time playing together outside, however television is becoming more common. They organise cricket matches on the road, finding boxes for wickets. Lucy likes reading and making things, but her brothers prefer the television.

1980s and 90s

Toby spends a lot of his leisure time riding his bike. He rides it to the oval to play cricket with his friends on the weekend. Luke likes skateboarding and listening to music on his Walkman. Kate plays video games and reads books. She also plays cricket, but unlike the cricket games in earlier decades, these cricket matches are organised by adults, and she gets a lift to the oval from her dad.

2000s

Jesse spends as much time as possible doing things with the neighbours. He has fun learning to garden and playing with the toddlers.

2010s

Rianna’s household doesn’s have a television, and she and Jake like to play outside in the garden. They enjoy helping the adults with various activities. They love the street parties with music and pizza!

2020s

For the young people in the households, there isn’t a clear line between work and leisure. They all enjoy helping out in different ways. For instance, Rianna’s goats make an important contribution to the household economy, and looking after them is one of her favourite things to do.

1959

20 people in the four houses:
Mr & Mrs Gundry and Mr Gundry’s sister (3)
Mr & Mrs Peterson and their children Graeme, Lucy and Gerald (5)
Brian, Sarah, Helen, Robert and Jenny, and their parents (7)
Dino, Joseph, Sergio and their parents (5)

1974

17 people in the four houses:
Mr & Mrs Gundry (2)
Lucy, her brothers Graeme and Gerald, and their parents Mr & Mrs Peterson (5)
Ruth, Greg and their young children Emily, Cathy and Toby (5)
Dino and his wife, his brother Sergio and their parents (5)

1999

11 people in the five houses:
Mr & Mrs Gundry (2)
Mr & Mrs Peterson (2)
Ruth and Greg, but they are away a lot (2)
Kate and her parents (3)
Rebecca and Nigel (2)

2009

15 people in the five houses:
Mr & Mrs Gundry (2)
Alisha, Olly & Rianna (3)
Andrea, Ian, and their adult son Gareth, and Jake and him mum Jody (5)
Jesse, Ethan and their dad (3)
Rebecca and Nigel (2)

2017

15 people in the five houses:
Mr & Mrs Gundry (2)
Alisha, Olly & Rianna (3)
Andrea, Ian, and their adult son Gareth, and Jake and him mum Jody (5)
Renters (3)
Rebecca and Nigel (2)

2029

20 people in the four houses:
Megan and travellers (5)
Rianna and her boyfriend Kai, and parents Alisha and Olly (4)
Kekipi, and her parents Gareth and Nisha, and grandparents Andrea and Ian, and Jody (6)
Kit, Lisa, Lance, Seb and baby Che (5)

Look at the ‘Total floor area’ part of the graph to see how the amount of space taken up by the buildings changes over time.

In the 1950s everyone has the same sized house and a large garden.

By 1974, there has been an extension put onto Dino’s house, and the shed at the back of Toby’s house has been rebuilt and takes up more of the garden.

In the 1990s another house gets built behind one of the houses, so there is hardly any garden space left on that block, and what is left is mostly concrete.

In the 2000s a big extension is put onto Jake’s house so there is even less garden space.

In the 2020s one of the original houses burns down, so there is more outdoor space overall and Rianna has room to keep goats.

1950s

The kids who are old enough go out to school, and often play down at the creek afterwards, but they are home for most of the rest of the time. Younger kids are mostly at home. Some of the adults go out to work, but Dino’s mamma and Sarah’s dad work from home. Many of the adults, especially the women in this era, work only in the household economy, so are home most of the time.

1960s and 1970s

It is still common for women to work mostly in the household economy, so most of the mothers are home for most of the time. The kids are mostly home when they are not at school, but most people working for money work away from home.

1980s and 90s

It is becoming more and more common for both parents to go out to work, and by the 90s Kate goes to after school care, as well as school, while her parents are working. Although there are now three older retired couples in the street, at least one of them is away for most of the time, and the two adults living behind Kate’s house are away at work for most of the day.

2000s

In most of Australia there are lots of empty houses during the day, with adults out at work, kids out at school, and younger kids at childcare. Older kids might also go to after school care between when school finishes and their parents finish work like Jesse and his brother do. In Alisha and Olly’s house though, most of the family is home most of the time. Olly works from home producing veggie boxes and seedlings for customers who come to their house and pick them up.

2010s

The five households are very different when it comes to time at home. Mr & Mrs Gundry are elderly and home almost all the time. Jake and Rianna are home educated so are also at home for most of the time, although they often go visiting the neighbouring houses. Some of the adults in their houses go out to work part time, but Olly and Gareth both work from home. In the other two houses, things are similar to most parts of Australia, with adults and kids out at work and school all day.

The 2020s

By the time Kekipi tells her story, most people in the four houses are home most of the time. Everyone spends time at home active in the household economy, and most people working for money do so from home: the bicycle collective, Gareth’s small manufacturing business, Olly’s vegetables and Jody’s writing.

See the ‘Average 2010 GHG emissions’ part of the graph. This shows the household’s GHG emission as a percentage of the Australian average in 2010.

In the 1950s, lots of things are done at home: things are mostly repaired rather than replaced, and not all of these households have cars, so the GHG emissions are very low compared to later years. However GHG emissions rise rapidly through the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s as people are driving more often and buying more things. Although in most of Australia the GHG emissions continue to rise over the next couple of decades, in this part of Aussie St, they start to fall as new people move in.

Alisha & Olly don’t have a car and hardly ever buy new things. Almost all their food comes from the garden or the food co-op which dramatically reduces growing, processing, packaging and transport emissions. This lifestyle extends to the other households over time, and by 2029 there is only one car in the whole four households – an electric vehicle owned by Andrea and Ian. Two of the households have members that make money from repairing or making things from things that others throw away, saving lots of GHG emissions. GHG emissions from food are also very low, through buying in bulk, growing produce, and scavenging waste food.

This is a question only you and your household can answer! Do you, or would you like to:

• Have street parties?
• Cook meals from scratch?
• Ride bikes or walk to where you need to go?
• Preserve food?
• Grow fruit and vegetables?
• Keep chickens, bees or goats?
• Repair clothes, bikes or other things?
• Make things?
• Use a composting toilet?
• Learn a language from someone from another culture?
• Buy some food in bulk?
• Play instruments and sing rather than stream music?
• Take down fences or put in a gate between you and the neighbours?
• Spend time outside playing cricket, building forts, or helping in the garden?