If you've ever planned a move to Canberra, one of the first things you likely heard from friends was of its north-south rivalry.

"Don't you dare live on the south-side or you're dead to me. I'll never visit you": That's what one friend said to me when I first moved to Canberra from Sydney.

But are Canberrans really that committed to their side of the lake?

And are we really all that different from each other?

That's a question that has been put to Curious Canberra several times.

And the data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics paints an interesting picture (the short answer — Canberrans really are loyal to their side of the lake).

But first, we asked self-described inner-north-siders and inner-south-siders, separated by a mere kilometre of water, what a "typical" north or south-sider was like.

'Hessian bags and sandals'

"Stereotypical" south-sider Anita Mills does hot yoga and works as a political lobbyist. ( ABC News: Jake Evans )

Lobbyist Anita Mills is a Kingston loyal who's happy to poke fun at inner-southers, and herself.

She describes the established suburbs in the inner-south as "rich, old money", but says recently "new money" has popped up on the Kingston foreshore.

"It's often couples on high incomes with no children who walk around in matching gym wear," she jokes.

"Then there's the Griffith inner-south, which is all polo shirts and pearls."

Anita says she doesn't fit the stereotype, but she identifies as a "south-sider".

"And I have those little jokes with my friends on the north-side," she says.

"I occasionally have tried to go to north-side markets with my kids, and then I make the jokes to my children … you get out there and everyone has got their hessian bag, cruising around in their sandals."

One of those people cruising around in sandals with a hessian bag may well have been barista and music promoter Ruby Turnnidge.

"I am definitely that stereotype … when I'm explaining, 'oh I work in the underground music scene, and I work at a vegan bakery,'" Ruby jokes.

"Stereotypical" inner-north Canberran Ruby Turnnidge works at a vegan bakery. ( ABC News: Jake Evans )

Ruby moved to Canberra for its music scene three years ago.

She books bands from Sydney and Melbourne to play at her home — which is also an underground venue.

And she loves the inner-north, because as she jokes it has everything she needs for her "bourgie lifestyle".

"I think that Fyshwick has the most beautiful sunsets in Canberra, and I definitely cross the lake, no judgement, but I would never move," she said.

Canberrans really are loyal

ABS data suggests Ruby's not alone.

Of Canberrans who lived north-side in 2011, 96 per cent were on the same side of the lake five years later, and 94 per cent of south-siders remained on their end.

Nationwide, more than a third of people changed address in the same time — Canberrans really are loyal to their lakeside.

Anita reckons once Canberrans have settled, they're less likely to move. ( ABC News: Jake Evans )

Even amongst the unfaithful 25 to 29-year-olds, who are most likely to migrate, the numbers are small.

20 per cent of that group who lived south-side had moved north by 2016 (and in the other direction, 10 per cent made a move south).

Belconnen and Gungahlin residents are most loyal, about 97 per cent of them remained in the north.

And the least loyal? Inner-south residents — but only by a bit.

90 per cent of them stuck to the foreshore over five years.

But why do we stick to our ends of the lake?