Home to about 500 people, a small rural town in the south-west is becoming a growth hotspot.
Lismore Progress Association's Val Lang said with the surge in new faces came new ideas which were putting the town on the map.
"There's all different things happening," she said.
"The town's getting younger, it's got new ideas going on and that's causing quite a change.
"I used to teach and I felt I knew a lot of people and now there are a lot of people I don't know, which is good."
She said the effect of the change was "quiet growth and renewal".
"You're getting all these people who are game to operate out of the country," Ms Lang said.
"One man came up for COVID and decided to stay, now he runs a business putting on small theatre productions. He goes to Portugal for example and operates out of Lismore.
"We've got the man (Lachlan Fisher) who makes cricket bats and sells them all across the world. Nearby in Derinallum, we have an internationally-renowned man who makes violins.
"So there are plenty of people doing interesting things and there's lots of movement."
In fact, latest census data shows the population of Lismore grew by 10 per cent from 529 in 2016 to 577 in 2021.
Twenty-two families moved to the town in that four-year period, including Denise Boorman and her husband, from Queensland.
"We're building (our house) for health and lifestyle reasons," she said.
"In the end it'll be totally stand-alone and off the grid. We have all our own chickens, vegetable and fruit.
"I've never been to a place that's so accessible, it takes us under two hours to get to Melbourne airport because we do travel for our work.
"You're 30 minutes to Camperdown and you can still get down to the beach within an hour. It's just lovely."
Ms Boorman said she was surprised there weren't more young families in the town.
"I just think it's perfect for any young family - I wonder why there aren't more people here," she said.
"If you're a younger family, you'd be much better in these areas. You could really afford to have one person keep everything together and one go to work and still have a life instead of everyone having to work 24-hours a day.
"I just think it's a very good lifestyle here for good health, the air's beautiful and you're not isolated in any way, shape or form.
"We have basic essentials here, you're in the middle of a whole group of townships and you have a bit more freedom.
"I think more people are seeing that now."
That observation has translated into a rise in median house prices, which doubled from $145,000 in August 2018-July 2019 to $297,500 in May 2022-April 2023.
But historical documents show the town's population peaked in the 1950s when many of the large properties of the area were divided into farms for returned soldiers.
Now, the service town and surrounding areas are renowned for wool, lamb, cereal and canola.
But new industries have begun to create more work opportunities, attracting more people to move to the town.
Fairway Coffee and Eatery owner Peter Nicols said that included renewable energy.
"It's definitely gotten a lot younger," he said of the town.
"There are a couple of young people working for Red Energy, working from home on the phones, we have people migrating from Geelong, Ballarat and Emerald coming out here.
"Now the kinders and day care are over-subscribed - it's been a while since that happened. The primary school numbers were going down but now they're up again.
"The golf club membership is up about 20 per cent."
He said a primary growth corridor was on Gray Street, which offered scenic views.
Those views were one of the top responses among a recent survey of 50 people who answered what their favourite part of living in the town was.
Other popular choices were the swimming pool, library and its convenience.
