The suffering they were all going through had made them more willing to give to others going through the same grief.
"It didn't make us turn inward, it made us more generous.
"We know what it is to hurt and we don't want other people to go through the same. We know what it was to have people alongside us and how good that was. Christchurch became more aware of the sufferings of the rest of the world."
Addington Coffee Co-Op operated as a community hub in the weeks after the February 22 earthquake, with staff spending their nights putting on free barbeques and doling out fresh water to hundreds of locals.
Watt says the generosity shown at the cafe is tempered by a lingering grief at what was lost.
He knows many people, including some on his staff, are still struggling with creating a new life after the quake.
"These people have still got to wake up without a loved one - without a mum or a brother or sister.
"The city will rebuild but the people's lives will be forever changed still. It's not all silver lining."
Tim Baker
The physical and emotional scars left by the Christchurch earthquake are still a long way away from fading in the city's battered eastern suburbs.
Tim Baker, a member of the Pegasus Community Board, says many people in the east of the city remain hurt at the loss of their properties and frustrated at authorities who they feel have left them in limbo.
He struggles to sleep at night in his virtually undamaged Awanui house, regularly waking up wondering what he would do if another quake struck.
It is hard to imagine the suffering those who have been hit harder still go through, he says.
"Psychologically it is taking a toll on people. I'm a lucky one. Even though my income has dropped 90 per cent I think jeez we're lucky. There are so many people going through so much worse."
Lack of information from the authorities was a "big problem" in the wake of the February 22 quake and still is today, Mr Baker says.
He wants council and Government to give clear reasons for all their actions - even if it just to explain why they are taking so long to make a decision.
That will help many people get through the process of building what he believes will be a bright future for the eastern suburbs.
"For the people who remain it's going to be a huge change. There's going to be fewer schools, buildings are going to be more modern, there's going to be more open space. I think it is going to be made into a positive thing."
Joe Bennett
Author Joe Bennett sees a great opportunity for Christchurch in the destruction wrought by the February 22 earthquake.
The Lyttelton resident says the quake left Christchurch with an advantage few cities ever get - a blank slate to redesign its future.
"A short sharp shock is purging. It's a chance to start again. To shake off the shackles of the past mistakes and design a new city. We don't have to be hamstrung by the things that are already there."
Bennett's home is just metres from the official epicentre of the February 22 quake.
When it struck he felt a jolt like a "rifle shot" and heard rocks tumbling down the steep Port Hills before rushing to check on his elderly neighbours.
Those neighbours were later forced to move out of their earthquake-damaged home.
One later died - another in what Bennett believes is hundreds of deaths caused by the quake but not included in its official toll.
He says those who have remained in Lyttelton deserve to see the small seaside town rebuilt as a place with more public space, a better connection to its port and less "predatory vehicles".
Those same principles should also govern the rebuild of the Christchurch city centre, he says.
"We should make something that's modern, not twee, something that's very fresh and unique to the South Pacific. And we have to attract people into the central city. Then everything else will follow."
Adam McGrath
In a few moments of violent shaking, all the places musician Adam McGrath made his living were shut down.
The lead singer and songwriter for Lyttelton band The Eastern found himself without any gigs as cracked and broken bars closed indefinitely after the Christchurch earthquake.
Despite the damage and difficulty it caused, McGrath tributes the quake with sparking a strong feeling of solidarity among the Christchurch musical community.
He responded to the lack of venues by putting on an entire tour in the back yards of friends and family across the South Island.
Then came the Harbour Union - a collaborative collection of songwriters hailing from quake-hit communities.
They put out an album and toured their new material, singing songs that hit on the loss they had suffered and the resilience of their communities.
McGrath compares the tours and the albums to his habit of hugging almost everyone he saw on the streets in the wake of the Christchurch earthquake.
"It was just a way of saying 'you're still here and I'm still here'. We're alive," he says.
"That's what our tour is, what the Harbour Union is. In a sense it was us saying "we're still here"
As the first anniversary of the quake approaches, bars are re-opening in Lyttelton and suburbs such as Woolston.
Bit by bit, the music scene in the city is piecing itself back together.
McGrath sees a new energy among the tight knit Christchurch musical community - one that remembers what was lost and still hopes for the future.
"There is a bright future and it's exciting but there is still so much bad s**t still happening. People are still grieving for people that they know and have lost but even in amongst that there are some amazing things still happening. I count my blessings. In some other countries in the world, we wouldn't be so lucky."
Aaron Gilligan
From the roof of his downtown home, Aaron Gilligan can see the broken remnants of the quake-damaged Christchurch city centre.
Authorities are still undecided about what to do about his "white zone" flat, but cracks are appearing in his neighbour's property - including a concrete wall four inches from his bathroom.
Gilligan, a photographer and musician, says living life with both the future of his home and his city in limbo has been tough.
He plans to leave Christchurch within the next six months.
"The hard thing is I loved how Christchurch was. Loved the culture, loved the older architecture and it's never going to be the same."
Gilligan says his decision to leave was not due to any fear of ongoing destructive aftershocks.
He still believes the city will eventually regain its town centre and a thriving cultural community.
But he knows transformation could take decades and may not recreate the city he grew up in and grew to love.
"If you're going to live here for the next few years you're going to be living in a giant town rather than a city. For me the heart of a city is its downtown... our downtown is mostly vacant lots."
