Our friends at Statistics Canada have released the 2011 census population figures. Saint John had 70,063 people calling our city home in 2011, that’s up 3.0% from 2006. Over the same period, the Census Metropolitan Area increased in population by 4.4%, pushed up by particularly strong numbers in Quispamsis, which had a population 17,886 (up 17.4% from 2006).
The Province also showed population growth, with 2.9% more New Brunswickers in 2011 than 2006.
I told a friend about a tract i received from a street evangelist on a cold Friday night in King Square.
His response: “You live in a very different Saint John that I do.”
I take that as a compliment.
Jack Irving, the recently deceased chairman of OSCO and recent donor of the Saint John 225th anniversary clock will surely be remembered for his impact on the local economy.
I hope the Irving family is able to find peace in this time of loss.
This chalk art is located in front of Harbour Station, where Saint John 225 festivities will be kicked off tomorrow. It’s worth a walk-by before its rained away.
Saint John was declared a cultural capital by the Canadian Government for 2010. This coincides with the 225th anniversary of the city’s incorporation.
A website for the planned events has been launched at http://www.saintjohn225.com/.
Here’s a quote from the city:
We are proud of our cultural, architectural and artistic heritage. Saint John 225 will showcase the talents of Saint John area artists and performers in all genres including music, dance, theatre, visual arts, film and writing.
Today I also came across a new neighbourhood that is being built off of Latimore Lake road. It seems there are plenty of new suburban options in the city of Saint John – not just the surrounding towns.
The economy of Saint John will grow by less than one percent over the next year, according to the Conference Board of Canada. The CBC reported that this will make Saint John the only small or medium sized city in Canada (that is analyzed by the Conference Board) that will grow.
The Conference Boards says the growth can be attributed to “provincial infrastructure spending and tax cuts.”
I recall from economics classes that growth in GDP is often not that useful to the “man on the street.” However, I imagine that investors and developers will look upon this as a positive and Saint John will benefit from this news and growth.
Optimism has been growing in Saint John, and these sort of reports will likely help citizens be hopeful for the future of the city.
This work on the Princess Street infrastructure 
The president of ONE Change - a local organization that is working to revitalize the predominantly low income Old North End in a progressive and inclusive manner - wrote a letter supporting Leinster Court. He encouraged city council to let the project proceed.
Hopefully they will listen.
Councilor John Ferguson doesn't think Saint John Non-Profit Housing has done every single thing to placate the future neighbours of Leinster Court. Because of this he moved last night to delay the final reading for the development's rezoning application.
Councilors Ivan Cort, Bill Farren, Stephen Chase and Jay Young Chang agreed that this should be delayed.
Why?
So that city staff can meet again with SJNPH and the neighbours who oppose this project being built next to them, and try to accommodate the neighbours desires.
SJNPH met with neighbours at the request of city council last week. Still, some of the councillors thought the meeting would have been with city staff - even though they didn't ask city staff to participate or make it seem like that was a requirement for approval.
The neighbours of this projects own homes, some even own multiple "income" properties. They have the resources to fight against letting this low income housing in their neighbourhood.
City Councilors need to be on the side of those who need low income housing, but it seems Councilors Ferguson, Court, Farren, Chase and Young are far more concerned with doing everything possible (possible, not reasonable) to accommodate the property owning neighbours.
Of course the neighbours claim the project would be fine if it were built somewhere other than their back yards.
Some have proposed SJNPH build it near the city's old courthouse - a place they think is more suitable for housing for the poor.
There is an extensive inventory of major development projects underway and announced for Saint John at: http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=120401
The list notes developers, status, use and links. There are also a lot of photos and drawings included.
The listing is in a discussion forum and has sparked a lot of conversation about the plans and developments for Saint John.
The site is definitely worth a visit.
With the closure of the Keystone Kelly's restaurant in Market Square, the shopping/office/public gathering complex has an opportunity to add to its service mix.
While another restaurant might want to take over the space, other uses could be explored.
Keystone Kelly's was one of many restaurants in Market Square, and while the Ale House did definitely improve the former Don Cherry's space with a new food and beverage concept, the best option might be to look for other kinds of tenants.
The city, including Market Square, has a lot of gift-shop format stores. If this sort of business was to take occupancy of the space, one would hope it has a unique concept (perhaps like the Market Quay that was in Market Square or another multi-tenant craft/gift store).
If Market Square has the space available to it (i.e. it is not going to be subleased by the Keystone owners) the management might consider turning some of the restaurant into common area and rent out the rest of the space to multiple tenants. This could help overcome the challenge posed by the location of the space being somewhat removed from the rest of the complex.
Recent additions of ophthalmology offices and the Running Room have proven that Market Square can attract new and varied tenants.
Hopefully the new tenant or tenants will add to the building that is central to the city's uptown.
A Racino complex is not the best use of land for the approximately 50 acres owned by the city's exhibition association on the east side according to Willard Jenkins, President of the Exhibition Association.
In the Boxing Day issue of the Telegraph Journal Mr. Jenkins is quoted as saying "If the land was privately owned, I think ownership would have a better use for it," and "Our motive is driven by the fact we've been a supporter and operator of harness racing for 50 years and we want to do everything in our power to help the industry survive..."
One would hope that the project that is selected for the site is best for the city as a whole. The horse track could be if it does a number of things: draw in more tourists than additional shopping space in the area could, creates a strong property tax base and includes ample public space.
If the project isn't the best use of the space it might be best for the Exhibition association to continue leasing its land for commercial developments and using that money to building a raceway on land it acquires with that money. If it is the best use of the land, hopefully its necessary approvals are forthcoming.
Originally posted 12/16/06 on PersonPlaceorThing.blogspot.com
Some think that a knowledge economy can be created by setting up incubator space, having funky places for smart hip people to hang out at, and passing out grants by the barrel full.
It seems Saint John and perhaps much of the Atlantic Region could get a knowledge economy up and running a different way.
While there is a think tank and incubator concept in PropelSJ and the city's Wi-Fi strategy is catching on, perhaps the idea of focusing on our strengths can lead to a strong knowledge industry.
Saint John already has a lot of energy projects on the go. With Atlantica and a number of private developments in the works it seems that an Energy Hub could help lead to a strong knowledge economy.
With these projects in Saint John, the city should be able to attract engineers and scientists and other educated people to support the energy sector.
As an added benefit mega projects will allow for a strong trades economy over the next years while the local knowledge base is sured up.
This could model might work for Moncton's transportation hub concept as well.
Originally posted 12/16/06 on PersonPlaceorThing.blogspot.com
That National Post (December 16, 2006) featured an article about the labour demand of the westernm provinces and the attempt to bring people home to Atlantic Canada and keep them here.
The article is a long feature that covers many angles, but the Saint John Energy Hub and Atlantica are sited as being strong draws for bringing people back to the region to work in good jobs.
"For the first time in a long time we have a real chance of repatriating some talent with good-paying jobs that are not a one-shot deal," said Tim Curry, president of the Atlantica Centre for Energy, a group in Saint John, N.B., that is promoting the region as a blossoming energy hub.
Capitalizing on new development is key for our region to prosper.
Exerpt from feature:
"We know there are expatriate Maritimers who really like the lifestyle back home," Mr. Curry said. "They have a network that they feel decoupled from. The Prairies and the Foothills are beautiful, but they are a long way from the ocean, and that's important to some people."
The latest salvo was a glossy-covered, 40-page publication distributed this month in Alberta's major cities that was supported by provincial governments and major employers in Atlantic Canada. Created by a company owned by New Brunswick's powerful Irving family and titled Come Home to a career in Atlantic Canada, the publication pits Alberta's high cost of living and stressful cities against Atlantic Canada's affordable housing and laid-back lifestyle.
Originally posted 12/14/06 on PersonPlaceorThing.blogspot.com
I understand having tolls when a road, highway or bridge is put up and will create a better route for professional drivers. Tolls in these cases collect from those who benefit most from the infrastructure - and those who are in less of a hurry (and thus get less benefit) can go another route.
Having the only toll road in the province in the middle of a city does not seem logical. While people who want to drive around to reversing falls can, it seems that the Harbour Bridge is being paid for in a big part by regular motorists – a lot of west-siders who are paying for a bridge that should be a service provided by them like any normal road.
If the Moncton-Fredericton short cut isn’t tolled, for sure the oft-used and oft-needed Harbour Bridge should not be either.
Originally posted 11/30/06 on PersonPlaceorThing.blogspot.com
In Saint John, NB Liquor had been looking for a waterfront location for a new central store. The government corporation has decided to now look at non waterfront locals and call for proposals from developers. This is a good thing.
A liquor store on the waterfront might have encouraged some privately run stores and services to cluster with it, but looking only on the waterfront was rather limiting. By looking at all of uptown, the commission might be able to bring its public building to an area that could benefit from NB Liquor being an early adaptor and moving to an area that could be improved by commercial development.
Originally posted 11/25/06 on PersonPlaceorThing.blogspot.com
There seems to be newly painted lines on the patchwork that is Westmoreland Road near the currently shaping power centre. This is concerning in that the road is still in shambles (due in a big part to the developers of the power centre) and likely is not going to get fixed if lines are painted. The city has been taking this sort of abuse from retail developers for years - the city has allowed streets to be blocked and torn up by developers without making the developers improve or even restore the roads.
The development on the east side has caused a safety hazard at a local cemetery (there is now a pretty big drop from the side of Saint Joseph's now that the road was widened) and the city has to share the expense of putting up a fence to deal with this.
While our city gets taxes from these developers, it might be possible to have them do a decent paving job and put in some pedestrian friendly features.
