Re: the Southside Hills, I think they have studied it, and concluded it is mostly unsuitable for development, with very steep slopes at high elevations. No doubt sometime in the future development might become feasable. The Southside would need new road connections, as the present one couldn't handle high traffic. If you look at satelite photos you will see that much of the land behind is very rugged; there's also two watersheds to the south. The same goes for the White Hills (too steep), and also is near the landfill. Also, the Windsor Lake watershed goes from east of Portugal Cove Rd to west of Thorburn Road. When you go north, development is restricted by the airport.

IMO, in 50 years or so the most suitable land on the Northeast Avalon will be built out (mostly developed) if growth continues, as the city sits on a mostly hilly peninsula which is not more than 10 km wide in the northern part, with some of the land to the south consisting of barrens or bog.

Since there isn't that much discussion on this thread (St. John's is a pretty happy & contented city), here's a list of George Street Bars - which are the best ones? :)

NTV PUBCam (George Street, current)
http://www.ntv.ca/cams/pubcameast.jpg
For a look at more live George Street, click here:
http://www.ntv.ca/cams/pubcams.php

List of pubs (as of August, 2007)

George Street

The Rock House
Bridie Molloy's
Lottie's Place
Trapper John's
O'Reilly's Pub
Trinity Pub
The Attic
The Dock Pub
Kelly's Pub
The Rob Roy Pub
Konfusion
Turkey Joe's
The Black Dog Pub
The Fat Cat
The Carriageworks
Peddler's
The Martini Bar
Greensleeves
The Ale & Lager House
Malibu
Club Etomik
Club One
Sundance Saloon
George Street Beer Market
Jungle Jim's
Normies
CBTG's
Roxxy's
Distortion
Platinum Club
Dooly's
Christian's
The Bull & Barrel
Mexicali Rosa's
Pulse
The Cotton Club

Near George Street
The following bars are a maximum of a 5 minute walk from George Street:

Water Street

Bar None
Bounce
The Celtic Hearth
Erin's Pub
The Fabulous 50s
Grapevine
Junctions
Liquid Ice (After hours bar)
The Rose and Thistle
Sirens (Adult bar)
The Stetson
The Windsock
Fiddler's
The Duke
Gypsy Tea Room
The Zone (Gay Bar)
Turner's Tavern
Westside Charlie's

Duckworth Street

The Champagne Room (Formerly Picadilli's Club) (Adult bar)
The Republic
The Ship Pub
The Upper Room
The Majestic

Others Nearby

The Keg (Harbour Drive)
The Fairmont (Cavendish Square)
Fiddler's Pub (Queen's Street)

Source: Wikipedia

I've been curious about The Captain's Pub on King's Bridge. It's tucked in back from the street and looks like a good spot for a quiet pint.

I'm wondering about restaurants. I've been to so few so far. I know Ches's on Freshwater is supposed to be one of the best for fish 'n chips, but what about other options.

I went to Taj Mahal last night and it was okay, but I like my tika masala a little spicier than sweet. The dahl was pretty decent, although a might spicy for mediumish as requested.

The Pepper Mill was nice.

Shanghai was okay if a little overdone inside.

Still looking for a Vietnamese place and the Thai place we were suggested on Duckworth is finally opening again this week.

^Vietnamese is one of my favourites, but as far as I know there is no Vietnamese restaurant in St. John's, and I think it would go over very well. The overall selection is much better than it used to be.

My experience is a bit outdated, but I would recommend:
Quintana’s Mexican, Churchill Sq
Fog City Brewing Co, Avalon Mall
Tangled up in Blue, Bates Hill
Afghan, Durckworth St
India Gate, Duckworth
KFC, Duckworth St, for the view
Classic Cafe, Duckworth, plus view
Ches's, Freshwater Rd

Also, recommended by others:
Papas Pier 17, Churchill Sq
Biancas, Water St
The Cellar, Water st
The Vault, pricey, Water St
Merlo's Press and Bean, Murray Premises
My Brothers Place, New Gower
Stagehead, Quidi Vidi
Cabot Club, Fairmont

I'm sure there are some I forgot, or don't know about.

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http://www.cbc.ca/nl/webcam/stjohns.jpg
CBC webcam

Good news for the oil industry, with oil discovered on the West coast, and more exploration on the East coast:

http://www.thewesternstar.com/index....=113057&sc=506

http://www.thetelegram.com/index.cfm?sid=114580&sc=82

http://thechronicleherald.ca/Business/1042661.html

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/...9-d9f3489f87ab

"Newfoundland and Labrador led the way with a 21.3 per cent jump in offshore oil production, accounting for about 58 per cent of the total increase. The province now accounts for about 13 per cent of the country's total oil and gas output."

http://www.canada.com/topics/news/na...33dd98&k=40198

I believe that we will see a push to the sky in the east end of downtown, east of the Delta.

^Maybe you mean the Fairmont Hotel. Unfortunately there's no plans for that in the forseeable future, unless it happens outside downtown or Pleasantville. Also, the city's policy is for taller buildings in the downtown West end, but that doesn't mean very tall.

Actually I meant the west end of Downtown, west of the Delta. That would be the only area of DT where height would be allowed especially post Andy Wells!

Housing Market
 

^ That is correct - Eventually a lot of the old substandard housing in the West & Central areas will have to be replaced with something else, most likely more townhousing or small apartments. Many of them are fire traps with not much thought for design or quality when they were built.
______________________________

News about the St. John's Housing Market - Last month there were over 50 new housing starts, but demand is even higher.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundlan...ng-avalon.html

red hot housing market...thats the stuff we all like to hear :D

i dont know if it has been posted or not but i heard on the radio that there are plans for a new adult community near Clovelly off Stavenger Drive in the East End of St.John's. they say it will include at least one 6 story and one 4 storey building. i dont have any pictures or links, just heard it on VOCM :P

I noticed the other day that the old O’Mara-Martin Building renovations have begun on Military Road, it will be interesting to watch the progress (I pass the building almost every day).

There are public hearings for 418 Water St, March 18, and Stavanger Drive on March 31.

More info here

Daffodil Place
 

Daffodil Place is the conversion of the former church at Ropewalk Lane & Empire Ave to provide accomodations for those undergoing cancer treatment, and is a good cause to support:

http://www.daffodilplace.ca/project/index.asp

http://www.daffodilplace.ca/assets/d..._rendering.jpg

The old church will be replaced by a new larger complex under construction on Kenmount Road near the outskirts of the city.

http://www.elim.nf.ca/page_building.htm

Parking Study
 

http://www.vocm.com/news-info.asp?id=27553

There are at present two large multi-level parking garages in downtown St. John's, but not a great deal of off-street surface parking.

Some new developments may take away existing public parking, but should provide parking for it's own employees and customers.

Is there a parking shortage at present, and will it get worse?

^ Parking is horrible in downtown, and I fully support the study, but, please don't put a repeat of the disguisting Atlantic Place parking garage anywhere in the city. There was actually a writeup in the On Route magazine last year listing the average waittimes for parking meters in Canadian cities and apparently St. John's has the longest wait time, ahead of the likes of Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary, etc...

^Here's some info from the DDC website:

One of the problems would be with 8 hour meters, which means that people working downtown can park all day on a meter while they are at work. Normally, meters are meant for short term use in most larger cities. Surface parking lots are usually synonymous with empty lots (urban decay), so lack of parking is a normal side effect of a healthy downtown, but is a Catch-22 situation. The only alternative in a smaller city, typically without good public transit, is to raise parking costs, shorten the time limits, incorporate parking as a part of new developments, and to build more parking garages; hopefully not too ugly.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundlan...-proposal.html

The penitentiary in St. John's is ancient and has outlived it's usefullness. In addition, it occupies prime real estate very close to downtown overlooking Quidi Vidi Lake, a developers dream location, even if it can't be more than three or four stories tall.

However, I would choose Conception Bay South as the new penitentiary location because it is closer to St. John's and it's services, part of the Metro area, and can be accessed from the rest of the island as fast as Harbour Grace can.

http://www.pbase.com/joecanada/image...666/medium.jpg
The penitentiary is the blue building across the lake (my photo).

^Given the taller buildings behind and the hills blocking said area from the picturesque views of downtown, that site is at least worthy of 6-9 stories. Anything less would be a huge waste of effort in my mind from a smart urban density standpoint.

Oh and I tried India Gate on Duckworth. Gets a big thumbs up from me. Good recommendation Architype.

I kind of like the current penitentiary. As I said to my girlfriend the first time we came to St. John's - Only in Newfoundland would they have a prison by a lake in the middle of the city, and paint it baby blue.