An Article from CBC, everything points to a great future for St.John's and Newfoundland as a whole! :yes:
N.L. to lead country in growth, economist says CBC News Posted: Jan 31, 2013 4:05 PM NT Last Updated: Jan 31, 2013 6:30 PM NT N.L. leads way in provincial GDP growth One of the country's top economists is predicting big things this year for Newfoundland and Labrador. CIBC's Avery Shenfeld addressed the St. John's Board of Trade's annual business summit on Thursday morning. He said the province had no overall growth and was the poorest provincial performer for 2012, despite good employment numbers. "2012 was a year where most of the economy did fine, but because of disruptions in energy output and because that sector is so large, it actually makes the overall growth number pretty close to zero," said Shenfeld. "The overall economy looks like it goes from boom to bust in very short order. You see the same sort of thing in Alberta to some extent, and both of those provinces' finance ministers find that a challenge because you're budgeting then with very uncertain revenues from year to year." Predictions for 2013 However, Shenfeld forecasts Newfoundland and Labrador will lead the country in 2013 with 4.4 per cent growth in gross domestic product, largely because offshore oil production will come back to full strength. At Thursday's business show, those in the private sector were smiling. Denis Mahoney, president of the St. John's Board of Trade, said the boom is here. "It's an opportunity. We think this is the beginning of a great opportunity," said Mahoney. "We need a population strategy to bring more people to this province to help us diversify, to help strengthen our economy, to help businesses succeed." Shenfeld said the provincial government must reign in spending and make more conservative revenue projections. He added that while 2013 looks strong, it's important to bear in mind that long-term growth is still modest until big projects such as Hebron and Muskrat Falls come online. |
HOLY F*&@!!
Discovery of Labrador deep-water basins announced Quote:
This is a REALLY big deal!!! |
Fantastic news. :D It just doesn't end. We have to channel this boom into permanent development. I want to see us at 300,000 people in my lifetime. :D
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I'm thinking 500,000 plus (I am an optimist but the catalysts of population growth don't lie) Shhh I actually think that by the time I'm like 70 it will be MUCH MUCH more than that but I know others might be less optimistic so I'll let you know in like 20 years lol |
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Geesh.....that's all........I am hoping that by the time I reach 75 there will be atleast 650k in the city and close to 1mil in the CMA |
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Golden paycheques surging amid oil-fuelled boom
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I hope see 350,000 people call St. John's home in my lifetime (I'm 18, so i have plenty of time!) and even that might be a stretch. Half a million, while awesome, seems very unrealistic to me. but i would love nothing more than to be proven wrong!! |
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I was once told that for every person in NL there is a Newfoundland away from the province .. so get people moving home (of course not everyone but still) and people from other provinces and immigrants too However there are many many many NLers still on the mainland which is one population we could tap into but rural NL isn't the only population we can draw from lol look at dubai, only 17% are even from the UAE!!! lol (not saying we will want that set up, just pointing out that there's tonnes of room for growth) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dubai |
I suppose larger growth is possible. Let's try to attract the young people living away with young children/babies. We need more young families! We don't need 200k seniors moving back :haha:
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There are far more than that many people with Newfoundland ancestry. Most of the major cities in Canada had thousands of Newfoundland-born residents at a time when they only had tens of thousands of residents.
Take Halifax, for example. In 1921 it was home to 58,372 people. Of them, 2,719 were Newfoundland born (we know this exactly because they were, at that time, immigrants to Canada and had to be very well-documented). That's 4.7% of Halifax's population. And that ONLY includes those born in Newfoundland. It doesn't include their children, or their grandchildren... and we all know how strongly our people cling to their culture through the generations, even when living elsewhere. Now, generations later, the number of people in Halifax who can directly trace their ancestry to Newfoundland is certainly in the tens of thousands. Other cities (Sydney, Cape Breton: 10.9% Newfoundland-born; Glace Bay, Cape Breton: 8% Newfoundland-born; Sydney MInes, Cape Breton: 5.7% Newfoundland-born) had similar numbers. Even big Canadian cities, like Toronto and Montreal, had thousands of us at a time when their populations were small: Toronto: 1,976 Newfoundland-born residents out of 512,893. Montreal: 2,027 Newfoundland-born residents out of 618,506. I guarantee you there are probably a couple million of us around the world by now. |
don't discredit the power of a strong economy especially one with oil AND other things.. cities like this grow very fast and can grow very large
If we stay on track with all these developments! Even the capital of Kazakhstan was a little village then they decided to build a capital there in 1999 and it now has like 770,000 people (another oil country) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astana The city of Calgary itself in 1956 had a population of 181,780 people and now has a population of 1,096,833 metro 1,214,839 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calgary Dubai has a population of 183,000 in 1975!!! lol now has 1,200,000 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dubai so if we can tap into our potential in the right way there's no reason why we wont see large population growth in the coming decades :) Energy cities attract people So you throw in our salmon DNA haha and what happens with energy cities .. add in the economy with all the mining and hydro to the oil mix .. and BOOM! |
And we abolish birth control and condoms in hopes of growing the population at a faster rate :D
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Ok Ok you've convinced me, I'm on my way! :D
Seriously though I would love to see St. John's grow to a city that had more economic and political pull on the national stage. One thing I've noticed which could hinder growth is misinformation. Whenever we tell people here in Ontario that we're moving to St. John's we always get this bewildered look and all they seem capable of saying is "Why?" Like we've told them we're moving to the moon or something. I think St. John's needs to re-introduce itself to the country, let people know that the horse and buggy days are over. I tell people here that St.John's is only 3 hours from Toronto and if they haven't made the trip themselves they don't really believe me. And I've noticed that people in Ontario have a very static view of what Newfoundland is, for instance they really believe that no one from outside St. John's (and this goes for all of Atlantic Canada) will be welcomed into the community as one of them, that it's a novel place to visit but not to live. One of many such ideas that they just accept as true. So key to St. John's maximizing its potential is to re-educate the rest of the country, not sure the best way to go about this, but I know it will be a bit of an uphill battle. |
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- Urban/high-rise living options, both for students (studio/one bedroom) AND for families (three bedroom +) - Large, unique parks -- which is one of the most vital amenities to attracting families to the downtown. - Public transit versatility. - Museums. - Theatres. - etc... St. John's doesn't need to do away with its height limits (it's part of your physical heritage), but it does need to commit to a decent progression of urban infill and site redevelopment (which may mean tax reform), while curbing urban sprawl so that it isn't creating a future catastrophe with the costs of maintaining infrastructure and public services, in the event oil production slows. St. John's has plenty of amenities now, but to push forward with growth means to think big and keep volume in mind. Bigger theatres. Bigger parks. Make unique destinations and landmarks, which can only be found in St. John's. |
St. John's really hasn't gone out there and introduced itself to the rest of the country as anything more than a tourist city. That's what needs to be done! Of course people are going to think you're bat-shit insane to move here, all they ever see about St. John's are those flashy tourism ads where it make the city look like a quaint village of a few thousand closely-knit people. Sure it has it's audience, but it shouldn't be the only thing we're advertising. Let the country know we have a wealth of engineers, industry jobs, medical professionals, etc. Maybe the country will begin to view us as a real city, and not just a nice place to visit :tup:
I think there is a stigma that people moving to the island won't be accepted. It really isn't that ridiculous to think. I've heard that view from people who have moved to the city from other places; they don't feel like the others really accept them. I think one thing that could really help this is if we stop calling people who move to the island as "come-from-away's". I can see how using that term about someone could eventually become degrading, annoying, and make it seem like the locals are shunning them away. I've always hated that term, I've never used it, I wish it would go away. I'd be very unhappy if someone called me "the newfie" all the time. Yes, I'm from Newfoundland, but I'm trying to integrate myself into your province now. Much like these "cfa" 's are doing. |
The "come from away" term does have one very useful purpose though. If you call yourself it at Ches's you get a free cupcake!! :haha:
Edit: everybody gets a free cupcake at Ches's. cfa's get a free dessert. Pataytoe pawtawtoe.. (My first attempt at writing that phrase resulted in "potato potato" but that wasn't good enough!) I'm just a laugh and a half tonight :haha: |
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I completely agree!
I think St. John's (even getting together with the other municipalities in the region) should have a marketing campaign showing off the city as a place to live work and play. I think republic of doyle does a good job at showing us off as urban but to appeal to a larger audience there should be a marketing campaign. We may see things like this with the new growth minister .. or say a new young councilor that takes what you g uys say into deep consideration ;) |
A free dessert you say? I'll pull the cfa out when I make it back to the city.
Aww yea, greasin' my way to a cupcake. |
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