[SignalHillHiker]

From the outside looking in, I think New Brunswick has a lot going for it.

Moncton does have a lot of sprawl and Main Street really is the only part of the city that feels truly urban - but it is a growing city that's doing very well by Atlantic Canadian standards. And it has an excellent location to serve as a service centre.

Saint John can be a little gritty, rundown and depressing - especially given just how impressive and beautiful the remnants of its better days are. It's a bit like Winnipeg in that regard. You can't help but think, "Aww, that's too bad..." - but it has a gorgeous, urban core and a fantastic harbour and a really cool setting.

And Fredericton, although I never lived there, was easily my favourite city in New Brunswick. It had a blue river, instead of brown, and it felt like... Charlottetown: a slice of perfection. A small one, to be sure, but of perfection.

Combined, you have a very small province with three true cities and lots of potential to fill in. Our population is only going to grow. Whether it's 50 years, or 100, our cities are eventually going to be the size of the Halifaxes of the world today. And, when that time comes, New Brunswick is going to be truly awesome. It's going to be Atlantic Canada's version of southern Ontario - just city after city - whereas Nova Scotia and, especially, Newfoundland will largely be one-city provinces. New Brunswick is going to look and feel like the end of our densely-populated corridor through southern Ontario and Quebec, rather than the beginning of our less-populated Atlantic Canada of today.

That's what I think, anyway.