It's a mix of both, Nouvelle. It has its own amenities, but they're arranged in a car-dependent, suburban style. You could easily live in Mount Pearl and never have to come to St. John's for anything. It just doesn't have any urban areas in the sense we'd appreciate on SSP. On the other hand, its overall population density is higher than St. John's.
Commonwealth Avenue (right where Mount Pearl is written on this map) is the main commercial area. The big-box area is along Old Placentia Road at the edge of the city:
And regarding the HRM, etc. Technically, St. John's is the largest
city in Atlantic Canada.
