Quote:
Originally Posted by q12
If I had to rank the Downtown area of Cities in Atlantic Canada for their history, architecture, vibrancy, and overall "feel" it would be something like this:
- Halifax
- St. John's
- Saint John
- Charlottetown
- Fredericton
- Moncton
- Sydney
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While I tend to detect a strong anti-Moncton bias in your posts
q12, I do not disagree with your general assessment.
Halifax, St. John's, Fredericton and Charlottetown are blessed by being capitals of their respective provinces and as such, they have large civil service populations and large provincial universities. This contributes to the economic health of the community and provides a strong support to the local art and culture scene.
Saint John tends to be a gritty working class city, but had a golden age in the late 1800's giving the downtown a healthy stock of heritage buildings that gives the city a certain grandeur that still reflects well today.
Moncton on the other hand is the Johnny-come-lately of Maritime cities. Moncton was only a village until about the 1850's, and didn't really start taking off until the 1880's. The core of our downtown tends to date from the early 20th century and the period of major expansion in Moncton dates from the automobile era, hence we tend to be cursed with urban sprawl and suburban strip malls, not unlike the western Canadian cities that
someone alluded to. Neither of our two universities and two hospitals are downtown. This is a major liability. Just think if the VGH and Infirmary, as well as Dal and Saint Mary's were located outside the peninsula in Halifax. It would totally change the character of the city.
So, Moncton does have some liabilities but I like the city anyway. I particularly like the non-Maritime-like dynamism and can-do attitude of the community. I am fascinated by the constant growth in the city. If there is an opportunity to be found, the city will exploit it. I have lived here for 20 years and there are 40,000 more people in the city now than when I first moved here. The city is always changing.
The downtown in Moncton will come. I think if we can get a new downtown events centre built, it will make a big difference to the feel of the area. It will spur additional restuarants and pubs and would make downtown living a more attractive option. Like in most cities, if you want commercial growth in the core, you have to convince people to actually live downtown. The future is bright.
BTW, this discussion really belongs in the Atlantic Canadian section.