Saint John was also quite literally burned in 1877 by a great fire that destroyed the vast majority of the city's core, including everything in both those pictures posted by KnoxfordGuy. While it was largely rebuilt in grand Victorian brick, the fire struck right around the time that Confederation and the decline of wooden shipbuilding were beginning to sap the city's momentum. The geographic advantages that made SJ such a prominent 19th-century city became less relevant as the 20th century unfolded.
Saint John today is in a state of slow growth, but I would characterize the city as holding its own and gradually improving its situation overall. International immigration has saved our bacon as far as population change is concerned, and the bleeding from interprovincial migration has also stopped. The Uptown core has seen a great deal of investment and vibrancy that has accelerated in recent years, with several major multi-unit projects underway and/or on the horizon.
Admittedly, the loss of commercial flights due to Covid-19 represents a major threat to the city's competitiveness, but I think there is enough corporate demand here (believe it or not) to warrant a restoration of service as the pandemic eases. Hopefully the airline oligopoly agrees.
SSP tends to be all about the horse race of population and population growth rates, but there's more to a place than just those attributes. At the end of the day, cities have to make do with cards they're dealt, and the growth and change that has taken place here, however incremental, is a reason for optimism going forward.
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“The street is the river of life of the city, the place where we come together, the pathway to the center.” –William H. Whyte
“Forget the damned motor car and build the cities for lovers and friends.” –Lewis Mumford
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