Quote:
Originally Posted by MTL Lucas
Having grown up in the suburbs of Saint John, I have to say that it was a pretty depressing place. That being said, all of these developments are really great news. The fact that all of this is even planned, let alone actually built, is unprecedented.
These projects manage to include many new sources of remunerative employment and also help add to the critical mass of economic activity in energy and industrial sectors already present in SJ. The jobs that will be created to service and supply the multiple companies in this sector will be significant as well.
Also, SJ is taking on an urbanity which would have been utterly unthinkable only a short time ago. With l´Opera on Prince William, the Alehouse in Market Square, the Saint John Theatre Company and Sebastians (the Martini bar uptown) you can actually see the emergence of a livelier and more (excuse the buzz word) cosmopolitan set of businesses to service an increasingly sophisticated population. Maybe this is weird to people not from or familiar with SJ, but a Martini bar uptown verges on the miraculous.
The Waterfront (Coastguard site) development is great for bringing a more middle class population back to the centre and will, hopefully, itself bring the services needed to sustain future gentrification and redevelopment (i.e., a grocery store uptown, more shops, and even - dare we dream - a proto-cafe culture)
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To begin, the initial list of developments does not include the Rocca building (apartments/condos) between Prince William and Water street. I can't recall many details but it was supposed to be completed by Christmas 2007 and be about 7-9 stories I believe.
I have to address a few things about this thread, and I'm going to use this post as a guideline for replying, though in no way am I singling out the poster, it just conveniently encapsulated all my thoughts in one.
Firstly, Saint John is not depressing in the least, I find its honesty and maritime charm make it much more invigorating than most cities I've been in (then again I may be biased about this
)
Secondly, the planning of these buildings is not unprecedented, it's more of the same things SJ has been doing forever. Many of these projects are still a long way away from being built, and most are years behind schedule. This is the pattern of development in the city: Saint John begins ambitious plans for developments, then hums and haws for years and when it finally gets built it is a shell of the original vision, and almost ends up making the city worse. This trend has been on-going for decades now, and it shows no signs of slowing down.
Thirdly, one of the best parts about Saint John right now is that it doesn't try to be anything that it's not. SJ is not a large city, but it doesn't have pretenses of being one either, and in my opinion this saves it from making some very rash decisions, and helps it keep a unique flavour. Bringing in Martini Bars, cafe culture, and contemporary western urbanism doesn't equal Saint John improving, it equals it becoming more homogenized. Saint John needs to learn to grow on its own terms, with its own style, that is the only way it can stand out in a crowded market of the hundreds of cities in the world of similar size.
Fourthly, I agree that the waterfront development is a good thing, because if there is one thing that sets Saint John apart from the other NB cities, it's is the port and its history, and the sooner we embrace that, the better. On the other hand, gentrification of the uptown core is a huge mistake. Take the South End for example. The low cost housing and sub-culture provided by it is essential to the vibrancy of Saint John. If you displace those people, where are they going to go? These are not people who will spend $1000 a month to rent a refurbished loft and sit around all day drinking $4 java at a cafe. You have to understand the market here. People will not pay more for something if they can get the same for less. Saint John has seen many stores and restaurants fail because they try to charge an excess in exchange for a higher-class mentality, but Saint Johners in general would rather save a dollar than pretend to members of some pseudo urban-elite.
That being said, I am in complete backing of the rejuvenation of Uptown Saint John. This is the heart of the city, and as it goes, so goes southern NB. The east side of the city is a huge mess, and the developments there are a disaster of urban planning, watershed management and aesthetics. And while we can't do anything to help that, having a vibrant uptown can balance the city out (if such a cosmic balancing of urbanities were possible
). The biggest mistake of the past generation in SJ was not putting the university in the uptown core. Having the institutions of SJHS, the NBMuseum, the public library and the university all within walking distance would have made Uptown Saint John one of the most vibrant intellectual centers in eastern Canada, but instead we have further stretched out an already sprawling city that remains overly focused on automobile traffic to sustain itself.
Finally, I should add that in reference to the idea of Irving needing a new HQ, I have been informed by an inside source that Irving Oil is looking at Long Wharf as the site for their new building. The Port Authority has filed an EIA on February 8th to demolish the existing warehouses on the wharf, and this is to make way for negotiations with Irving Oil to acquire/lease the property to construct their new crown jewel at the head of the harbour for everyone to see. There is also a possibility that either that site, or one of the old Irving buildings on Union Street, could be the site of the new Police Station.
Interesting times indeed...
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