The Official Moncton, NB Project Thread

[ErickMontreal]

Metro leads the pack
Tri-community ranked best place to do business in Atlantic Canada, New England region for second consecutive time

By Eric Lewis
Times & Transcript Staff
Published Friday March 28th, 2008

Appeared on page C2

For the second consecutive time, Metro Moncton was ranked the number one place to do business in Atlantic Canada and the New England states.

In fact, the top four spots in KPMG's competitive alternatives study were taken up by Atlantic Canadian cities, and the top two spots were taken by New Brunswick cities -- Moncton at number one, with Fredericton trailing just behind it.

The study, which is done every two years, compares business competitiveness for more than 100 cities in 10 countries, breaking the cities down into regions.

Moncton, as if anyone had any doubt, leads the pack once again, ahead of such cities as Halifax, Boston, Bangor, Me., Manchester, N.H. and Providence, R.I. St. John's was ranked number seven.

"It's always great when you have that third-party verification of what we tell people all the time," says John Thompson, CEO of Enterprise Greater Moncton.

"If you look at it from the point of view of not only from us going out trying to attract companies in, that obviously helps us in our pitch. But its also great news for our existing companies who have invested their money and will be investing in more jobs in the future."

Thompson says while the study says Moncton, it is actually referring to Metro Moncton, so Riverview, Dieppe and Moncton all have reason to be proud.

Jason Hargraft, branch manager at Drake employment agency in Moncton, moved here with his young family from Calgary a few years ago. He was working at an employment agency in Calgary and he saw the numbers in which Atlantic Canadians were leaving their homes for the west in search of better paying jobs.

"My thinking was, 'OK, we've pulled so many people, it's got to have left some holes for employment,' which obviously it has done now," he says.

Hargraft knew he would enjoy the area and he decided to relocate to Moncton.

"Myself having a new family, Calgary just got so crazy, we sold at the right time, did alright with real estate, came out here and you buy a castle for the third the price you would out west," he says with a laugh.

His family chose the Moncton area to settle because of its proximity to national parks and other cities. It's centralized location in the Maritimes made it a natural choice, he says.

"We just fell in love with it, it's a great place," he says.

Hargraft says at Drake he is seeing a lot of demand for skilled workers in the Moncton area because so many people have left the region in search of better paying jobs elsewhere.

But he says things will likely turn around.

Business is obviously booming in Metro and Hargraft says as people migrate back to the area to work, the labour force will get stronger. Already he is seeing more people from Ontario-west responding to ads placed to entice them to move east.

"If more businesses set up here and more jobs become available that are better paying than they have been historically here, people are going to come back home. And new people, people like myself, are going to say, 'Hey, I can live cheaper here, it's a better quality of life, it's a great place to live.'"

The KPMG study measures several factors including the business environment in the region, labour availability and skills, economic conditions and markets, innovation, infrastructure, cost of living and quality of life.

Moncton topped the KPMG list in 2006 for the Atlantic and New England regions as well.

In the study, business costs are expressed as an index, with the United States being assigned the baseline index of 100.00. A cost index less than 100 indicates lower costs than the U.S. and anything higher indicates higher costs that in the U.S. Moncton's business cost is 94.9, representing a 5.1 per cent cost advantage relative to the United States, the biggest advantage in the Atlantic and New England regions.

Fredericton is slightly higher at 95.3, Charlottetown is at 95.8, Halifax is 96.6 and St. John's comes in at 99.5.

Enterprise Greater Moncton sponsors Moncton to be considered in the KPMG study, John Thompson says.

"This is a huge study, they compare apples to apples in the study and they look at the regional differences, so it's not just coming out number one when comparing us to Toronto, it's similar municipalities, similar sizes, that's what makes this validation so great," says Thompson.

Enterprise Greater Moncton will be using the facts from this study to convince companies that the Moncton area is a great place to do business in, he says. A series of videos the agency made recently promoting the area may actually have to be revamped a bit to include the latest study.

Jason Hargraft is hopeful of what could take place in the future.

"Hopefully businesses set up here, more people come, real estate goes up, job rates go up -- everything that happened in Calgary," he says. "I mean, it's never going to be that fast, but if it's anything like what we've seen elsewhere, especially out west, then right on, glad to be here."
_______________________________________________________________________________________

Forum targets vacant lots
Making money with contaminated properties

Published Wednesday March 26th, 2008
Appeared on page C2

Leading experts in transforming empty, contaminated commercial and industrial properties into viable developments will be in Moncton today to take part in the Brownfield Awareness Forum.

The forum, taking place at the Delta Beauséjour Hotel from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., is a follow-up to regional information sessions held this winter in several cities on developing vacant and under-utilized urban properties known as brownfields into a profitable venture and asset to the neighbourhood and community in terms of aesthetics, recreational and business use and increased municipal tax revenue.

The economic development initiative is being hosted by the Downtown Moncton Centreville Inc.

Keynote speakers are James Evans, senior manager of Environmental Risk in the Corporate Environmental Affairs group at RBC Financial Group, and Carolyn Reid, Brownfield Office Co-ordinator for the City of Hamilton.

Making Money with Contaminated Properties: Seizing the Opportunities features national and regional experts on financing options, incentives, insurance tools, economic and social spin-offs and potential legislative changes affecting liability relief.

[michael_d40]

Originally Posted by q12

Moncton's airport passeneger numbers dropped in 2007 from 558,513 in 2006 to 518,930. Where as all the major airports passenger numbers in this country continue to climb. Probably due to the loss of Canjet's scheduled service.

http://www.gmia.ca/english/corp/stats/trafficlarge.jpg

Just a quick note that passenger numbers in saint john grew by about 50 thousand, and Moncton's declined by almost 40 thousand.
Coincidence? I dont think so. I just think the SJ airport has became more agreesive in retaining and growing their numbers, which ended up resulting as a loss for the Moncton airport.

[kwajo]

Originally Posted by michael_d40

Just a quick note that passenger numbers in saint john grew by about 50 thousand, and Moncton's declined by almost 40 thousand.
Coincidence? I dont think so. I just think the SJ airport has became more agreesive in retaining and growing their numbers, which ended up resulting as a loss for the Moncton airport.

Agreed, I think it may have a lot to do with the new WestJet flights into Saint John in the past year. I know anecdotally, based on conversations with people I know, that a lot fewer Saint Johners are driving to Moncton to catch flights than in recent years.

Obviously there would be many other factors affecting flights, but I think this might be a major component.

[mylesmalley]

Originally Posted by q12

Moncton's airport passeneger numbers dropped in 2007 from 558,513 in 2006 to 518,930. Where as all the major airports passenger numbers in this country continue to climb. Probably due to the loss of Canjet's scheduled service.

http://www.gmia.ca/english/corp/stats/trafficlarge.jpg

First off, welcome to the forum, q12!

I don't think numbers at the GMIA dropping is all that significant. As was said, a Canjet flight was lost. I don't remember why. The airport's numbers have been growing at a very high rate for the past 15 years though. One year of decline isn't going to hurt much, and is probably just balancing things out.

As well, I believe another flight to Newark is starting up soon.

Good for Saint John. The more people coming to New Brunswick, the better.

[kwajo]

Originally Posted by mylesmalley

Good for Saint John. The more people coming to New Brunswick, the better.

Exactly! A loss of 40,000 for Moncton, and a gain of 50,000 for SJ still equals a net gain for the province, which can only be a good thing.

I have been guilty of regionalizing the province in the past, but I am making an active effort to change my attitudes, and think of New Brunswick as a whole, rather than a number of cities or regions vying for the top spot. We all need to work together, because the basic problems facing New Brunswickers (such as education troubles, population stagnation, negative stereotypes, etc.) are shared by all of us, and we need to conquer them as a united province, for the betterment of the lives of all of our children! </end provincial cheerleading rant>

[mmmatt]

Originally Posted by q12

Moncton's airport passeneger numbers dropped in 2007 from 558,513 in 2006 to 518,930. Where as all the major airports passenger numbers in this country continue to climb. Probably due to the loss of Canjet's scheduled service.

http://www.gmia.ca/english/corp/stats/trafficlarge.jpg

Thats exactly why, I actually e-mailed the airport authority asking them how the numbers went down after 15 years of incredible growth, they said the loss of that flight was a hard blow, but the good news is that the other flights they have continued to grow, so it could have been worse. They expect to be back where they were before, and higher within a couple of years. If we get that flight to Boston that number will easily be back up and higher within a year.

[mylesmalley]

Originally Posted by kwajo

Exactly! A loss of 40,000 for Moncton, and a gain of 50,000 for SJ still equals a net gain for the province, which can only be a good thing.

I have been guilty of regionalizing the province in the past, but I am making an active effort to change my attitudes, and think of New Brunswick as a whole, rather than a number of cities or regions vying for the top spot. We all need to work together, because the basic problems facing New Brunswickers (such as education troubles, population stagnation, negative stereotypes, etc.) are shared by all of us, and we need to conquer them as a united province, for the betterment of the lives of all of our children! </end provincial cheerleading rant>

Well said. Truth is, this is a small province. We need to stick together.

[ErickMontreal]

Major moves coming in Metro's retail sector

The sleuth
GOSSIP FROM N.B.’S FAVOURITE RUMOUR-MONGER
Published Saturday March 29th, 2008
Appeared on page D10

Last week, Sleuth poked around the musty halls of Highfield Square. This week, it's time to look across town at Champlain Place. The huge crater left when Future Shop left the mall and built a free-standing store off Plaza Boulevard has left Champlain with a very visible reminder that it isn't invincible.

But Sleuth noticed a beehive of activity in the former Future Shop location the past few weeks. Timing is everything in the gossip business, and Sleuth was sauntering down the hallway outside the spot last week when he happened to hear a conversation.

The mall staffer was telling another, that's where Urban Planet is setting up.

So now you know, one of Canada's hottest clothing retailers for the younger crowd is moving into the former Future Shop location, making it one of the largest clothing outlets in the entire Metro area.

Urban Planet recently opened its first New Brunswick store at the East Point Shopping Centre in Saint John. The company has two other stores in Atlantic Canada and 56 in total across the country. A late spring opening is rumoured.

***

Just across rutty Paul Street from the mall, one of Cadillac Fairview's busiest tenants is on the move. Danza Activewear has changed its name to Danza Dance and Swimwear and will soon be moving to a more central location. Danza is setting up shop at 460 Mountain Rd., at the corner of High Street in the bottom floor of the new brick condo. They will now be neighbours of the Escape Spa.

The move into swimwear will focus on children aged four and older, teens and women, and feature top brands such as Baltex, Billabong and SeaFolly. A tanning salon is also in the works. The move is scheduled for the first week of May.

Word is that Danza was forced to relocate after Cadillac Fairview informed them they could only sign a month-to-month lease due to upcoming "changes" in Dieppe that could affect their current location.

Sleuth knows that Paul Street is due for a major restoration this summer. Is the city thinking of realigning the street, forcing changes to the strip mall?

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Metro wants new facility
CityThink finds 90 per cent support for new sports, entertainment complex

By Brent Mazerolle
Times & Transcript Staff
Published Saturday March 29th, 2008
Appeared on page A1

With public support at close to 90 per cent and a feasibility study in the works this year, momentum for a metro centre complex in downtown Moncton is building.

CityThink 2008, a survey commissioned by the Times & Transcript and conducted by Omnifacts Bristol Research, recently asked people what they thought of having a downtown facility, "that could be used for sporting events, performances, concerts and trade shows."

For the third year in a row, the answers to that question have been virtually identical, given the poll's margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 per cent.

Ian Fowler, the City of Moncton's general manager of recreation, parks, tourism, and culture, said yesterday, "it's certainly encouraging that this year's support is just as strong. And now that council has committed to a feasibility study, the project's gaining momentum."

Moncton City Council voted in December to set aside $50,000 in its 2008 budget for a feasibility study on a downtown metro centre.

The obvious site for such a facility would be somewhere in the vicinity of the former Beaver Lumber lands, where it could be combined with some sort of convention centre space, hotels or even a casino, should the winning proposal for a gaming facility actually see one built in the downtown of Moncton.

With the changing convention market leading some to question in recent months whether Moncton should build a standalone convention centre, a multi-purpose centre might feasibly do more to invigorate the city's downtown core. It would also provide the entertainment and diversions needed to lure conventioneers to the area in the first place, whether or not it had a convention centre built into it.

Should that downtown site not work for whatever reason, Daniel Allain, the general manager of Downtown Moncton Centre-Ville Inc., has pointed out there is still plenty of space for an arena in other parts of the downtown he wants to see developed, listing as possibilities the parking area around Highfield Square, the ballfields off Assomption, and even the corner of Main and King Streets.

"There is certainly enough space to accommodate it one way or another," he said.

Nevertheless, it would seem to be the best fit in the lands between Main and Assomption and Robinson and Mechanic, where it would be an easy walk to and from everything else the heart of downtown has to offer.

Ian Fowler has repeatedly made it clear a new downtown centre would complement the current Moncton Coliseum. As the city's premiere venue, the new centre would not replace the Coliseum in the sense of the Coliseum being demolished. Instead the Coliseum/Agrena would continue to offer the excellent trade show space which has been the growing heart of its business for several years now. With demand for sporting and entertainment facilities on the rise in Metro Moncton, Fowler is confident the Coliseum/Agrena would continue to be a desired and rented space for years to come.

Calling it the best trade show facility in Atlantic Canada, he said moving some of the other events out would give the Coliseum more leeway to do what it does best, without the worry of conflicting with concerts or game days.

Most Canadian cities, including nearby Saint John and Halifax, have arenas in their downtowns. Halifax is in fact looking at replacing or expanding its downtown metro centre, which surprisingly enough would likely be good news rather than bad news for the success of a Moncton facility.

In the concert industry for instance, 10,000 to 12,000 seat venues have essentially become either the minimum standard or a desirable niche size, depending on who you ask. If the Maritime region could boast two 10,000 to 12,000 seat venues, promoters of concert tours could stage two shows in the region, making them more willing to invest in travelling the extra distance here. While nothing is really far for the private jets that carry big name musicians from show to show, kilometres matter for tour buses and 18 wheelers.

Meanwhile, this week, the City of Edmonton has taken a step toward building a new home of the Edmonton Oilers in its downtown core, even though its Rexall Place is relatively central when you adjust for the scale of a city Edmonton's size.

Edmonton dreams of making its facility an iconic structure that would be famous in its own right, "the Yankee Stadium of hockey" as it was put in the Edmonton Sun this week.

The proposed $450 million price tag for the Edmonton facility, which would include several components, seems sure to make any Metro Moncton complex look like a bargain. A number floated around for a Moncton metro centre over the past year or so is about a tenth of that.

The loose numbers around Moncton should get firmed up soon. While the request for proposals for the feasibility study hasn't been issued yet, Fowler expects it will this spring.

"We want it started so we'll have something to table in the fall (in time for budget deliberations)," he said.

Quick facts

* Metro Monctonians who support having a new downtown metro centre to be used for sports, entertainment, concerts, trade shows and other events: 87 per cent

* Those opposed: 9 per cent

* Neither oppose or support: 3 per cent

* Don’t know: 1 per cent
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

CFL dropped the ball on discussions: Mitton
Mayor Lorne Mitton says he'd like to see the CFL in Metro

By MARC HUDON
Times & Transcript Staff
Published Saturday March 29th, 2008
Appeared on page A8

OTTAWA - Discussions with CFL brass about the possibility of bringing Canadian-style football to Moncton ended in 2006, shortly after the Ottawa Renegades franchise went belly up, says the mayor of Moncton.

Lorne Mitton said former league commissioner Tom Wright -- an ardent proponent of East Coast expansion -- placed a call to Moncton City Hall "a few years ago" to talk about the league's future in Atlantic Canada.

"Discussions did take place about the possibility of a franchise in Halifax or Moncton," he said.

The league was then supposed to forward what Mitton calls a "terms of reference" document, outlining specific details about the city's financial and infrastructure responsibilities, he said, Mitton waited, but the document never arrived.

"I think the thought was, 'If we can't make it in Ottawa, we won't be able to make it in Atlantic Canada," he said. "There's been no activity in the past year or more on this file."

Earlier this week, new CFL commissioner Mark Cohon was at Lansdowne Park in Ottawa to award a conditional franchise to a group of heavyweight businessmen from the nation's capital.

This will be the third attempt by Ottawa fans and ownership at keeping a team financially afloat in the nation's capital -- with the club first suspending operations in 1996 and again 10 years later.

Cohon told the Times & Transcript that Moncton needs to build a 25,000 seat stadium if it hopes to land a franchise, adding no exhibition games are scheduled for the region.

A new $13-million 10,000-seat stadium at Université de Moncton is scheduled to be completed by spring 2009 for the 2010 World Junior Track and Field championships, which Cohon said is not large enough to support a professional football franchise.

"We thought we would still be in the mix for an exhibition game when we got this stadium built," said Mitton, adding he has not yet spoken with the new CFL commissioner about the league's future in the hub city.

Cohon took over the league's top post 11 months ago.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

St. Pat's Family Centre to get major facelift
Province announces $200,000 for community centre with more on the way



By Aloma Jardine
Times & Transcript Staff
Published Saturday March 29th, 2008
Appeared on page A10

St. Pat's, we'll hardly know you.

The St. Patrick's Family Centre of Moncton got some very welcome news this week when the province announced the centre will receive up to $200,000 for much-needed repairs to the roof and exterior of the building.

But Health Minister Mike Murphy, MLA for Moncton North, says that is just the beginning.

"I think we can expect more and better news for the St. Patrick's Family Centre in the future," he says. "I've been working quite hard on another project for St. Pat's, for work to be done inside the building as well. I can't say exactly where I'm looking for this money, suffice it to say I'm certainly, with (Moncton East MLA) Chris Collins, leading the charge for further developmental funds for the inside of St. Pat's."

The $200,000 commitment came through the Regional Development Corporation.

Murphy says there is plenty of work to be done inside the centre, including repairs to the pool, fixing ventilation problems, and updating facilities and equipment.

"The opening of the YMCA certainly had an impact on St. Pat's. The new YMCA is a wonderful community development, but St. Pat's Family Centre has become an iconic community centre like the Boys and Girls Club," he says. "It offers services for after school projects and athletics and family oriented matters. It is not in the same league as the structure that is the YMCA, but I think it can complement the YMCA and the Boys and Girls club."

Murphy previously announced a $500,000 renovation project for the Boys and Girls Club.

Murphy says St. Pat's, which is located on Providence Street next to the Dr. Georges-L.-Dumont Regional Hospital, isn't in competition with other centres, rather it serves the neighbourhood that surrounds it and a clientele that doesn't necessarily access programs at other facilities.

St. Pat's is in Murphy's riding and he has a long connection with the centre, which opened in 1964.

"I was there the day that it opened. My mother used to take exercise class there and I was on the swim team when I was very young," he says.

Murphy later learned to play basketball at the centre from Father Peter McKee, who he says must be smiling right about now, and now a new generation of Murphys is taking over.

Murphy's son Keegan, 15, has been a lifeguard at St. Pat's for the past year.

Murphy says fixing up St. Pat's not only fits into his work as MLA for Moncton North, but into his portfolio as minister of health.

"We have the highest obesity rates in the country. When I was a little boy, things were different. I think we saw a lot more unorganized sports and more activity. We have more organized sports now, but seemingly less activity," he says.

"We can't afford to lose a community centre like St. Pat's whether through obsoleteness of the equipment or deterioration of the building."

Murphy wouldn't say how much more money might be coming St. Pat's, though suggests it will be "substantial."

"I'm well on the way to pushing for a much more substantial investment from some other multiple sources including non-governmental sources," he says. "Suffice to say the inside of the building needs some considerable work, upgrading and perhaps some additions within the structure."

Very little in the way of repairs or upgrading has ever taken place at the 44-year-old centre.

[mmmatt]

I bet 20$ Urban Planet is moving into where American Eagle was...thats more a proper size for them...I highly doubt they would be able to fill that space, unless they break it up. Since the old AE spot is right beside the old FS spot it is feasible the slueth overheard someone talking about it there, but who knows I could be wrong.

Good news about St Pats, that building needs some work...that render looks pretty good too

As far as the CFL goes thats a fevered dream...it will never come to Moncton...Halifax MAYBE and thats a big maybe, but never Moncton.

[ErickMontreal]

Originally Posted by stu_pendousmat2

I bet 20$ Urban Planet is moving into where American Eagle was...thats more a proper size for them...I highly doubt they would be able to fill that space, unless they break it up. Since the old AE spot is right beside the old FS spot it is feasible the slueth overheard someone talking about it there, but who knows I could be wrong.

Good news about St Pats, that building needs some work...that render looks pretty good too

As far as the CFL goes thats a fevered dream...it will never come to Moncton...Halifax MAYBE and thats a big maybe, but never Moncton.

I agreed all the way.

[ErickMontreal]

New texts have been posted on Urbanmoncton.ca

Check it out

[mmmatt]

Originally Posted by HalifaxMtl666

New texts have been posted on Urbanmoncton.ca

Check it out

Good job! Is your page listed on Google? If not you should try to...this page deserves to be popular

[ErickMontreal]

Originally Posted by stu_pendousmat2

Good job! Is your page listed on Google? If not you should try to...this page deserves to be popular

I did not think but it works right now... dont know why but really cool.

Merci Matt

[ErickMontreal]

Rue Alma Street



By Brian Branch :: http://monctonpixels.blogspot.com/2008/03/rue-alma-street.html

[mmmatt]

Speaking of Google I just did a random test (you know me and lists)

Here is the ammount of hits on Google for the following search paramiters:
The reason I added the quotations on Saint John is because without them 50% of the results are for St. Johns Nfld and St. John The Baptist, in fact even with them there are still quite a few linking to those things...really Moncton and Fredericton are the only two which are more accurate because there are no other cities named Moncton in the world...just a couple of old ships (named after the city).

Also for Halifax there is another city in England named Halifax...so just searching Halifax is innacurate...but I put it in there anyways.

Not that this means anything at all but anyways here goes:

Halifax - 38,600,000
Moncton - 9,430,000
Fredericton - 9,040,000
"Saint John" - 6,690,000
Halifax, Canada - 3,910,000
Moncton, New Brunswick - 3,520,000
Saint John, New Brunswick - 1,400,000
Halifax, Nova Scotia - 848,000
"Saint John", Canada - 626,000
Moncton, Canada - 359,000
Fredericton, New Brunswick - 560,000
Fredericton, Canada - 327,000

[ErickMontreal]

Concert coming

The announcement that concert-goers in Greater Moncton have been waiting for will be made on Monday. The promoters of the "2008 Magnetic Hill Music Festival" will release details of the next big concert on the hill at 1:30 p-m on Monday. For months there have been rumours that The Eagles will be one of the acts to perform at the Magnetic Hill Concert site on August second during the New Brunswick Day weekend.

[mmmatt]

Originally Posted by HalifaxMtl666

Concert coming

The announcement that concert-goers in Greater Moncton have been waiting for will be made on Monday. The promoters of the "2008 Magnetic Hill Music Festival" will release details of the next big concert on the hill at 1:30 p-m on Monday. For months there have been rumours that The Eagles will be one of the acts to perform at the Magnetic Hill Concert site on August second during the New Brunswick Day weekend.

Cant wait!

[mylesmalley]

Originally Posted by HalifaxMtl666

Concert coming

The announcement that concert-goers in Greater Moncton have been waiting for will be made on Monday. The promoters of the "2008 Magnetic Hill Music Festival" will release details of the next big concert on the hill at 1:30 p-m on Monday. For months there have been rumours that The Eagles will be one of the acts to perform at the Magnetic Hill Concert site on August second during the New Brunswick Day weekend.

Glad to see some non-country acts coming to town! The Eagles would be one hell of a show.

[mmmatt]

Originally Posted by mylesmalley

Glad to see some non-country acts coming to town! The Eagles would be one hell of a show.

effin right, and I bet there would be some sweet opening acts too...OLP would be awesome

[mylesmalley]

Originally Posted by stu_pendousmat2

effin right, and I bet there would be some sweet opening acts too...OLP would be awesome

They were good at the Stones show, though I was there to see the Tragically Hip.