The Official Moncton, NB Project Thread

[NBNYer]

Originally Posted by jeddy1989

These are slums .. not moncton ...

We have NOTHING that compares to slums in Atlantic Canada, and if someone is suggesting that we do, they really need to take a little trip outside their bubble to the real world ..

jeddy1989 is absolutely right. There is no such thing as a slum anywhere in Canada. I lived in one of the poorest countries in the world for a few months back in 2006 for work. Somehow Moncton's problems don't seem as insurmountable as some on this forum would suggest.

Calling downtown a slum is an alarmist, misinformed comment and counterproductive to what the naysayers claim they would like to see happen downtown.

Photo by me

[MonctonRad]

And now back to more constructive news:

The Field of Dreams project at Bernice McNaughton High School is a go. I have been aware of this for about a month, but was sworn to secrecy until a formal announcement could be made.

City council has pledged $1.5M for an artificial turf field at BMHS. In addition, an artificial turf field will be installed at Harrison Trimble High School, the turf field at Rocky Stone Field will be replaced and either a temporary or permanent artificial turf field will be installed at the Moncton Stadium at UdeM.

All of this is in preparation for the Womens World Cup in 2015. Apparently there will be four national soccer teams based in Moncton for the tournament and they need appropriate practice facilities.

This is just another example of how important "sports tourism" can be to a community. The legacy of Ian Fowler lives on!

[MonctonRad]

Correction to the above, the $1.5M contribution by city council is for all four artificial turf fields combined, not just to BMHS.

[monctonian]

The residential real estate market in "downtown" Moncton - a snapshot prepared using the Moncton MLS® database - year to date - Q3 2012.

• freehold properties - 55 sales - $131,556 average sale price
• condominium units - 8 sales - $180,600 average sale price

(Notes - *approximately one out of ten sales of existing Moncton property sales were located in "downtown" Moncton. - **all downtown condo sales were existing units - there has not been a sale reported on MLS® of a new downtown condo unit in five years.)

The rest of Moncton - existing (all ages but not new construction) sales reported year to date - Q3 2012

• single detached - 416 sales - $174,503 average sale price
• semi detached - 82 sales - $147,881 average sale price
• condominium units - 18 sales - $142,764 average sale price

More Q3 2012 graphs here: http://monctonguide.com/market2012q3.html

[NBNYer]

Originally Posted by monctonian

**all downtown condo sales were existing units - there has not been a sale reported on MLS® of a new downtown condo unit in five years.)

That's odd. What about the new Dominion street building? Aren't those condos?

[monctonian]

There is a website for 25 Dominion Street but there are no prices on the web site. Currently there are no new construction condos listed on MLS® in the downtown area.

[RyeJay]

Originally Posted by NBNYer

jeddy1989 is absolutely right. There is no such thing as a slum anywhere in Canada. I lived in one of the poorest countries in the world for a few months back in 2006 for work. Somehow Moncton's problems don't seem as insurmountable as some on this forum would suggest.

Calling downtown a slum is an alarmist, misinformed comment and counterproductive to what the naysayers claim they would like to see happen downtown.

Please stop distracting yourself with semantics.

If you want to take cormiermax's comment using the word 'slum' that literally: Without federal welfare from Ottawa, Moncton would more resemble the picture you've posted.

Even with free money from other provinces, Moncton's downtown is amongst the poorest in this country. I'm not going to compare this to a third world country just to make this context seem less dire and less significant for the sake of ego.

Scoff at Moncton's budgetary problems all you like; federal equalisation payments allow you to do so.

[RyeJay]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

The Field of Dreams project at Bernice McNaughton High School is a go. I have been aware of this for about a month, but was sworn to secrecy until a formal announcement could be made.

City council has pledged $1.5M for an artificial turf field at BMHS. In addition, an artificial turf field will be installed at Harrison Trimble High School, the turf field at Rocky Stone Field will be replaced and either a temporary or permanent artificial turf field will be installed at the Moncton Stadium at UdeM.

All of this is in preparation for the Womens World Cup in 2015. Apparently there will be four national soccer teams based in Moncton for the tournament and they need appropriate practice facilities.

This is just another example of how important "sports tourism" can be to a community. The legacy of Ian Fowler lives on!

Great news!

[RyeJay]

Originally Posted by monctonian

There is a website for 25 Dominion Street but there are no prices on the web site. Currently there are no new construction condos listed on MLS® in the downtown area.

hmmm

[ballain]

Originally Posted by RyeJay

hmmm

Starts at 225,000$ or so says the sign

[mmmatt]

Those condos are not listed on MLS...like many other homes/condos in the Moncton area they are privately listed.

That is a trend that is affecting the MLS sales trends I feel.

[MonctonRad]

Moncton Census 2011 Language Results:

Mother Tongue:
Total: 136,145
English: 83,585. 61.4%
French: 46,960. 34.5%
Non Official: 3,400. 2.5%
Multiple Response: 2,205. 1.6%

Non Official Languages:
Korean: 555. 0.4%
Arabic: 370. 0.3%
Spanish: 270. 0.2%
German: 250. 0.2%
Italian: 195. 0.1%
Dutch: 165. 0.1%
Chinese: 155. 0.1%
Tagalog: 155. 0.1%
Swahili: 100. 0.1%
Vietnamese: 100. 0.1%

[SignalHillHiker]

Wow, that French percentage is enormous. Compare it to our 0.5%, ha!

And your Other percentage is higher than ours as well (2.4%).

[mylesmalley]

Interesting to note the changes since 2006...

2006 (2011)

Total Population: 124,055 (136,145)
English: 85,895, 69% (83,585, 61.4%)
French: 36,030, 29% (46,960. 34.5%)
Non-Official: 925, 0.7% (3,400. 2.5%)

I didn't include the other categories because they don't match up exactly between censuses. That's why the top numbers dont' quite add up with the bottom ones.

We've seen a dramatic increase in the number of francophones both in real terms and as a percentage of the population. I think more importantly though, we're finally starting to see immigration pick up. We've seen a 540% spike in the number of non-official language speakers in just five years.

I'm curious about the drop in the English speaking numbers. Is part of the big rise in Francophones thanks to people switching what they listed from last time? If there's a big exodus of English speakers from Greater Moncton, this is the first I'm hearing of it.

[MonctonRad]

It might have something to do with the way the question was asked, or how people perceived the question when they responded.

There was a seperate question asking "language most often spoken at home".

The response:
- English: 93,425 68.6%
- French: 38,500. 28.3%

Those results are pretty similar to the numbers you posted from the last census.

[KnoxfordGuy]

Moncton the biggest city in New Brunswick yet? Saint John was just over 70,000 in May 2011 and Moncton was just over 69,000. After almost a year and a half, has this changed for the first time? Does anyone have any info on this?

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by KnoxfordGuy

Moncton the biggest city in New Brunswick yet? Saint John was just over 70,000 in May 2011 and Moncton was just over 69,000. After almost a year and a half, has this changed for the first time? Does anyone have any info on this?

Moncton's CMA is 11,000 higher than Saint John's (138 to 127) and that's really what's most important. At least, it is if you're trying to compare to cities in other regions. Some cities have a small centre census-area whereas others will be larger. It provides for a better grasp of the situation if you go by full metro.

[mylesmalley]

StatCan doesn't release estimates for municipalities if I remember correctly. However they do release estimates for Census Metropolitan Areas on an annual basis. This is usually released around March, so it'll be a few more months before we get 2012 numbers. also of note is the fact that the estimates in the linked page are based on the 2006 census boundaries. I don't think any of the CMA/CAs in New Brunswick changed their territories though.

At any rate, they peg Moncton at growing by 2,500 per year for each of the last 4 years. It's probably safe to say we're at the 143,000 mark by now.

Saint John isn't quite as consistent, but it's probably closing in on 130,000.

http://www.statcan.gc.ca/tables-tableaux/sum-som/l01/cst01/demo05a-eng.htm

IIRC, the yearly estimate numbers are more accurate than the census because they reflect undercounts (and overcounts) better.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by mylesmalley

IIRC, the yearly estimate numbers are more accurate than the census because they reflect undercounts (and overcounts) better.

On average the 2001 and 2006 census CMA undercounts were around 3%. I am not sure how consistent they are across CMAs or how consistent they are from census to census. The population estimates are considered more accurate than the census counts.

I had heard that Moncton's francophone population was growing quickly but I didn't know it was that lopsided. Maybe the numbers really are just from a change in the question. Normally they try to keep the methodology consistent from census to census because otherwise it becomes difficult or impossible to track changes.

[MonctonRad]

Moncton Residential Construction Strong.
Thursday, November 01, 2012
Times & Transcript
http://22864.vws.magma.ca/index.php?&article_id=10081

Positive growth continues in several categories in September

Permits issued for residential construction in Moncton continued to exceed other categories in September.

A total of 36 permits were issued in September and were valued at approximately $3.5 million. This represents a 7.8 per cent increase from same time last year.

Single-family dwellings saw the most renovations, closely followed by new duplex construction. Heading into the final trimester of 2012, the year-to-date value of residential construction permits is well over $64 million.

Commercial and industrial construction followed closely behind residential construction with 27 permits issued at a net value near $5.5 million. The most significant commercial development is Meadowdale Properties' construction of a retail strip mall at 1909 Mountain Rd., valued at $1.8 million.

Despite issuing only two institutional permits in September, their combined value of over $17 million represents a 25.8 per cent increase compared to September 2011. September's total amounts to 85 per cent of the year-to-date value in this category thus far for 2012.

September also saw the City of Moncton issue the building permit for the construction of the new francophone elementary school on Ryan Street.

Permits for signs and various other construction improvements, such as fences, pools and retaining walls, were valued at more than $168,000 for the month. It also represents an increase of 37.4 per cent compared to September 2011.

The city's Building Inspection Department also wants to remind people that any structure being added to a site, including accessory buildings, fences, decks, requires building and development permits.

September 2012 highlights include: Construction of 112,253 sq. ft., École Moncton Nord, 701 Ryan St., $17,120,462; Construction of strip mall: 1909 Mountain Rd., Meadowdale Properties, $1.8 million; Construction of Harvey's Restaurant: 1521 Mountain Rd., Cara Operations Ltd., $620,000; Interior fit-up to create Tag store: 110 Wyse St., Mapleton Holdings Inc., $550,000; Interior fit-up to create Dental Clinic: 1435 Mountain Rd., Lomax Investments Inc., $400,000; Interior renovations to first floor: 95 Foundry St., Heritage Court Holdings Ltd., $320,000.