Quote:
Originally Posted by OliverD
Yet people who live in these bedroom communities seem to consistently rail against any sort of densification. I recall a fairly small condo development that was proposed in Rothesay. I don't remember the exact details but it was something like 40 units on four acres - hardly "dense" but still denser that what is typical in Rothesay, and people were acting as if the proposal was for a skyscraper. People need to realize that those sort of developments are exactly what can keep their communities sustainable.
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The condo development is still awaiting approval and is going through processes right now. It's located on the busiest road in Rothesay (Hampton road), near a major intersection, and in an area that can absolutely handle higher densification. Local residents moaned that it would ruin the atmosphere or whatever their arguments were of the area in general. Currently it would be near a strip mall, municipal buildings, and a suburban-style high school.
A lot of people in these suburbs simply want to pretend as if they live in a quaint, quiet country town, or something that isn't bustling or loud or obnoxious. This isn't the same Rothesay where people rode around on horses on streets fifty years ago; It's a suburb of 12,000 with another 18,000 nextdoor in Quispamsis. Delusions that they're a small town out in the woods and that they're completely separate from any repercussions of urbanism are just that - delusions.
Quote:
Originally Posted by OliverD
Fredericton is doing ok in this respect, with some good developments happening downtown and even outside the downtown core there are a lot of multi-unit developments being built. We still have a ways to go but I think we're on the right path.
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The concern for Fredericton, at least from what I can see, are on infrastructure projects and maintenance. Lincoln was the fastest growing community between 2011 and 2016 in New Brunswick (of areas with over 5,000) with many of these residents commuting into the City for work. Similar to Saint John, these residents aren't paying municipal taxes for the upkeep of the roads they use or the services they use within municipal Fredericton limits. New Maryland, Kingsclear, and areas north of Fredericton are areas growing quickly with these similar issues. Denisification in central Fredericton is going to be key to a lot of growth in the city moving forward but how much traffic can two bridge crossings take? How large are you willing to widen and build roads to transport people twenty minutes outside of the city? These are all pertinent questions that should be asked today.
To spin this back to Saint John, I often hear a lot of people moaning about those that live outside the city yet work inside and their solutions are often ways that penalize them - tolls, raised taxes, amalgamation. That these people
left Saint John for outside the city and that they should be
forced back in. Rather than penalizing other municipalities, which benefits nobody in particular, movement should be made on making Saint John a more enticing municipality to live and work in. Competitive tax rates, grants and incentives for upgrades and retrofits, intensification of urban areas that are within walking distance rather than driving distance. Saint John has a tremendous urban core and its something that suburban communities will never have and will never want to have. Grow that urban core and let suburbanites live suburban lives. There'll come a time where the cost of living a 25 minute drive away simply isn't feasible for many and if there's a city that looks enticing to live in many will jump at the opportunity.
There's a lot of negative people in this city but it'll change over time. If the City lowered its tax rate tomorrow people would still use the cliché "
Highest in NB!" or "
Still too high!" as a response without knowing the full details or fleshing out the full picture. Saint John's steady tax rate is actually making it look more appealing as the suburbs struggle with financial difficulties and rising rates in their own municipalities. General cost of living expenditures like cost of gas will make Saint John more enticing the further along we move, but Saint John itself can do so much more to make itself a better municipality for those that live and work in it everyday.
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