The Official Saint John, NB Project Thread

[kwajo]

Great photo post! Love the nighttime photos of Uptown!

i noticed an article in the TJ this morning about a 600 home subdivision in Rothesay, but I'm too depressed about it idea to post the whole article.

[ErickMontreal]

Originally Posted by kwajo

Great photo post! Love the nighttime photos of Uptown!

Thanks you Kwajo.

Friends of Montréal will be here next weekend and given the fact they love history as well as urbanity, we will head out to SJ, I will try to take some pics.

[@Champlain]

Wow, great photos!!!!! I wish Moncton had this much urban feel, charm, character, history, heritage, architecture and on and on and on...

[kwajo]

Originally Posted by @Champlain

Wow, great photos!!!!! I wish Moncton had this much urban feel, charm, character, history, heritage, architecture and on and on and on...

...and I wish Saint Johners would appreciate what they have and build upon it, but lately we seem obsessed with sprawl like everyone else. We do have several very good Uptown projects underway or starting soon, but it's never enough.

[@Champlain]

Originally Posted by ErickMontreal

Thanks you Kwajo.

Friends of Montréal will be here next weekend and given the fact they love history as well as urbanity, we will head out to SJ, I will try to take some pics.

Not much of a surprise, why would anyone in Montreal want to see Moncton... and I can't blame them. Sorry but this was too easy.

[tw31]

I love how Saint John has the ability to feel like a big city, being the size it is. I'm sure with further projects in the future, things will look great.

[ErickMontreal]

Originally Posted by @Champlain

Not much of a surprise, why would anyone in Montreal want to see Moncton... and I can't blame them. Sorry but this was too easy.

Well, this was not my intention to put Moncton down, they already know Moncton. However, yes, thats true, SJ has a lot more to offer in many ways for urban-addicts than Moncton does.

[@Champlain]

Originally Posted by ErickMontreal

Well, this was not my intention to put Moncton down as they already know Moncton. However, yes, thats true, SJ has a lot more to offer in many ways for urban-addicts than Moncton does.

Such as me

[PersonPlaceorThing]

I read in the paper that there will be consultations on March 11 about parking issues and about waterfront development.

I will likely fo to one or both.

[ErickMontreal]

Originally Posted by @Champlain

Such as me

SJ should try to emulate Portland Me, I mean, the historic district down there is so vibrant, always full of people around, lot of café's, Pubs, art shops, theater... ect

SJ has everything to turn itself as a litle Portland.

Heres Portland (me):

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=157004&highlight=portland+maine

[@Champlain]

Originally Posted by ErickMontreal

SJ should try to emulate Portland Me, I mean, the historic district down there is so vibrant, always full of people around, lot of café's, Pubs, art shops, theater... ect

SJ has everything to turn itself as a litle Portalnd.

Heres Portland (me):

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=157004&highlight=portland+maine

Loves it! Been to Portland more times than I can count; by going there or by passing by to go elsewhere in the US. It is a very nice mid-sized east coast city, alot like Saint John actually, Saint John is a little less thriving & the Portland metro area is huge compared to SJ though. Are those your pics? very nice regardless, one pic almost reminds me of Beacon Hill in Boston. Very cool! The urban feel there in Portland is so refreshing, but makes Moncton look so very... well bland and fake.

[ErickMontreal]

Originally Posted by @Champlain

Loves it! Been to Portland more times than I can count; by going there or by passing by to go elsewhere in the US. It is a very nice mid-sized east coast city, alot like Saint John actually, Saint John is a little less thriving & the Portland metro area is huge compared to SJ though. Are those your pics? very nice regardless, one pic almost reminds me of Beacon Hill in Boston. Very cool!

Unfortunately no, I found it out on the photo thread section.

You're right about the fact Portland is both bigger and thriving than SJ. Furthermore, we also have to point out the fact they are closer to Boston, thats help.

Portland downtown has experienced a lot gentrification in the past decades and as Kwajo pointed out above ,SJ city council should focus on drawing back people into city's core, that's the first step.

Either, Coast Guard and Water street condo are great examples of that.

[@Champlain]

Originally Posted by ErickMontreal

Portland downtown has experienced a lot gentrification in the past decades and as Kwajo pointed out above ,SJ city council should focus on drawing back people into city's core, that's the first step.

The crew in Moncton should follow too... a courthouse will not bring people downtown. You need people to LIVE downtown, lots of people don't get that, they just don't.

[kwajo]

Originally Posted by ErickMontreal

Unfortunately no, I found it out on the photo thread section.

You're right about the fact Portland is both bigger and thriving than SJ. Furthermore, we also have to point out the fact they are closer to Boston, thats help.

Portland downtown has experienced a lot gentrification in the past decades and as Kwajo pointed out above ,SJ city council should focus on drawing back people into city's core, that's the first step.

Either, Coast Guard and Water street condo are great examples of that.

There are several smaller projects going on as well, for example The Abbey on Charlotte & Duke, and the in-fill housing on Queen Street. All of these projects together, along with an upper-floor renovation program that the city is looking at, will really push the number of citizens Uptown. I think once the number starts growing, it will be like a snowball rolling downhill and push more and more people to realize that urban Saint John is a great place to settle.

[@Champlain]

Originally Posted by kwajo

There are several smaller projects going on as well, for example The Abbey on Charlotte & Duke, and the in-fill housing on Queen Street. All of these projects together, along with an upper-floor renovation program that the city is looking at, will really push the number of citizens Uptown. I think once the number starts growing, it will be like a snowball rolling downhill and push more and more people to realize that urban Saint John is a great place to settle.

It is so nice to hear good things like these going around, right here in New Brunswick.

[kwajo]

Originally Posted by @Champlain

It is so nice to hear good things like these going around, right here in New Brunswick.

Indeed! I think all 3 major cities (and the smaller ones in the North as well) need to focus in the next 20 years on reducing their sprawling tendencies and revitalizing their urban cores, especially with the rising costs of fuel and the shortage of land making suburban communities less and less sustainable. We need to beat these trends before they get out of control and end up beating us.

I know Saint John is amongst the highest ranked cities in the country for sustainable planning (#2 I think) and I have been a part of many of those planning processes, but it is time to stop talking about it and start implementing those ideas before it is too late. I get encouraged seeing how far Uptown SJ has come in the past 5-8 years, but it has so much un-tapped potential that I think it can become the premiere urban area in Atlantic Canada if we get our act together.

[Helladog]

Nice photos!

Some of the nicer parts of town will benefit from the Princess St upgrade and Prince William St when it gets done too.

Does anyone think adding lanes to the Western side of Union is a good idea; or did citizens/council do right leaving it as is?

[Helladog]

On Peel Plaza...taken from the SJ Telegraph Journal

...410-square-metre (69,000-square-foot) two-storey police station that the city will build for between $23 million and $25 million will be located in an area south of the Arts Centre, which is housed in the historic Carnegie building.

Other significant Peel Plaza adaptations made after public input include:

* Transfer of a parking garage to the Sewell Street escarpment - initially, the plan had been to build it west of Harbour Station.

* Increased emphasis on public transit, bike paths and pedestrian ways, including a green space component.

* Inclusion of significant public spaces around structures, including the potential for an art park.

* Preservation of the CFBC building.

* Limiting the width of the Union Street traffic corridor.

The original conceptual plan included the current Inside Connection crossing underneath Union Street to the parking garage; the latest plan connects from Union to the Harbour Station link across the escarpment.

Exactly where public spaces will be located has not been finalized and won't be until the public is consulted, Woods said.

The Peel Plaza design, approved by common council in August, will also be home to a provincial justice complex on the old YMCA-YWCA site and a parking garage between Sewell and Carleton streets.

The $55 million, 13,536-square-metre (150,400-square-foot) justice facility will house 13 courtrooms and a barristers' lounge, as well as office space for the judiciary, court services, public prosecutions, sheriff services, public safety and policing.

Groundbreaking for both the police station and justice complex is scheduled to take place in April with occupancy expected in the spring of 2011.

[kwajo]

Originally Posted by Helladog

Nice photos!

Some of the nicer parts of town will benefit from the Princess St upgrade and Prince William St when it gets done too.

Does anyone think adding lanes to the Western side of Union is a good idea; or did citizens/council do right leaving it as is?

I think the right thing to do is to leave it as is. Adding automobile lanes isn't going to help the traffic one bit and would only make the area harder on pedestrians. Didn't I hear though that they were going to widen it slightly to add a bike lane, I thought I heard that at some meeting I was at? Or was that not coming until they bury the lines (read: a decade from now)?

[ErickMontreal]

SJ ranks 15th most dangerous community

March 05, 2009 - 5:09 pm
By: News 88-9's Denise Barkhouse

SAINT JOHN, NB - A MacLean's magazine survey rates Saint John among the top 20 most dangerous places to live in Canada. According to the survey, if you take a quick trip down highway seven you'll find the second safest community. Saint John is the 15th most dangerous place per capita to live, and takes on the unflattering title of the sexual assault crimes capital of Canada.

Fredericton ranked 34th on the list of most dangerous communities, Greater Moncton 50th and Halifax 84th. On the flip side, Oromocto was ranked the second safest place to live, Mayor Faye Tidd attributes the score to a lot to funding the town's invested in youth programming. "If you can get a child involved in an athletic program or anything to do with just meeting other kids and having something to do..not just hanging around and talking about problems or initiating a problem, but learning a little bit about the town and what we can offer."

She said it also helps that Oromocto is a military community because children grow up in homes with parents who keep people safe for a living, and that message trickles down the line.