The Official Moncton, NB Project Thread

[darkharbour]

Originally Posted by SevenSquared

Spot on. That's a great start. The building fits with the McGill vibe.

U de M should not even be in the conversation; this city is now more than big enough to handle two full-fledged universities. The population is there, the space is there (and then some!), and the need is most definitely there.

I know the topic makes some people very... uneasy.... but Fredericton has grown a lot in recent years, there should be no need for the current asymmetrical "arrangement" to maintain a healthy UNB imo

Please tell that to UNB, who have treated the SJ campus like a second class citizen for 50+ years.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by darkharbour

Please tell that to UNB, who have treated the SJ campus like a second class citizen for 50+ years.

You should see the UNB Faculty of Nursing "campus" in Moncton - a dilapidated corrugated steel building on Assumption Blvd that looks like it is a repurposed muffler shop.

That, and the School of Radiologic Technology at the Moncton Hospital are the only hints of a UNB presence in Moncton - the largest city in the province, with an anglophone population in the CMA of about 115,000. It's pretty disgraceful..........

[josh_cat_eyes]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

You should see the UNB Faculty of Nursing "campus" in Moncton - a dilapidated corrugated steel building on Assumption Blvd that looks like it is a repurposed muffler shop.

That, and the School of Radiologic Technology at the Moncton Hospital are the only hints of a UNB presence in Moncton - the largest city in the province, with an anglophone population in the CMA of about 115,000. It's pretty disgraceful..........

Talking about parking structures in the other thread, and about the UNB nursing building in this thread has given me an idea. They could build a proper UNB nursing building where the parking lot is between MacBeath, Edgett and Connaught and build a parking structure behind that building.

I’m sure that similar ideas have been proposed in the past.

[Sunnybrae]

Originally Posted by SevenSquared

https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/back-dow...ties-1.6690156

McGill University, in response to drastic changes implemented by the Québec government, isn't ruling out opening a satellite campus outside the province.

Meanwhile here in NB's largest city, we continue to lose many thousands of high school grads every decade, who are forced to relocate to Fredericton or elsewhere due to not having an anglophone university here at home.

Downtown Moncton has a seemingly infinite amount of vacant/underutilized land, and downtown businesses who have been suffering since 2020 from a dramatic reduction in foot traffic due to WFH and other issues.

Seems like an ideal potential partnership, no?

I think the only way an anglophone university will ever happen in Moncton is if someone wealthy wants one here and starts the endowment. Otherwise, good luck. Not to mention, I'm sure Mount Allison would not be thrilled.

I am surprised the Irvings never did anything like that for Saint John. It would have been easy and a great legacy for them.

[MonctonRad]

I honestly don't think MTA depends too much on Monctonians to fill out their student body.

If I was to guess, I would think no more than 20% of MTA enrollment is local from the Moncton area. The university is just a touch too far to commute (especially in the wintertime), and, there are no public transit options between Moncton and Sackville. Moncton students really would have to live in residence or stay in a Sackville apartment, and, if you have to live on campus, then why not venture a little further afield to UNB, DAL, SFX or Acadia.

MTA markets itself as a small (Canadian equivalent) Ivy League caliber school and sees a lot of enrollment from NS, PEI and Ontario (as well as overseas).

The presence of MTA does not obviate a need for a UNB campus in the city of Moncton proper. It is an apples to oranges sort of thing.

[MonctonRad]

Overdue: does Moncton need a 2nd public library?
Public survey designed to find out what, if any, changes are needed
Rhythm Rathi · CBC News · Posted: Dec 20, 2023 6:00 AM AST | Last Updated: 6 hours ago
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-b...lity-1.7063017

"There are four different libraries in Saint John, Fredericton has three and Moncton has only one, so there's really a need for another branch in our city," said Belkhodja.

He would also like to see discussion about additional services, such as an in-house café, an auditorium or even an arts centre.

[ChampduLarge]

I would love a municipal arts centre for visual art. Cities around the same size as Moncton or smaller, around the country, have small but fine galleries. Peterborough, Guelph, Sudbury, Saint John. It feels overdue for the city.

[Nashe]

Originally Posted by ChampduLarge

I would love a municipal arts centre for visual art. Cities around the same size as Moncton or smaller, around the country, have small but fine galleries. Peterborough, Guelph, Sudbury, Saint John. It feels overdue for the city.

Moncton City Hall has a small gallery that rotates artists through it. Would be nice if they had a more permanent place to roost.

[drewber]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Overdue: does Moncton need a 2nd public library?
Public survey designed to find out what, if any, changes are needed
Rhythm Rathi · CBC News · Posted: Dec 20, 2023 6:00 AM AST | Last Updated: 6 hours ago
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-b...lity-1.7063017

I think a library built around the current YMCA on war vets would be a good location although some may say it's too close to the current one. There other option could be near the new ymca I think there is lots of space near it to build.

[Sandbagger]

Originally Posted by Nashe

Moncton City Hall has a small gallery that rotates artists through it. Would be nice if they had a more permanent place to roost.

You mean like a large vacant building located downtown with an accompanying historical theatre for visual arts? If only...

[MonctonRad]

My own personal choice for Moncton's first branch library would be on Twin Oaks Drive, on the other side of the parking lot from the Moncton North YMCA, There is a woodlot there that could accommodate such a structure, and, the library could share parking with the YMCA. It would also contribute to a recreational/cultural node for the northwest end.

[MonctonRad]

Moncton's building boom continued in 2023 with $300M in permits
While residential construction is leading the way at $148 million, institutional building permits accounted for $52.8 million and commercial was worth $74.5 million.

Author of the article:Alan Cochrane
Published Dec 26, 2023 • Last updated 4 hours ago • 3 minute readhttps://tj.news/moncton-miramichi/monctons-building-boom-continued-in-2023-with-300m-in-permits (paywall)

Regionally, the total value for building permits in each of the CMAs main communities are:

Moncton - $340,000,000 (projected)
Dieppe - $182,200,000
Riverview - $33,000,000
TOTAL - $555,200,000

Here are a few of the significant government, institutional, commercial and industrial projects in Moncton from 2023:

• Shannex Developments: 60-room nursing home addition, $6 million.

• Province of N.B.: Three storey addition to The Moncton Hospital for a new coronary care unit, $35.5 million.

• Aquilini Properties, 999 main Street, two-storey Baton Rouge restaurant, $2.8 million.

• Greenfoot Energy Solutions Inc., 55 Chief Noah Augustine Drive, four-storey office, retail, warehouse, $11. 3 million.

• Torque Motorsports, 55 Desbrisay, two storey motorsports dealership, $3.1 million.

• Cargo County, 180 Desbrisay, offices and cold storage, $4.3 million.

• Bayview Kenworth; 175 Harrisville Blvd, two-storey dealership, $4.8 million.

• Adelin Properties, 327 Urquhart Ave., new offices and warehousing, $4.1 million.

• Marshall Canada; 66 English Drive, renovations to office and manufacturing space, $3.4 million.

[new kid in town]

Just noticed @MonctonRad being heavily involved in the Moncton Wikipedia page wow

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by new kid in town

Just noticed @MonctonRad being heavily involved in the Moncton Wikipedia page wow

I haven't been actively involved in editing the Moncton Wikipedia page for years now. SSP took over my interest. Another SSP forumer (mmmatt) was equally as active in constructing the Moncton Wikipedia entry, but, real life responsibilities took over, and, he is also inactive on Wikipedia and only occasionally contributes to SSP (and Retail Talk & Share) now.

[Mattyyy]

Anybody know what they are doing at the intersection of Wheeler/Botsford/Lewisville? The land to the right of the merge lane from Botsford onto Wheeler (into the traffic circle) is dug up. Would it possible be an upgrade to the merge lane onto Wheeler? If so this would be welcome news!

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by Mattyyy

Anybody know what they are doing at the intersection of Wheeler/Botsford/Lewisville? The land to the right of the merge lane from Botsford onto Wheeler (into the traffic circle) is dug up. Would it possible be an upgrade to the merge lane onto Wheeler? If so this would be welcome news!

Could be. It's an odd time of year to be doing the work though.

[FiberNerd]

Originally Posted by Mattyyy

Anybody know what they are doing at the intersection of Wheeler/Botsford/Lewisville? The land to the right of the merge lane from Botsford onto Wheeler (into the traffic circle) is dug up. Would it possible be an upgrade to the merge lane onto Wheeler? If so this would be welcome news!

It's part of the East End sewer upgrades. Try this link: https://moncton.maps.arcgis.com/apps...750233416aaa50

[MonctonRad]

Another $6.7M for affordable housing in Moncton announced
Funding will go toward housing projects by Rising Tide and Crossroads for Women
Author of the article:Alan Cochrane
Published Jan 05, 2024 • Last updated 40 minutes ago • 2 minute read
https://tj.news/moncton-miramichi/an...cton-announced (paywall)

[drewber]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Another $6.7M for affordable housing in Moncton announced
Funding will go toward housing projects by Rising Tide and Crossroads for Women
Author of the article:Alan Cochrane
Published Jan 05, 2024 • Last updated 40 minutes ago • 2 minute read
https://tj.news/moncton-miramichi/an...cton-announced (paywall)

https://www.919thebend.ca/2024/01/05...ts-in-moncton/

Non paywall article of the announcement

[MonctonRad]

It doesn't appear that their will be any items brought to PAC this month requiring variances. This will likely become more common in the future, as recent changes have expanded the capacity of city planning to grant "as of right" building permits.

Interesting to note that over $66M in building permits were issued by the city in November alone. This is a staggering amount, but we have no idea what they were for.

The expansion of the use of "as of right" building permits is bad news for us as this means that we will have less access to construction plans for us to discuss.