For St. John's, I really don't know. We're not big enough to compare to any of the American cities people would know, though we have traits in common with lots of them.
Every city in North America has an old town, an upper class area, a lower class area, specific commercial districts, etc. What differentiates them is the size of each, and its relative influence on the general city culture. People who work in Finance occupy a bigger percentage of the culture in cities like Toronto, New York, London, for example. We have people in those jobs here, not enough that it has any impact on the city's culture, daily life.
That's sort of my mindset in looking at things. What St. John's does, well beyond its size, is social stratification. Not only do we have a lower class, like everywhere else, we have one that's a HUGE percentage of the city's geography and population, we have one that has its own accent and culture and is hard to get out of. You don't usually get that in cities our size unless race is involved (here it of course isn't).
So you have to blend picturesque tourist town, with downtrodden former industrial town, with dirty port city, with hipster/arts/culture mecca, with obsessed with live music, with colourful buildings, on and on. The ratios are, I think, pretty unique here for a North American city.
So nothing American really jumps out, beyond token, superficial picks like Boston for the Irish emphasis, random PA towns for the architecture.
But if you go deeper, to how most residents of a city live, to how most residents of a city feel about it... I suspect Baltimore is probably the best bet.
- Residents are pissed off about almost everything, but love it.
- They can complain, you can't.
- Rowhouses, segregation, music.
On and on. I think it's the deepest fit, even if it's not at all accurate on the surface.
This could EASILY be set in St. John's:
• Video Link