Interesting post.
About the streets - one thing to note is that the old 'Saint John' (the oldest incorporated city in Canada) was only what is the heart of downtown, so things completely changed once you moved out of the center.
As for the 'haunted' building, is that what was the 1880 club (ie, meat market) when I was in high school? My memories of that place are slightly unfocussed.
The streets are in horrible shape, and it pisses me off every day, and I only have a 10 km drive to work.
As for 'colour', the black community of SJ is OLD, as in, from many many many years ago, and although small, it's got some terrific history. Interesting tales of how in WW2, American black soldiers would come here for the weekend to socialize. The neighborhood I live in is full of Chinese, Korean, and Indian (as in India) people. Of the houses sold in the last 3 years, probably half or more were sold to Chinese or Korean people. Of my 4 immediate neighbors, 1 family is Iranian, 1 is Korean, 1 is Pakistani, and 1 is Canadian origin.