Topic: A Few Days in Saint John and Area

[Factger]

I agree about the streets around Saint John.  They are somewhat brutal but it did appear that they are paving some.  Let's hope they keep it up.  And please, put up a few more street signs.
Another concern is that there is not a consistency in the shape and placement of the traffic lights.  Most are vertical and directly in front of oncoming traffic, but some are on the far left of the intersection, and then some are horizontal, like in Alberta.  We almost ran a couple of reds not looking to the far left.
The waterfront is mostly taken over by industry, which may make it difficult to make more of it pedestrian-friendly.
BTW, maybe they should rename Saint John to Irvingtown!

Yep, Irvingtown is quite appropriate.     But my wife works for the refinery so I can't talk smack too much!   

I found Saint John has come along way the last 10 years. Before it was strictly a pulp & refinery town but now they get their fair share of tourists and many cruise ships.  That really injects allot of money in the city's economy. Lots of downtown development happening too.

[Snowman]

Also, considering NB is officially bi-lingual, never heard a French-Canadian accent other than from the Quebec tourists, and there were lots of the.

Compared to northern New-Brunswick there are not a lot of french-speaking New-Brunswickers (mostly Acadiens) living south of Fredericton.  Although, since most of them are fluently bilingual, they're not as easy to spot as a Quebecois.

yep...language groups are still pretty geographically specific here. The north and east of the province are more french while english is predominant in the south/west.

The french speaking Acadians were originally in the southwest, but then their villages were burned and sacked and the people expelled so that Loyalist's from America could have their land.   The ones that came back years later from the expulsion had to settle in somewhat less hospitable land in the north and east of the province, hence the geographic language  and cultural divide.

We lived in Bathurst for a few years. Once people found out we were from Ontario you would have thought that we walked around with swastikas. We hung around with the Irish for safety.

[sailor723]

Also, considering NB is officially bi-lingual, never heard a French-Canadian accent other than from the Quebec tourists, and there were lots of the.

Compared to northern New-Brunswick there are not a lot of french-speaking New-Brunswickers (mostly Acadiens) living south of Fredericton.  Although, since most of them are fluently bilingual, they're not as easy to spot as a Quebecois.

yep...language groups are still pretty geographically specific here. The north and east of the province are more french while english is predominant in the south/west.

The french speaking Acadians were originally in the southwest, but then their villages were burned and sacked and the people expelled so that Loyalist's from America could have their land.   The ones that came back years later from the expulsion had to settle in somewhat less hospitable land in the north and east of the province, hence the geographic language  and cultural divide.

You've actually got the locations and dates a little out of wack but the basic premise is sound. 

Man! if only they'd stayed "expelled" things would be a lot less complicated around here! 

[Blue01]

Here it is.  That really cool house.  It's in the very early process of being upgraded, and with people still living in it.  We were able to walk through part of it.  Wow!  Lot's of potential.  They should play on the rumours that it's haunted.

[Blue01]

I think it was in St. Stephens where we found this place.  The guys there let us and showed us the upstairs.  They said that this was the original basketball court, built when basketball was first being played.
Is that true?  What an awesome place.

[CanuckS2K]

Here it is.  That really cool house.  It's in the very early process of being upgraded, and with people still living in it.  We were able to walk through part of it.  Wow!  Lot's of potential.  They should play on the rumours that it's haunted.

That building is on Mecklenburg St, literally right around the corner from the pic that I posted at the start of the thread.  Lots of great heritage buildings in the uptown area. 

[CanuckS2K]

I agree about the streets around Saint John.  They are somewhat brutal but it did appear that they are paving some.  Let's hope they keep it up.  And please, put up a few more street signs.
Another concern is that there is not a consistency in the shape and placement of the traffic lights.  Most are vertical and directly in front of oncoming traffic, but some are on the far left of the intersection, and then some are horizontal, like in Alberta.  We almost ran a couple of reds not looking to the far left.
The waterfront is mostly taken over by industry, which may make it difficult to make more of it pedestrian-friendly.
BTW, maybe they should rename Saint John to Irvingtown!

Yep, Irvingtown is quite appropriate.     But my wife works for the refinery so I can't talk smack too much!   

I found Saint John has come along way the last 10 years. Before it was strictly a pulp & refinery town but now they get their fair share of tourists and many cruise ships.  That really injects allot of money in the city's economy. Lots of downtown development happening too.

I agree Gerard, that it's come a long way over the years.  Having said that, I really feel that they need some serious work on their waterfront.  The new cruise terminal is nice and all, but the passengers get off the ship and there isn't anything else to see or walk to along the water.  Halifax OTOH has a remarkable waterfront for their cruise ship visitors. 

[blur911]

Also, considering NB is officially bi-lingual, never heard a French-Canadian accent other than from the Quebec tourists, and there were lots of the.

Compared to northern New-Brunswick there are not a lot of french-speaking New-Brunswickers (mostly Acadiens) living south of Fredericton.  Although, since most of them are fluently bilingual, they're not as easy to spot as a Quebecois.

yep...language groups are still pretty geographically specific here. The north and east of the province are more french while english is predominant in the south/west.

The french speaking Acadians were originally in the southwest, but then their villages were burned and sacked and the people expelled so that Loyalist's from America could have their land.   The ones that came back years later from the expulsion had to settle in somewhat less hospitable land in the north and east of the province, hence the geographic language  and cultural divide.

You've actually got the locations and dates a little out of wack but the basic premise is sound. 

Man! if only they'd stayed "expelled" things would be a lot less complicated around here! 

Yeah, I know the Fundy area "changed hands" quite a few times in it's history.  Sometimes it was even the Acadians fighting amongst themselves,  but I don't know what I got out of wack except for leaving out details?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._John_River_Campaign
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bay_of_Fundy_Campaign

 I'm from the opposite corner of NB so I'm not that up on the local history of Saint John.   NB is an interesting province cultural-wise.  You'll have villages that speak only French, then one that's primarily English, then half-and-half where you're not sure if they're native English or French.  Some areas and people have animosity towards speakers of the opposing language, but mostly that seems to be in the past.

[tenpenny]

Parts of the Acadian coast were settled by Acadiana way back.