Saint John, New Brunswick..anyone ever been?

[Indi]

I'm contemplating a possible job offer from Saint John, New Brunswick....being an Alberta boy, I'd like to get some feedback from any one whos visited or lived there. The closest I have ever been is Quebec City...I love the type of country out there..It would be a pretty cool adventure.....anyone??

[the crispy badger]

I'm from Moncton NB...Saint John is one of the smelliest and ugly places i've ever been to..the people are crude and they smell of cheese and ham sandwiches..avoid it while you still can!

[Maritime Q-Scout]

I've been to through Saint John once. One of the coolest things I've ever seen was in Saint John (fog wrapped around a building on the waterfront, no fog around the first two floors, then fog up the next three, then no fog, fog, etc).

I can't really comment on the town, if you go I believe there is a town bylaw saying you have to sell your soul to Irving.

edit: You'll also get to see QMJHL hockey Unofficial Saint John __________ Message Board

[looooob]

Originally posted by jcody@Mar 17 2005, 12:26 AM
I'm contemplating a possible job offer from Saint John, New Brunswick....being an Alberta boy, I'd like to get some feedback from any one whos visited or lived there. The closest I have ever been is Quebec City...I love the type of country out there..It would be a pretty cool adventure.....anyone??

given the previous affiliation with Saint John and the Flames there are several members of the board who hail from the area, although their presence has been less since the Baby Flames left...but hopefully they will stop by and can give you some info

[shane_c]

Originally posted by looooob+Mar 17 2005, 03:27 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (looooob @ Mar 17 2005, 03:27 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-jcody@Mar 17 2005, 12:26 AM
I'm contemplating a possible job offer from Saint John, New Brunswick....being an Alberta boy, I'd like to get some feedback from any one whos visited or lived there. The closest I have ever been is Quebec City...I love the type of country out there..It would be a pretty cool adventure.....anyone??

given the previous affiliation with Saint John and the Flames there are several members of the board who hail from the area, although their presence has been less since the Baby Flames left...but hopefully they will stop by and can give you some info [/b][/quote]
Before moving to Calgary I lived in Fredericton, NB for 3.5 years. Saint John is a little over an hour away. I only went down there twice. It's very dirty, smelly and run down. You couldn't pay me enough to live there. I heard to it referred to as the arm pit of NB before.

[MarchHare]

I was born and raised in Quispamsis, a suburb of Saint John. I lived there for 22 years (minus time away from home when I went to university) before moving to Calgary after I graduated in 2002.

Basicly, you couldn't pay me enough to move back there, despite the fact that I have tons of friends and family still in the area.

It's a blue-collar industrial town. It's not as dirty and smelly as others have said, but it's certainly not as clean and beautiful as Calgary. The place is completely devoid of culture -- good luck to you if you want to see an art house movie or go to a concert other than the occasional top 40 Canadian band that stops through. The nightlife consists of maybe three popular bars: The Three Mile (a biker and redneck country bar), O'Leary's (an Irish pub that has pretty decent live East Coast music every weekend), and the Aquarius (a popular student hang-out). There's also a few dance clubs on Prince Willliam Street (the SJ equivalent of 17th Ave), but these go out of business and then reopen under a new name with new decor about every two years, so I can't tell you what the popular one is now.

Saint Johners aren't particularly the brightest individuals either. IIRC, something like 20% of the population can't read at a grade 10 level. Despite having a population base larger than both Fredericton and Moncton, Saint John doesn't even have a Chapters (the other two cities do). Finding a good used bookstore is all but impossible.

The restaurants are surprisingly good though. Any place owned by the Grannan family (which is about half the restaurants downtown) will get you a good meal at a reasonable price. Just don't expect much in the way of ethnic foods -- you've got American-style Chinese takeout and Italian, and that's about it. If you fancy Japanese, Indian, Vietnamese, Thai, etc., you're out of luck. Apparently a sushi restaurant opened a few months ago, but I haven't heard anything about it.

Saint John is also very much a fad town. Everything is incredibly popular when it first opens, then interest quickly dies off. When the first Wendy's opened in Saint John about 10 years ago, they set a franchise record for most burgers sold in a week. The Flames also led the AHL in attendence during their first year in the city, but by the time they left about 10 years later, they had a hard time drawing even 3000 fans to a game.

You're going to need to own a car if you decide to go. There is a bus system, but a car is mandatory. Also be prepared to be confused when driving downtown, which is nothing but a maze of one-way streets.

The one thing I do really miss about Saint John is the City Market. It's the best place to go for meat and produce, and there's lots of restaurant counters, making it a very popular lunch place for workers downtown.

That's all the time I have to write for now, but if you have any specific questions I can probably answer them. Despite my overall negative impression of the city, I wouldn't rule out moving there altogether if your offer is a significant step up from your current position. The cost of living is also very much lower there, so keep that in mind when evaluating your decision.

[Indi]

SO it sounds like the place smells, the education levels leave something to be desired, and it is somewhat like Edmonton in that it is very industrial. hhmmm, I appreciate the comments from everyone. It really doesnt bother me how industrial a city is, my concern if for my wife..could she find an admin type job there, would she be happy...an unhappy wife makes for a miserable husband

Thanks again

jc

[MarchHare]

Originally posted by jcody@Mar 17 2005, 12:09 PM
SO it sounds like the place smells, the education levels leave something to be desired, and it is somewhat like Edmonton in that it is very industrial. hhmmm, I appreciate the comments from everyone. It really doesnt bother me how industrial a city is, my concern if for my wife..could she find an admin type job there, would she be happy...an unhappy wife makes for a miserable husband

Thanks again

jc

Yeah, there's probably plenty of admin-type jobs. As for whether she'd be happy, I really can't answer, since I don't know your wife.

I know my mom and sister complain that the shopping sucks, if that means anything to her.

[the crispy badger]

Moncton sounds like a more ideal place for you to go...much more work...cleaner streets..and we have the best shopping east of montreal

[MarchHare]

Originally posted by the crispy badger@Mar 17 2005, 02:25 PM
Moncton sounds like a more ideal place for you to go...much more work...cleaner streets..and we have the best shopping east of montreal

Moncton also sucks. :P

Fredericton too.

*IF* I was to ever move back to the Maritimes, Halifax would be the only place I'd consider.

[TimSJ]

holy down on Sint John,

Saint John imho is a great place to live. Beautiful old city that is really starting to come into its own.. Moncton lots of call centre jobs, mall jobs but that is about it.

Fredericton is govt town and that is all it really has going for it.

There is quite a strong arts community in Saint John if that is your thing, one of the most beautiful theatres in Canad (imperial) great hockey rink with a new q team starting next year.

The city DOES NOT STINK anymore. No questoin that there is an industrial base here but that is bound to make the city stronger long term than the saviour of the day call center..

Couple of big projects about to start here Irving is about ot build a 750 million LNG terminal which should help position Saint John as an Energy Hub in the Northeast.


Anyway Saint John is not all that bad... Cost of living is great avg house is in the $120k range... if you are a golfer you can become a member a a great private club for under $2000... if you are a boater one of the best river systems inthe country....I lived in Barrie and Toronto for about 5 years and i can honestly say that i am happy as hell to be back here...

PM me if you have any questions or if you would liek my email or phone numebr if you have any questions.

[Indi]

I apprecitate all the replies..I think I am going to pursue it further, and try and talk my wife into it...Tough leaving calgary, we were both born and raised here, but I would love to experience Eastern Canada, as I am so ignorant of it....sounds funny, but its true. The job is not a step up, more like a lateral move, same money, same benefits...the only thing is my job will more than likely be in jeopardy in the next 6 months or so as the company is considering closing the plant for 18 months to 2 years due to a downturn in the power market in alberta. The plant in Saint John is very similar to the one I currently work at.....only 3 yrs old, fairly small, etc....except the one in Saint John has an agreement for the next 20 yrs....that equates into secure employment...a plus for me.
My wife is p*ssed off because we built a new house last year in panorama hills, and she is totally in love with the house...I hate yanking her around the country as I chase jobs, but what do you do??
I think with the addition of the LNG terminal, that new brunswick is going to boom. It seems that whatever Irving wants, Irving gets...and Eastern canada is going to get an lng port..now could very well be a good time to plant some roots in eastern canada, as it could very well come into its own, very soon. Anyways, any more opinions would be appreciated and I will post any updates for those who are interested

Thanks again

jc