Eight Ways St. John's Has Changed

Eight Ways St. John's has changed in the past 10 years or less:

1.       Need for Traffic Updates!  Except for a brief period of time in the mornings and evenings traffic did not slow. Ever. There was no such thing as traffic.  I scoffed at people who thought we had traffic.  Now, it helps to have Cecil Hare (CBC) and twitter feeds telling us which spots to avoid in the city.  Even middle of the morning: allot 20 minutes no matter where you are going!

2.       Ethnic Restaurants: now there are more of them!  There were always a handful of Chinese restaurants around, and India Gate is a fixture here, but you can get many other types of yummy Pakistani, Afghan, Asian and Middle Eastern now!

3.       People Walking Around the City.  I see people walking everywhere.  You didn’t see that as often years ago and it’s good that people are walking more.  All the city has to do now is make the place walkable – even in the winter.

4.       Lots of BMWs, Audis and Volkswagen.  This goes to show how much more money is in the city than there used to be – it makes me a little sad to know the Sunfire era is over.

5.       Good Talent and Entertainment: Let’s face it, St John’s has a hugely deep pool of local talent and b’ys it is fabulous!  But now there’s also talent coming from away to play, dance and act for us.

6.       The Big Box Stores/Businesses.  Seems like someone sets those “Big Box Store Seeds” overnight and with the right amount of rain, up she comes!  One morning I went to work past Robin Hood Bay Road and there were trees – when I came back that evening there was gravel and hundreds of gulls watching the new buildings begin to sprout.

7.       Continuing Urban Sprawl.  Can someone get a handle on this?  It just seems endless.  And now “Dannyland” is coming online too.  What’s happening to the old houses and subdivisions?  Is the entire bay relocating into the city?  Can we try to plan it a little better? Anyone wonder why the entire area by Quidi Vidi Lake is so underdeveloped (chicken factory, anyone)?

8.       A New Appreciation for this Fine City: It used to be that St. John’s was the place to go in NL when you had to move away from your town either to go to school or find work (if you didn’t leave to go to the Mainland).  But now it seems people have a growing appreciation for the food, culture and look of this small but sprawling, beautiful city on the edge of a continent.  Thank goodness for that.