I'm moving to St. John's, Newfoundland

[Flubber]

I lived in or within a 1 hour drive of St. John's for 33 years. Some attributes

Positives

1. Active nightlife, bar scene with great live entertainment

2. temperate, usually very pleasant summers. Winters are not that cold for Canada

3.Easy and close access to many scenic places with lots of possible activities

4. Work commutes are generally pretty easy


Negatives

1. Weather is wet, frequent rain and the wind off the water can be chilling.

2. Geography . .. its a long trip to ANYWHERE

3. ECONOMY-- high unemployment but frankly thats mainly in the outports. St. John's is booming nicely and has been growing economically at a rate that exceeds most of the country

4. Its not very culturally diverse. Its a result of immigrants not being attracted to a rural and economically depressed region

[Flubber]

Originally posted by Oerdin
I got stuck in St. John's airport for a day once. That place is tiny and boring as hell. There wasn't even a bar much less a book store or anything to do.

They upgraded the airport a couple of years ago but it remains tiny. St. John's is not really a connector city so building those attributes seeem wasteful. Since most people in the city live within 20 minutes of the airport, it hardly seems necessary to create a lot of facilities.

[Flubber]

Originally posted by Asher
Do you like callibogus?

Any good at cat-stick?

Other than showing you can look up the "Dictionary of Newfoundland English" to find archaic terms, whats your point ??

[Flubber]

Originally posted by JimmyCracksCorn
Amazingly, this is only minutes from Downtown:

Yup Quidi Vidi is a favorite area. You are on a typical city street and then travel about a minute and there you are

[Flubber]

Originally posted by Asher

it's nice as a tourist destination.

Agreed-- Most city folks find it quaint and historic and the scenery and nature are awesome

Originally posted by Asher

It's cold and miserable most of the year,

Sort of-- its warmer than Calgary most of the winter, staying usually in the 0 to minus 10 range-- I will agree that its not fun though as it is often wet

Originally posted by Asher
it snows way too much,

Some years . I was there in the record year for snow with over 22 feet but in a couple of previous years we had bare pavement for much of the winter

Originally posted by Asher
the unemployment rate is astronomical,

Compared to Alberta yes but compared to much of the rest of Canada, St. John's is not that bad . . . the outports are where it is HUGE

Originally posted by Asher
the economy sucks (except for the energy stuff offshore),

Wrong . . Have you been to St. John's in the last 5 years?? Office vacancies are non-existent, new home construction and housing prices are up, Retail construction up etc etc etc. The economy still has a lot iof problems largely related to the older folks dispaced when the cod fishery collapsed but the story IS one of growth. With the oil royalties, the province should get its fiscal house in order and with high energy prices, development of additional hydro is feasible

Originally posted by Asher

and the fishermen are violent.

My dad was run out of town in the late 80s there when they were negotiating for Hibernia.

VIOLENT -- Wow -- a protest when an entire industry shuts down-- have you been following the Alberta meat-packers dispute. If the "fishermen are violent" what would you say about Alberta management that try to run union folks off the road ??

I'm not aware that the "fishermen" have ever actually hurt anyone

[notyoueither]

Elaborate ploy to convince techumseh that you are not Imran.

[Dinner]

Originally posted by Flubber

They upgraded the airport a couple of years ago but it remains tiny. St. John's is not really a connector city so building those attributes seeem wasteful. Since most people in the city live within 20 minutes of the airport, it hardly seems necessary to create a lot of facilities.

Well, it was early 2000 when I was there so things likely have changed. The airport looked like it had been built in the 50's and forgotten so a face lift would do it some good.

[techumseh]

Originally posted by notyoueither
Elaborate ploy to convince techumseh that you are not Imran.

I won't believe him until I get a postcard!

[Flubber]

Originally posted by Oerdin


Well, it was early 2000 when I was there so things likely have changed. The airport looked like it had been built in the 50's and forgotten so a face lift would do it some good.

yup in 2000 it was pathetic-- now its merely a small airport-- They added an entire second floor so that they could have actual gates instead of that single waiting room with two adjacent doors labelled gates 1-5.

Its still small and has no bar IIRC but there are a few shops . The nearest bar is at the Airport Inn and would have taken you about 90 seconds by cab

[Deity Dude]

If "Jimmy Cracks Corn and no one cares"

Why did they write a song about it?


I saw someone wearing that on a T-Shirt one day and for some reason forgot about it until now.

[JimmyCracksCorn]

Thanks for all the info Flubber, and for being the only person to give a positive response.

tecumseh: Its actually 1.5 hours ahead. And btw, how did this whole Imran DL thing start anyways?

And just for reference, I'm attaching a map of Newfoundland relative to the rest of the North Atlantic:

[JimmyCracksCorn]

And I have a question for your guys. I'm looking into possible ways I can make this move cheaply, but so far am stumped.

U-haul gave me a quote of around 3,000 dollars for even their smallest van, which is astronomical. The car rental places I've checked don't allow one way trips (which seems dumb to me).

I don't have much stuff at all, just a bed and a couple of desks, all of which can come apart easily. Beyond that its just odds and ends like computers and clothes, etc... Anyone have any experience with long distance moves?

[JimmyCracksCorn]

Another issue is that I have to take a ferry at Sydney, Nova Scotia to Port-aux-basques, Newfoundland and then drive all the way across the island to St. John's.

[Seeker]

If you have enough time, put an ad in the local classifieds for 'Man With Truck Needed', a private person will be cheaper and no paper work.

[JimmyCracksCorn]

Originally posted by Seeker
If you have enough time, put an ad in the local classifieds for 'Man With Truck Needed', a private person will be cheaper and no paper work.

But who the hell would be willing to drive from Ottawa to St. John's and back?