^I agree with both your views in the posts above. The city is special, but there are areas which will have to be redeveloped (mainly West End/Central). Either in a piecemeal in-fill/renovation fashion, or otherwise. These areas extend beyond the heritage area (ie. towards Mundy Pond). I think the Lemarchant Road area is best suited to higher density, and the Pleasantville lands have a lot of potential if done properly.
When new suburban areas are developed, almost nothing is zoned for higher density, and it's in the least desired spots (like Blackmarsh Rd). Poorly placed parking lots take away any chance of these developments having a good urban feel. Like any other place facing rising oil prices which makes travelling more expensive, the attitude of planning everything suburban style will eventually have to change. Agricultural land should be preserved for future needs, and even smaller cities will need real transportation systems.
Mount Pearl will continue to have a declining population if they don't include higher density, and it is a question whether they will keep their autonomy. Amalgamation is still an issue. High density doesn't neccearily have to be more than 6 storeys, but has to be more continuous (higher FSR).
Regarding road networks, the newer routes and connectors are great, but some of the street network connections could have been improved more for traffic flow starting back in the 60's before everything got developed; ie. Elizabeth Ave could have been connected to Cashin Ave. Empire Ave could have been be a through street. Columbus Drive could have been planned without so many turns. Regarding maintenance, I noticed areas being re-paved last year, but they are torn up for the whole summer, while serious rough spots on major streets were ignored. Instead of fixing them, they put up bump signs or barricades.
Regarding club hours, well, when people come to St. John's they have heard about the "famous" nightlife, and will expect it. When you have bars concentrated in one area (entertainment district) it will always have some problems (Vancouver has problems). Otherwise, that concept is very good.
^ MrChills - Here is a better heritage area map from the city:
http://www.stjohns.ca/pdfs/Heritage%20Area%20Map.pdf
Edit - I shoud add; I've read up on the history of St. John's, and a lot of the substandard conditions go way back to the times when the Nfld govt did not give the city enough money or control. It was controlled directly by the colonial (or whatever) government until 1888, and its autonomy was taken away twice after that ( in 1892, and 1914 ).
Younger cities had more control much earlier in their history:
Calgary - 1884
Vancouver - 1886
Victoria BC - 1862
Halifax - 1841
Toronto - 1834
Winnipeg - 1873
Charlottetown - 1855
(St. John's - 1888, after more than 200 years)
^Sorry, too many words -