The Official Moncton, NB Project Thread

[MonctonRad]

Champlain Place News:

- It is confirmed that Laura will be locating one of their "superstores" (Laura, Laura Petites & Laura Plus) in the space formerly occupied by English Butler, Source & Athlete's World next to Sears.

- I presume this means that Aeropostale will be locating in the old Sony Store/QuiltsEtc. location. I don't know if this means that they will be occupying both former storefronts or if there will be something else going in there as well.

- The only storefront in the mall that shows no activity is Sam's old location next to H&M. I know that Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory wants to locate in the mall. If they can find a local franchisee, this would be a good location for them.

- Randy River is closing out.

Nothing else to report for now.............

[someone123]

The Herald is a terrible paper.

There is some truth to the article where Donald Savoie talks about Dalhousie or the IWK. Like it or not, Halifax is by far the biggest city in the region and so there is a whole tier of institutions and economic activity that it is uniquely positioned to support within the Maritimes. Often investment in Halifax is actually very good for places like Moncton - it's better to have something like a high-quality children's hospital 3 hours away than to have one in Toronto.

Unfortunately there is a tendency to get caught up in the idea of "competition", which in the Maritimes means tax and spend provincial governments that fall over each other in a race to the bottom to attract businesses. The only ones who are well-served by this system are companies from other regions.

I don't think it will happen but a much better system would be to have one province that heavily invests in building Halifax into a major city. This would produce a cash cow similar to Vancouver or Toronto, or it would have had it happened long ago (this time to do this was around 1860 or so, when the Maritimes were still wealthy and competitive). It also would have worked out just fine for a city like Moncton. As for Saint John or Sydney, well, I don't think anybody can say that the current system has been kind to those places to begin with...

[StormShadow]

The big question is, What makes either Halifax or Moncton unique?

If the answer is somewhere in the Chronicle-Herald's series, then it is...

Absolutely nothing...

or, maybe- that they live in bubbles.

[Haliguy]

Sometimes I think that the Herald is a good paper but then they come out with crap like this and a realize how horrible they really are.

[kirjtc2]

Believe me...the C-H is still a hundred times better than any paper we have in NB.

[MonctonRad]

Best Deals in Real estate (MoneySense Magazine)

Where do you want to live? Where can you afford to live? Every major Canadian city scoured for bargains!

It’s a crazy time for real estate in Canada. Prices are sky-high, people are feeling pressured into selling into a hot market and buyers fear purchasing an overpriced home only to see the bubble burst.

But MoneySense magazine has come to the rescue and crunched the numbers to identify the best real estate deals in the best cities.

Using hard data on 35 major housing markets, the magazine has awarded a letter grade based on how reasonable the house prices are, whether home prices are likely to rise and how prosperous the local economy is. Surprisingly, none of the winning cities are Canada’s largest, but instead reflect medium-sized cities with affordable house prices that have the ability to grow strongly with local economic conditions.

The best deals in real estate in Canada are to be found in Moncton and Regina, both of whom received an A-, while Fredericton, St. John’s, Ottawa, Gatineau, Winnipeg, Guelph and Saint John all received a B+.

The criteria for the study was strict and comprehensive. MoneySense compared average rents to average home prices, which gives a great indicator of how valuable a home is. Next it compared local wages as to average home prices to see how long it would take for a family to purchase a home. The magazine also evaluated how quickly homes sold and prices increased over the years.

Last, the economic environment of the city was also analyzed. The magazine looked at how fast a community grew, what the unemployment rate was and what kind of discretionary income the citizens had.

This method avoided identifying cheap real estate in communities where prices were unlikely to increase due to a poor local economy or widespread unemployment.

The analysis gives a comprehensive overview of where to get the best real estate deals in Canada. The study is also useful for identifying which real estate markets to avoid. For example, Abbotsford and Montreal both only rated Cs.

MoneySense’s study also identified overpriced markets. For instance, Kelowna, B.C., scored well in the category of growth potential and has a great local economy. But the average house price makes it hard for the typical family to buy into the market. With this aspect in mind, Kelowna rated a D+ in the value category and a C+ overall.

Windsor, Ont., where house prices are among the best values in Canada, is in the opposite situation. It rated an A for affordability, but since the city is slowly recovering from deep layoffs in the car industry, it only rates a C in the momentum category and a C+ for local economy, giving it a B+ overall.

In concrete terms, what the best cities for real estate like Regina and Moncton have going for them is big-city growth and opportunities without big-city prices. While the affordability and growth value of a home are not always the prime reasons to buy in a particular location, knowing that your home is a sound investment in an economically vibrant city offers great peace of mind.

Top 5 cities:

1. Moncton A-
2. Regina A-
3. Fredericton B+
4. St. John's B+
5. Ottawa B+

Take that Chronically Horrid!!!!!!

[Haliguy]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Best Deals in Real estate (MoneySense Magazine)

Where do you want to live? Where can you afford to live? Every major Canadian city scoured for bargains!

It’s a crazy time for real estate in Canada. Prices are sky-high, people are feeling pressured into selling into a hot market and buyers fear purchasing an overpriced home only to see the bubble burst.

But MoneySense magazine has come to the rescue and crunched the numbers to identify the best real estate deals in the best cities.

Using hard data on 35 major housing markets, the magazine has awarded a letter grade based on how reasonable the house prices are, whether home prices are likely to rise and how prosperous the local economy is. Surprisingly, none of the winning cities are Canada’s largest, but instead reflect medium-sized cities with affordable house prices that have the ability to grow strongly with local economic conditions.

The best deals in real estate in Canada are to be found in Moncton and Regina, both of whom received an A-, while Fredericton, St. John’s, Ottawa, Gatineau, Winnipeg, Guelph and Saint John all received a B+.

The criteria for the study was strict and comprehensive. MoneySense compared average rents to average home prices, which gives a great indicator of how valuable a home is. Next it compared local wages as to average home prices to see how long it would take for a family to purchase a home. The magazine also evaluated how quickly homes sold and prices increased over the years.

Last, the economic environment of the city was also analyzed. The magazine looked at how fast a community grew, what the unemployment rate was and what kind of discretionary income the citizens had.

This method avoided identifying cheap real estate in communities where prices were unlikely to increase due to a poor local economy or widespread unemployment.

The analysis gives a comprehensive overview of where to get the best real estate deals in Canada. The study is also useful for identifying which real estate markets to avoid. For example, Abbotsford and Montreal both only rated Cs.

MoneySense’s study also identified overpriced markets. For instance, Kelowna, B.C., scored well in the category of growth potential and has a great local economy. But the average house price makes it hard for the typical family to buy into the market. With this aspect in mind, Kelowna rated a D+ in the value category and a C+ overall.

Windsor, Ont., where house prices are among the best values in Canada, is in the opposite situation. It rated an A for affordability, but since the city is slowly recovering from deep layoffs in the car industry, it only rates a C in the momentum category and a C+ for local economy, giving it a B+ overall.

In concrete terms, what the best cities for real estate like Regina and Moncton have going for them is big-city growth and opportunities without big-city prices. While the affordability and growth value of a home are not always the prime reasons to buy in a particular location, knowing that your home is a sound investment in an economically vibrant city offers great peace of mind.

Top 5 cities:

1. Moncton A-
2. Regina A-
3. Fredericton B+
4. St. John's B+
5. Ottawa B+

Take that Chronically Horrid!!!!!!

Doesn't low housing prices represent a bad economy

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by Haliguy

Doesn't low housing prices represent a bad economy

Haliguy, if you read the article, you would see that they factored in the economic health of the community in their rankings. In short, they picked the cities that gave you the greatest bang for your buck.

To quote directly from the article:

What the best cities for real estate like Regina and Moncton have going for them is big-city growth and opportunities without big-city prices.

Knowing that your home is a sound investment in an economically vibrant city offers great peace of mind.

[mylesmalley]

Low housing prices can be a reflection of a bad economy, but not necessarily. In the case of Moncton, it's a combination of very low land prices, no limitation on growth, and population increase making it a buyer's market.

[pierremoncton]

Originally Posted by Haliguy

Doesn't low housing prices represent a bad economy

Has "higher" become a synonym of "better"? Perhaps if your cholesterol level is higher, your health is better too.

I'm not judging Moncton nor Halifax, but you need an insane rat race to increase house prices beyond reason, and you need that same insanity to think that this type of "economy" (where big shiny numbers are exciting) trumps everything else.

[pierremoncton]

Moncton, Irving escalate arena lease fight: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswi...fight-947.html

Irving has threatened to sell the Wildcats if a lease deal cannot be hammered out with the city.

The city should tell them that they don't negotiate with terrorists. Let Irving go to hell, then call Balsillie to move the Coyotes here.

[David_99]

I like it because what it's driving at in the end is, 'hey if I'm going to have to pay more, then build a new arena.'

Come on Moncton, build the arena (which you wanted to do anyway) then we can stop subsidizing them!

It's a win-win for everyone.

[MonctonGoldenFlames]

Originally Posted by pierremoncton

Moncton, Irving escalate arena lease fight: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswi...fight-947.html



The city should tell them that they don't negotiate with terrorists. Let Irving go to hell, then call Balsillie to move the Coyotes here.

would irving really sell a cash cow? i doubt it.

[monctonian]

Read the portion of the MoneySense Magazine article that applies to Moncton. It's not only the affordable housing, it's the quality of life that's attractive.

[MonctonRad]

Well the negotiations for the new lease agreement between the Wildcats and the City of Moncton must be down to crunch time........

The debate has moved into the court of public opinion.

The public posturing is moving into high gear, fully designed to elevate the anxiety level amongst the citizenry (at least those who are rabid hockey fans).

- Gilles Courteau states that the QMJHL will no longer tolerate any modifications to the playoff schedule and that from now on, if the game can not be played on the specified date, it will be moved to another city.

- Robert Irving muses about the conflicts over the availability of the coliseum at playoff time, stating that this incurs additional costs and interferes with team psychology at playoff time. He openly wonders about selling the team.

- The city states that they subsidize the team by over $100,000 per year and that the current lease agreement is completely unfair and out of keeping with the agreements elsewhere in the league.

The thing is, everyone is right and everyone has valid point to make.

The bottom line is that the Wildcats need the coliseum and the city needs a major tenant for the coliseum (such as the Wildcats). Neither side wants to disappoint the fans and this is a very important point. Moncton is a hockey town. If city council pisses Irving off and the team moves, there will be hell to pay.......Nobody wants this.

Ultimately an acommodation will be reached. There will have to be. In the meantime there will be a lot of grunting, screaming and complaining and the public angst level will be tested.

I would suggest leaving the existing lease agreement stand as long as the team has to play in the coliseum but a more equitable agreement should be reached once the team moves into the downtown arena.

That would seem fair to me!!

[someone123]

Housing prices are a function of two variables: supply and demand. You can have high demand but low prices because there is lots of supply. Lots of houses are being sold in Moncton.

In parts of Canada housing prices are much, much too high. People in Vancouver for example do not make enough money to be able to reasonably afford housing. I know people working multiple jobs and borrowing money from their parents so they can buy a cheap house way out in the suburbs for $400,000. Housing prices here have a tangible negative effect on quality of life for many people. They're not a sign of a wonderful economy, they're a sign of a broken economy that's not producing adequate quantities of what people want.

[MonctonRad]

dangerous game
(Times & Transcript editorial)
Published Saturday June 19th, 2010

More is at stake in negotiations between the city's major junior hockey franchise and its government than use of the crumbling old Moncton Coliseum for two or three years until a new Moncton Events Centre is built. In fact what is actually at stake is the events centre itself. If the team leaves there will be no tenant for the events centre and the idea will collapse.

Therefore it is inadvisable for the municipal government to employ misleading rhetoric now that the negotiations have gone public.

The city's representatives have in the past couple of days suggested taxpayers are somehow subsidizing' the Moncton Wildcats under the current agreement. This is simply inaccurate. The city is suggesting is that somehow, taxpayers are giving $175,000 a year to the team because it says it costs $675,000 a year to prepare the venue for major hockey when the team pays the city only $500,000 for that service.

This is a silly costing because it is made up of two things: money that the city pays to run the Coliseum and revenue the city could be earning if it controlled the concessions.

In fact the shortfall' is derived from what the city council apparently feels is an insufficient cut' - 20 per cent - of profits on beer sales and other concessions during Wildcats' games.

What's unfair about the rhetoric is that it somehow casts team owner Robert Irving, as being unfair to local taxpayers. Indeed he is a businessman but his charitable activities in his home city suggests quite the opposite.

It seems unlikely that Mr. Irving makes a lot off this arrangement in any event. His tendency would seem to be to invest most of the profit right back into the franchise if the opinion of other franchise owners and players in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League is any indication.

They say no team treats its young charges better than the Wildcats. Attendance records also show no other franchise can rival the Wildcats in terms of consistent high attendance.

A breakdown in negotiations could threaten 40 guaranteed nights, every year, where 4,000 to 6,500 people gather at the Coliseum to enjoy a game and perhaps enjoy some of the city's other amenities before and after. And that's excluding playoffs.

If you drive away the source of entertainment for all these people and now have an empty building that still costs taxpayers money, who are you going to rent it to? A debate about concessions is moot if there's nobody in the building to buy your beer or food.

All I can say to this is "Amen". This is the best editorial I've read all year.

[fenwick16]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Well, the Chronically Horrid isn't done with us yet........

Here's a couple of new articles from today's paper:
http://thechronicleherald.ca/News/1187142.html
http://thechronicleherald.ca/News/1187149.html
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Front/1187216.html

I would have to agree with Myles, the mere fact that the paper is running this series of articles says something about latent insecurity amongst the leadership of our larger sister city down the road.

Halifax doesn't really need to fear Moncton but Moncton is an agressive entrepreneurial city that will occasionally win one away from the big guys. They should get used to it and celebrate the success of this rivalry. Competition only makes everyone better.

BTW, do you think the Horrid came up with the idea for this series of articles because they have been surfing SSP? We already know that both the Horrid and the T&T sometimes troll our forum for story ideas.......

Some interesting debate going on here. Could somebody tell me if the Moncton Stadium was mentioned in these articles (I am too lazy to read through all of them - most of my development news now comes from this SSP forum)? Maybe a bit of insecurity will eventually spur Halifax to build an outdoor stadium.

[mylesmalley]

I don't believe so, but it's been a week since I've read them. I have neither the time nor desire to read them again though.

[gehrhardt]

Published Monday June 21st, 2010
A9

It appears a new Sobeys store is in the works for Elmwood Drive.

The Times & Transcript first reported last December that the retail giant was expected to buy the property housing the Les Filles de Jésus convent. Since then the land was sold to Sobeys and wrecking crews have moved in to clear the site.

The agenda for tonight's public meeting of Moncton Council includes an application from Sobeys Land Holdings for a plan amendment redesignating part of 553/569 Elmwood Drive from Residential C' and Residential B' to Suburban Commercial, as well as for a rezoning of part of 553/569 Elmwood Drive from MU-2 (Multiple Unit-2) and R-2 (Residential-2)to SC-1.

Ugh, most of us groaned about this a few months ago. Now it looks like it's happening after all.