Off Topic The Politics Thread
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Did you read the rest of the post Ellers? Would you agree that there is a majority in the country that wants us to stay in the Single Market?
We may lose 50,000 city jobs in the Finance industry Oslo as the banks move to Frankfurt/Paris/etc, but they'll be plenty of work picking fruit in Lincolnshire for them to do (once the Poles leave) - so not as bad as these doom and gloom remoaners would have us believe!
Come off it Strolls, we are part of the 5th column now, the enemy within, any Brexit negatives will be the fault of those who didn't want it in the first place. All 48% of us. Even voicing doubts is obviously the act of a traitor. Just shut up and enjoy your democracy and sovereignty.
Don't ask questions about what exactly we are negotiating to achieve - you'll give away our secrets you fool! No one, including those doing the negotiating, should know our negotiating position. Apparently.
Remember there are no racists, only patriots. And to deny this undermines our national precious bodily fluids!
Don't forget we like Europe for holidays but want their economies to crash and burn, because they are our enemies.
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But the Single Market is not a separate entity from the EU. It is a part of the EU. Some non-EU states are allowed access to it by submitting to EU rules on free movement of people and the jurisdiction of the EU court. But still, the Single Market is part of the EU.
This country voted to come out of the EU, and thus the Single Market. So we're out of it, unless the EU comes down off its lofty perch, and enables tariff-free trade between the UK and the EU states, rather than trying to cut its nose to spite its face.
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Oh that's why! He acted like he knew me when he had only posted 7 times.
Of course he will stick up for the French army!
According this there are additional items of data that are now required.
Good response though....
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Stroller as you posted this message the CEO of EDF (who is French) has just said that the relation with the UK will be the same after Brexit. It's all about business and nothing will change that.
Anything that happens with markets or the economy will be blamed on Brexit from now on. The economy and markets have been changing for years. Wasn't long ago I got €1 to £1 was that Brxit's fault? Answer is no. Many companies have made redundancies over the years, is that Brexit's fault... again the answer is no.
I am not saying that the uncertainty isn't causing problems because it clearly is however not everything is the fault of Brexit.
As for the single market we will strike a deal with the EU.
Remember they need us as well.
Err, EDF owns a big chunk of the UKs power generation infrastructure, nuclear, coal and gas generators. They made a profit of £664m on their UK operations last year. Of course the relationship between EDF and the UK will be the same post Brexit, unless we renationalise power generation. They are a foreign company operating in the U.K. At the moment they reinvest their profits in their UK business, although they could of course send them back to France. I don't think even May and Rudd want to kick foreign companies out of the UK. And as nearly 40% of our power is imported, I doubt we will be making life difficult for the providers either, unless we are aiming for a 3 day week and power cuts.
Fair points about past economic woes and currency fluctuations. It will be very easy to attribute reasons behind business failures, redundancies and UK growth rates from now on - we just have to ask.
Well if you don't like living in the UK, you could always move to Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada where you can buy a fix-up home in this once prestigious North End neighbourhood, overlooking the Saint John River, for the equivalent of £4000, as this guy just did.
Saint John's old north end: Canada's cheap real estate destination?
Artist Daniel Gable finds real estate deal in Saint John but road to renovation may be rough
By Julia Wright, CBC News Posted: Oct 08, 2016 8:00 AM AT Last Updated: Oct 08, 2016 10:28 AM AT
Daniel Gable, 36, a musician and former tree planter, left British Columbia and purchased a house on Victoria Street for $8,000. (Julia Wright/CBC)
Related Stories
But Daniel Gable, 36, isn't a typical buyer.
Gable, a musician and former tree planter, became frustrated with real estate prices in his former home of Squamish, B.C., where he said the price of a single-family home starts around $500,000.
He started "searching around the country looking for — not the cheapest home I could find, although that's what it ended up being — but for an affordable house, basically."
The search led him to Saint John's old north end.
The dream of an $8K house
Looking online, Gable saw an old red house on Victoria Street listed at a mere $10,000 — a price, he said, that was too good to pass up.
"I'm not too particular: I knew I was going to be interested in anything for $10,000 as long as it was usable and safe for people to live in," he said.
"It was exciting to think that there are houses this affordable in a Canadian city."
The deal ended up being even sweeter than anticipated: he managed to knock $2,000 off the asking price, ultimately getting the place for $8,000.
"There was access to water, a university, Saint John as a whole. It had all these unique properties of a good investment," he said.
"An affordable place to live, and access to a city — that's an artist's way to live, and that's what you have in Saint John."
Friendly, neglected neighbourhood
Many houses along Victoria Street in Saint John's old north end remain boarded up, but that has created a market for house hunters on a budget. (Julia Wright/CBC)
Arriving in the north end for the first time in August 2016, he said, "I was pretty excited. I was a homeowner, which I thought was great. The house, and Saint John, were even better than I thought."
That aside, the place wasn't exactly ready for a spread in Better Homes & Gardens.
Like dozens of others in the old north end, the two-unit apartment on Victoria Street hadn't been occupied for years.
The building next door was heavily damaged by a 2010 fire.
"The inside explained [the price]," said Gable.
"It had been started on a renovation and then that renovation was cut short."
Despite the sagging floors, rotten floorboards, and weird smells, "it had some good things about it, said Gable.
In the past a month and a half, he's started ripping out boards in the "grossest part of the house," preparing to start drywalling and installing new insulation.
He plans to create a music space, a new kitchen and bathroom.
As for the neighbourhood, he said, from the first day "there were local people hanging around. Everyone seemed really friendly around here."
The vibe suits him.
"You can be just as creative here as anywhere," he said.
Lots of work ahead
Gable said the old north end reminds him of what Vancouver's bohemian enclave, Commercial Drive, would have been like 50 years ago. (Julia Wright/CBC)
As one can imagine with any $8,000 house, there's still a lot of work ahead — and, given financial constraints and lack of hired help, he said the renos have so far been "sporadic."
Still, Gable said, he sees "so much potential."
"If I had an extra $100,000," he said, "this house would be amazing, but as it is it's functional. I'm not in a huge hurry."
Gable said he couldn't be happier with his investment.
"I've lived in my car, as a tree planter. So this is an upgrade," he said.
Cheap living for artists
Is Saint John's old north end on the cusp of a comeback?1:29
Gable said the old north end reminds him of what Vancouver's bohemian enclave, Commercial Drive, would have been like 50 years ago: "kind of on the outskirts, but accessible to the city and affordable to live."
"If you don't have a lot of expensive costs, you can have your pick of houses and where you want to live in Saint John," he said.
While it might require an artistic eye to overlook the abandoned buildings and rough exteriors of the old north end, "you can't just be an industrial city," said Gable.
"If you have more artists and alternative people moving in, a neighbourhood grows."
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/saint-john-old-north-end-daniel-gable-1.3795830
This is Main Street: Rise and fall of a once thriving commercial district
Saint John's old north end may look rough, but a major property buyer and tenacious neighbours look to rebuild
By Julia Wright, CBC News Posted: Oct 08, 2016 8:00 AM AT Last Updated: Oct 08, 2016 8:00 AM AT
North end residents have maintained community pride, despite challenges that have cropped up in the neighbourhood over the years. (Julia Wright/CBC)
When Saint John was a smoky 18th century seaside colony, Main Street was a trade road, used to cart goods from the First Nations settlement at Indiantown up to Fort Howe.
From the 1700s until the mid-1960s, it evolved into a thriving commercial district in Saint John rivalled only by Prince William Street.
Former Saint John Mayor and retired teacher Ivan Court grew up on Main Street.
"There were probably about 2,000 people working from one end to the other," said Court, who got one of his first jobs delivering papers in the neighbourhood.
Main Street in Saint John, circa 1900, was home to a variety of shops, grocers, and hundreds of young families. (Provincial Archives of New Brunswick)
"You had three or four bakeries, clothing stores, shoe stores, sports stores and grocery stores on every corner of Main, Metcalf, and Victoria," he said.
Back then, the community was made up mainly of young families.
"Every block had hundreds of children on it. It was the heart and soul of Saint John," said Court.
Faded glory
Many of the homes, once considered "basically mansions," according to Court, are now boarded up and abandoned.
The north end has changed dramatically in the last century. A view of Main Street looking from Harvey Street in 2016. (Julia Wright/CBC)
An aging demographic, the demolition of homes to make way for the Harbour Bridge in 1968 and an increasingly low percentage of owner-occupied homes also played a role in the decline.
Traces of the past are still visible in the spacious, once-solid wooden houses.
Some, like 120 Main St., still possess their trim gingerbread scrollwork and other 19th-century details.
Like so many other houses on Main Street, the building at 120 Main St., which is notable for Carpenter Gothic scrollwork on the eaves, has been abandoned for several years. (Julia Wright/CBC)
Neglected by landlords
But many of what Court said were once considered "basically mansions" have fallen gradually into serious disrepair.
Most of the abandoned buildings on Main Street — and a total of 33 in the north end — are currently registered with Phillip Huggard Properties Ltd., which went bankrupt last fall.
A rambling, multi-unit building on the corner of Main and Elgin streets has remained vacant since at least the early 2000s.
Several homes on nearby Victoria Street have been targeted by arsonists and vandals.
Many of homes that line Saint John's gritty north end are now abandoned. (Julia Wright/CBC)
Big change coming
But the neighbourhood, while bruised, isn't down yet.
Hundreds of neglected properties are poised to change hands in a move that will, it's hoped, transform Main Street — and the rest of the north end.
Kit Hickey is executive director of Rehabitat, which manages affordable housing units in the city.
They're working on a project that could see 50 units — including walk-ups and townhouses — renovated and brought back to being a place of pride.
Next door to long-abandoned apartments on Main and Elgin streets, painters spruce up some aluminum siding (Julia Wright/CBC)
"We could see a neighbourhood that's been restored to its former beauty," said Hickey.
"I think that we could see a beautiful mixed income community thriving again."
Dovetailing with Rehabitat's work is the recent acquisition of up to 180 units by a Fredericton-based company called PMV Canada.
The mass acquisition will likely mean the demolition of up to a dozen houses but also the possibility of building new, affordable units.
Some of the work is already beginning. This spring, Andrew Grady recently purchased 92 Victoria St. and 53-55 Albert St., two century-old homes just a few blocks off Main Street.
"We just took everything off and started from scratch," said Grady, who is working with a team of contractors and Mathieu Laquerre of real estate developer Mada Partners to remodel the buildings.
The team gutted 92 Victoria St., where Grady now lives with his young family, down to the studs and installed new wiring, plumbing and windows in the two-unit building. They plan to do the same with the Albert Street property.
"People seem to be appreciating what we're doing here," he said.
"A lot of the people in this area are lifelong residents who just want to mind their own business. Walking by, they say it's really nice to see what we've done."
Daniel Gable, 36, a musician and former tree planter, left British Columbia and purchased a house on Victoria Street for $8,000. (Julia Wright/CBC)
North's star ascending
Thanks to the tenacity of long-term residents, and newcomers willing to take a chance on the community, it looks as if the old north end might soon rise again.
Catherine Sidney has lived for the past 26 years with her partner, Bridget McGale, in Tapley Manor, a stately, immaculately restored heritage home on Holly Street built by tugboat magnate Archibald Tapley in 1870.
She and McGale say they "always" have hope for the community.
"This," said Sidney, "is Main Street. This is Saint John. This is Indiantown. This is the best kept secret in the whole town. Some of those old houses are spectacular."
It's not just old-school Johners who are invested in the north end.
Daniel Gable, 36, a musician and former tree planter, drove coast-to-coast from Squamish, B.C., all the way to Saint John in August 2016 to move into a house he bought on Victoria Street, sight unseen, for $8,000, $2,000 less than the already-paltry asking price of $10,000.
"It was crazy to think you could buy a place that has two suites for $10,000," said Gable, adding he "wasn't so much concerned about the house itself. I knew I was going to be interested in anything for $10,000 as long as it was usable and safe for people to live in."
He said Saint John is "cooler than [he] thought it would be."
"There's amazing architecture here that's unique in Canada," he said, "and everyone seems really friendly around here."
Drawn by some of the most affordable real estate in Canada, new families and individuals are moving into the north end.
Cheap real estate is one draw - but so is the scrappy spirit pioneered first by initiatives like the Marigold Project (formerly Marigolds on Main Street) and redoubled in recent years by O.N.E. Change, the Nick Nicolle Community Centre, the North End Wellness Centre and the owners and proprietors of long-running businesses.
It's been an unsteady trajectory, at times — but it's possible those efforts have laid the groundwork for a comeback for the north end.
Some abandoned buildings that now dot Saint John's north end are now home to feral cats that are making themselves at home. (Julia Wright/CBC)
While it’s been bruised, the north end’s scrappy spirit is far from down yet and groups are trying to rehabilitate the neighbourhood. (Julia Wright/CBC)
The rich texture of the neighbourhood's glory days, while tarnished, has never completely faded.
"The heart and soul of Saint John was the north end," said Ivan Court.
"Hopefully now, the right developers will be smart enough to realize what a great place it is, and we can bring it back."
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/this-is-main-street-rise-and-fall-of-a-once-thriving-commercial-district-1.3794276
The secret of Saint John's Tapley Manor: A north end love story
Bridget McGale and Catherine Sidney say Saint John's old north end is the city's 'best kept secret'
By Julia Wright, CBC News Posted: Oct 08, 2016 8:00 AM AT Last Updated: Oct 08, 2016 8:00 AM AT
Bridget McGale and Catherine Sidney have restored their 146-year-old home, Tapley Manor. (Julia Wright/CBC)
Related Stories
Perched on a rocky hill, their 146-year-old home, Tapley Manor, offers a panoramic view of the St. John River.
On a clear summer evening, the stately home, manicured lawn and neat hedges are drenched in the orange-gold light.
"These houses were built for the sun," said Catherine Sidney.
"All of the bay windows in this house, upstairs and down, are on the south side."
Many others had overlooked its potential: it had languished on the market for two years.
The day after that — McGale's birthday — they put in an offer of $70,000, and never looked back.
"Not everyone gets a birthday gift like that," said Sidney.
Over the past 26 years, the couple have painstakingly renovated every room of the big old house, originally built by the tugboat magnate Archibald Tapley in 1870.
"We've maintained the character of the house," said Sidney, gesturing toward the stained glass, hardwood floors, and handmade crown moldings.
"History is encapsulated in this one building."
Community deserves respect
Tapley Manor was purchased in 1990 for $70,000. Every room in the stately home has been renovated. (Submitted by Bridget McGale and Catherine Sidney)
But just across the park on Victoria Street, the picture couldn't differ more widely from the pristine view from Tapley Manor.
A swath of homes are boarded up and slated for demolition. The same is true of nearby Main Street.
Sidney believes the neglect of century-old homes has contributed to the problem with morale in the neighbourhood.
"If you give someone something that's nice," Sidney said, "then they'll take care of it."
There are also the inherent difficulties of restoring an old property, adds McGale.
"Some of the buildings that are now boarded up," she said, "haven't been looked after for the 26 years we've been living here."
That being said, she and Sidney say Tapley Manor was no palace back in 1990.
"If this house was the way it was when we bought it," she says, "it would have been torn down, too. But look at it now."
A brighter space
Tapley Manor is perched on a rocky hill and offers a panoramic view of the St. John River. (Julia Wright/CBC)
While it's sad to see century-old architecture shuttered and demolished, says McGale, the north end is overall "a much brighter space" than it used to be.
She cites the work of O.N.E. Change, the refurbishment of Victoria Square, Shamrock Park, and the playground on Bridge Street as examples of the strong community spirit that exists in the north end.
McGale recalls looking out onto Victoria Square after post-tropical storm Arthur hit in 2014 and seeing "all the people out, with their own brooms, cleaning up the park," said McGale.
"Now that's a community."
'You're part of it'
Tapley Manor was originally built by the tugboat magnate Archibald Tapley in 1870. (Submitted by Bridget McGale and Catherine Sidney)
Sidney and McGale, both world travellers, "love living here," said McGale.
"We have never regretted living here, and wouldn't move."
Sidney recalls setting out an early morning walk around the neighbourhood, shortly after the passing of the couple's beloved German Shepherd.
Accustomed to the company of a big dog, she said, she felt anxious when she heard a car slow down and pull up beside her.
"I thought, 'What's this going to be about?'" said Sidney.
"Then the guy rolled down his window and was like, 'Hey! I just wanted to tell you, I saw a German Shepherd for sale there on Kijiji!' People are basically good people."
"I don't know who that guy was," she said.
"But people see you walking, and then you're part of it. You're a character in the north end."
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/saint-john-tapley-manor-1.3795655
House and apartment building prices located in North End, some at rock bottom prices:--
Address: 9 Main St.
Type: Vacant
Square Metres: 186 sq m
Assessment Value: $700
13-15 Main St.
8-unit apartment building and lot
372 sq m
$106,100
105 Main St.
Residence and lot
272 sq m
$2,700
111 Main St.
Residence and lot
223 sq m
$2,700
115-117 Main St.
Residence and lot
225 sq m
$2,700
118 Main St. (8-10 Cedar St.)
7-unit apartment building and lot
262 sq m
$129,000
119 Main St.
Vacant
251 sq m
$2,700
123-125 Main St.
Residence and lot
260 sq m
$2,700
120 Main St.
House and lot
725 sq m
$4,000
126 Main St.
6-unit apartment building and lot
372 sq m
$2,700
129-131 Main St.
Vacant
$2,700
??? Main St.
Vacant
164 sq m
$1,000
Vacant
1406.88 sq m
$9,500
155 Bridge St.
6-unit apartment building and lot
365 sq m
$1,000
94 - 96 Victoria St.
Residence and lot
315 sq m
$36,100
98 - 100 Victoria St.
Residence and lot
315 sq m
$4,000
106 Victoria St.
Residence and lot
223 sq m
$38,800
125 Victoria St.
Residence and lot
279 sq m
$30,600
129 Victoria St.
Vacant
279 sq m
$4,000
131 Victoria St.
Residence and lot
279 sq m
$33,000
133 Victoria St.
Residence and lot
279 sq m
$28,600
135 Victoria St.
Residence and lot
372 sq m
$41,000
21-31 Metcalf St.
9-unit apartment building and lot
$109,100
80-88 Metcalf St. (17-25 Albert St.)
8-unit apartment building and lot
149 sq m
$3,000
5 Albert St. (135 Main St.)
Residence and lot
171 sq m
$2,700
13-15 Albert St.
Residence
129 sq m
$2,700
30 Kennedy St.
Residence and lot
$4,000
31-33 Kennedy St. (14 Victoria Ln.)
4-unit apartment building and lot
334 sq m
$16,000
38 Kennedy St. (Lease)
$4,000
18-20 Victoria Ln. (Lease)
Building and lease lot
173 sq m
$80,200
12 First St. (Co-owner)
Vacant
287.7 sq m
$5,000
14 First St. (Co-owner)
Vacant
203.7 sq m
$5,000
27-29 Waring St.
10-unit apartment building and lot
358 sq m
$156,600
247-249 Rockland Rd. (Co-owner)
Vacant
624 sq m
$7,500
Saint John's old north end: Canada's cheap real estate destination?
Artist Daniel Gable finds real estate deal in Saint John but road to renovation may be rough
By Julia Wright, CBC News Posted: Oct 08, 2016 8:00 AM AT Last Updated: Oct 08, 2016 10:28 AM AT
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Daniel Gable, 36, a musician and former tree planter, left British Columbia and purchased a house on Victoria Street for $8,000. (Julia Wright/CBC)
Related Stories
- This is Main Street: Rise and fall of a once thriving commercial district
- Saint John's old north end is city's 'best kept secret'
- Saint John man goes 'all in' to renovate long-vacant north end homes
- 'It can happen here': Saint John's north end set to transform
But Daniel Gable, 36, isn't a typical buyer.
Gable, a musician and former tree planter, became frustrated with real estate prices in his former home of Squamish, B.C., where he said the price of a single-family home starts around $500,000.
He started "searching around the country looking for — not the cheapest home I could find, although that's what it ended up being — but for an affordable house, basically."
The search led him to Saint John's old north end.
The dream of an $8K house
Looking online, Gable saw an old red house on Victoria Street listed at a mere $10,000 — a price, he said, that was too good to pass up.
"I'm not too particular: I knew I was going to be interested in anything for $10,000 as long as it was usable and safe for people to live in," he said.
"It was exciting to think that there are houses this affordable in a Canadian city."
The deal ended up being even sweeter than anticipated: he managed to knock $2,000 off the asking price, ultimately getting the place for $8,000.
- FEATURE: This is Main Street: Rise and fall of a once thriving commercial district
- PROFILE: The secret of Saint John's Tapley Manor: a north end love story
- PROFILE: Saint John man overcomes barriers to renovate north end homes
"There was access to water, a university, Saint John as a whole. It had all these unique properties of a good investment," he said.
"An affordable place to live, and access to a city — that's an artist's way to live, and that's what you have in Saint John."
Friendly, neglected neighbourhood
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Many houses along Victoria Street in Saint John's old north end remain boarded up, but that has created a market for house hunters on a budget. (Julia Wright/CBC)
Arriving in the north end for the first time in August 2016, he said, "I was pretty excited. I was a homeowner, which I thought was great. The house, and Saint John, were even better than I thought."
That aside, the place wasn't exactly ready for a spread in Better Homes & Gardens.
Like dozens of others in the old north end, the two-unit apartment on Victoria Street hadn't been occupied for years.
The building next door was heavily damaged by a 2010 fire.
"The inside explained [the price]," said Gable.
"It had been started on a renovation and then that renovation was cut short."
Despite the sagging floors, rotten floorboards, and weird smells, "it had some good things about it, said Gable.
In the past a month and a half, he's started ripping out boards in the "grossest part of the house," preparing to start drywalling and installing new insulation.
He plans to create a music space, a new kitchen and bathroom.
As for the neighbourhood, he said, from the first day "there were local people hanging around. Everyone seemed really friendly around here."
The vibe suits him.
"You can be just as creative here as anywhere," he said.
Lots of work ahead
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Gable said the old north end reminds him of what Vancouver's bohemian enclave, Commercial Drive, would have been like 50 years ago. (Julia Wright/CBC)
As one can imagine with any $8,000 house, there's still a lot of work ahead — and, given financial constraints and lack of hired help, he said the renos have so far been "sporadic."
Still, Gable said, he sees "so much potential."
"If I had an extra $100,000," he said, "this house would be amazing, but as it is it's functional. I'm not in a huge hurry."
Gable said he couldn't be happier with his investment.
"I've lived in my car, as a tree planter. So this is an upgrade," he said.
Cheap living for artists
You must log in or register to see images
Is Saint John's old north end on the cusp of a comeback?1:29
Gable said the old north end reminds him of what Vancouver's bohemian enclave, Commercial Drive, would have been like 50 years ago: "kind of on the outskirts, but accessible to the city and affordable to live."
"If you don't have a lot of expensive costs, you can have your pick of houses and where you want to live in Saint John," he said.
While it might require an artistic eye to overlook the abandoned buildings and rough exteriors of the old north end, "you can't just be an industrial city," said Gable.
"If you have more artists and alternative people moving in, a neighbourhood grows."
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/saint-john-old-north-end-daniel-gable-1.3795830
This is Main Street: Rise and fall of a once thriving commercial district
Saint John's old north end may look rough, but a major property buyer and tenacious neighbours look to rebuild
By Julia Wright, CBC News Posted: Oct 08, 2016 8:00 AM AT Last Updated: Oct 08, 2016 8:00 AM AT
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North end residents have maintained community pride, despite challenges that have cropped up in the neighbourhood over the years. (Julia Wright/CBC)
When Saint John was a smoky 18th century seaside colony, Main Street was a trade road, used to cart goods from the First Nations settlement at Indiantown up to Fort Howe.
From the 1700s until the mid-1960s, it evolved into a thriving commercial district in Saint John rivalled only by Prince William Street.
Former Saint John Mayor and retired teacher Ivan Court grew up on Main Street.
"There were probably about 2,000 people working from one end to the other," said Court, who got one of his first jobs delivering papers in the neighbourhood.
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Main Street in Saint John, circa 1900, was home to a variety of shops, grocers, and hundreds of young families. (Provincial Archives of New Brunswick)
"You had three or four bakeries, clothing stores, shoe stores, sports stores and grocery stores on every corner of Main, Metcalf, and Victoria," he said.
Back then, the community was made up mainly of young families.
"Every block had hundreds of children on it. It was the heart and soul of Saint John," said Court.
Faded glory
Many of the homes, once considered "basically mansions," according to Court, are now boarded up and abandoned.
You must log in or register to see images
The north end has changed dramatically in the last century. A view of Main Street looking from Harvey Street in 2016. (Julia Wright/CBC)
An aging demographic, the demolition of homes to make way for the Harbour Bridge in 1968 and an increasingly low percentage of owner-occupied homes also played a role in the decline.
Traces of the past are still visible in the spacious, once-solid wooden houses.
Some, like 120 Main St., still possess their trim gingerbread scrollwork and other 19th-century details.
You must log in or register to see images
Like so many other houses on Main Street, the building at 120 Main St., which is notable for Carpenter Gothic scrollwork on the eaves, has been abandoned for several years. (Julia Wright/CBC)
Neglected by landlords
But many of what Court said were once considered "basically mansions" have fallen gradually into serious disrepair.
Most of the abandoned buildings on Main Street — and a total of 33 in the north end — are currently registered with Phillip Huggard Properties Ltd., which went bankrupt last fall.
A rambling, multi-unit building on the corner of Main and Elgin streets has remained vacant since at least the early 2000s.
Several homes on nearby Victoria Street have been targeted by arsonists and vandals.
You must log in or register to see images
Many of homes that line Saint John's gritty north end are now abandoned. (Julia Wright/CBC)
Big change coming
But the neighbourhood, while bruised, isn't down yet.
Hundreds of neglected properties are poised to change hands in a move that will, it's hoped, transform Main Street — and the rest of the north end.
Kit Hickey is executive director of Rehabitat, which manages affordable housing units in the city.
They're working on a project that could see 50 units — including walk-ups and townhouses — renovated and brought back to being a place of pride.
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Next door to long-abandoned apartments on Main and Elgin streets, painters spruce up some aluminum siding (Julia Wright/CBC)
"We could see a neighbourhood that's been restored to its former beauty," said Hickey.
"I think that we could see a beautiful mixed income community thriving again."
Dovetailing with Rehabitat's work is the recent acquisition of up to 180 units by a Fredericton-based company called PMV Canada.
The mass acquisition will likely mean the demolition of up to a dozen houses but also the possibility of building new, affordable units.
Some of the work is already beginning. This spring, Andrew Grady recently purchased 92 Victoria St. and 53-55 Albert St., two century-old homes just a few blocks off Main Street.
"We just took everything off and started from scratch," said Grady, who is working with a team of contractors and Mathieu Laquerre of real estate developer Mada Partners to remodel the buildings.
The team gutted 92 Victoria St., where Grady now lives with his young family, down to the studs and installed new wiring, plumbing and windows in the two-unit building. They plan to do the same with the Albert Street property.
"People seem to be appreciating what we're doing here," he said.
"A lot of the people in this area are lifelong residents who just want to mind their own business. Walking by, they say it's really nice to see what we've done."
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Daniel Gable, 36, a musician and former tree planter, left British Columbia and purchased a house on Victoria Street for $8,000. (Julia Wright/CBC)
North's star ascending
Thanks to the tenacity of long-term residents, and newcomers willing to take a chance on the community, it looks as if the old north end might soon rise again.
Catherine Sidney has lived for the past 26 years with her partner, Bridget McGale, in Tapley Manor, a stately, immaculately restored heritage home on Holly Street built by tugboat magnate Archibald Tapley in 1870.
She and McGale say they "always" have hope for the community.
"This," said Sidney, "is Main Street. This is Saint John. This is Indiantown. This is the best kept secret in the whole town. Some of those old houses are spectacular."
It's not just old-school Johners who are invested in the north end.
Daniel Gable, 36, a musician and former tree planter, drove coast-to-coast from Squamish, B.C., all the way to Saint John in August 2016 to move into a house he bought on Victoria Street, sight unseen, for $8,000, $2,000 less than the already-paltry asking price of $10,000.
"It was crazy to think you could buy a place that has two suites for $10,000," said Gable, adding he "wasn't so much concerned about the house itself. I knew I was going to be interested in anything for $10,000 as long as it was usable and safe for people to live in."
He said Saint John is "cooler than [he] thought it would be."
"There's amazing architecture here that's unique in Canada," he said, "and everyone seems really friendly around here."
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Drawn by some of the most affordable real estate in Canada, new families and individuals are moving into the north end.
Cheap real estate is one draw - but so is the scrappy spirit pioneered first by initiatives like the Marigold Project (formerly Marigolds on Main Street) and redoubled in recent years by O.N.E. Change, the Nick Nicolle Community Centre, the North End Wellness Centre and the owners and proprietors of long-running businesses.
It's been an unsteady trajectory, at times — but it's possible those efforts have laid the groundwork for a comeback for the north end.
- Students brighten Saint John street with marigold project
- ONE Change to take over Saint John community centre
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Some abandoned buildings that now dot Saint John's north end are now home to feral cats that are making themselves at home. (Julia Wright/CBC)
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While it’s been bruised, the north end’s scrappy spirit is far from down yet and groups are trying to rehabilitate the neighbourhood. (Julia Wright/CBC)
The rich texture of the neighbourhood's glory days, while tarnished, has never completely faded.
"The heart and soul of Saint John was the north end," said Ivan Court.
"Hopefully now, the right developers will be smart enough to realize what a great place it is, and we can bring it back."
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/this-is-main-street-rise-and-fall-of-a-once-thriving-commercial-district-1.3794276
The secret of Saint John's Tapley Manor: A north end love story
Bridget McGale and Catherine Sidney say Saint John's old north end is the city's 'best kept secret'
By Julia Wright, CBC News Posted: Oct 08, 2016 8:00 AM AT Last Updated: Oct 08, 2016 8:00 AM AT
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Bridget McGale and Catherine Sidney have restored their 146-year-old home, Tapley Manor. (Julia Wright/CBC)
Related Stories
- This is Main Street: Rise and fall of a once thriving commercial district
- 'It can happen here': Saint John's north end set to transform
Perched on a rocky hill, their 146-year-old home, Tapley Manor, offers a panoramic view of the St. John River.
On a clear summer evening, the stately home, manicured lawn and neat hedges are drenched in the orange-gold light.
"These houses were built for the sun," said Catherine Sidney.
"All of the bay windows in this house, upstairs and down, are on the south side."
- FEATURE: This is Main Street: Rise and fall of a once thriving commercial district
- PROFILE: Saint John man overcomes barriers to renovate north end homes
- PROFILE: Saint John's old north end: Canada's cheap real estate destination?
Many others had overlooked its potential: it had languished on the market for two years.
The day after that — McGale's birthday — they put in an offer of $70,000, and never looked back.
"Not everyone gets a birthday gift like that," said Sidney.
Over the past 26 years, the couple have painstakingly renovated every room of the big old house, originally built by the tugboat magnate Archibald Tapley in 1870.
"We've maintained the character of the house," said Sidney, gesturing toward the stained glass, hardwood floors, and handmade crown moldings.
"History is encapsulated in this one building."
Community deserves respect
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Tapley Manor was purchased in 1990 for $70,000. Every room in the stately home has been renovated. (Submitted by Bridget McGale and Catherine Sidney)
But just across the park on Victoria Street, the picture couldn't differ more widely from the pristine view from Tapley Manor.
A swath of homes are boarded up and slated for demolition. The same is true of nearby Main Street.
Sidney believes the neglect of century-old homes has contributed to the problem with morale in the neighbourhood.
"If you give someone something that's nice," Sidney said, "then they'll take care of it."
There are also the inherent difficulties of restoring an old property, adds McGale.
"Some of the buildings that are now boarded up," she said, "haven't been looked after for the 26 years we've been living here."
That being said, she and Sidney say Tapley Manor was no palace back in 1990.
"If this house was the way it was when we bought it," she says, "it would have been torn down, too. But look at it now."
A brighter space
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Tapley Manor is perched on a rocky hill and offers a panoramic view of the St. John River. (Julia Wright/CBC)
While it's sad to see century-old architecture shuttered and demolished, says McGale, the north end is overall "a much brighter space" than it used to be.
She cites the work of O.N.E. Change, the refurbishment of Victoria Square, Shamrock Park, and the playground on Bridge Street as examples of the strong community spirit that exists in the north end.
McGale recalls looking out onto Victoria Square after post-tropical storm Arthur hit in 2014 and seeing "all the people out, with their own brooms, cleaning up the park," said McGale.
"Now that's a community."
'You're part of it'
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Tapley Manor was originally built by the tugboat magnate Archibald Tapley in 1870. (Submitted by Bridget McGale and Catherine Sidney)
Sidney and McGale, both world travellers, "love living here," said McGale.
"We have never regretted living here, and wouldn't move."
Sidney recalls setting out an early morning walk around the neighbourhood, shortly after the passing of the couple's beloved German Shepherd.
Accustomed to the company of a big dog, she said, she felt anxious when she heard a car slow down and pull up beside her.
"I thought, 'What's this going to be about?'" said Sidney.
"Then the guy rolled down his window and was like, 'Hey! I just wanted to tell you, I saw a German Shepherd for sale there on Kijiji!' People are basically good people."
"I don't know who that guy was," she said.
"But people see you walking, and then you're part of it. You're a character in the north end."
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/saint-john-tapley-manor-1.3795655
House and apartment building prices located in North End, some at rock bottom prices:--
Address: 9 Main St.
Type: Vacant
Square Metres: 186 sq m
Assessment Value: $700
13-15 Main St.
8-unit apartment building and lot
372 sq m
$106,100
105 Main St.
Residence and lot
272 sq m
$2,700
111 Main St.
Residence and lot
223 sq m
$2,700
115-117 Main St.
Residence and lot
225 sq m
$2,700
118 Main St. (8-10 Cedar St.)
7-unit apartment building and lot
262 sq m
$129,000
119 Main St.
Vacant
251 sq m
$2,700
123-125 Main St.
Residence and lot
260 sq m
$2,700
120 Main St.
House and lot
725 sq m
$4,000
126 Main St.
6-unit apartment building and lot
372 sq m
$2,700
129-131 Main St.
Vacant
$2,700
??? Main St.
Vacant
164 sq m
$1,000
Vacant
1406.88 sq m
$9,500
155 Bridge St.
6-unit apartment building and lot
365 sq m
$1,000
94 - 96 Victoria St.
Residence and lot
315 sq m
$36,100
98 - 100 Victoria St.
Residence and lot
315 sq m
$4,000
106 Victoria St.
Residence and lot
223 sq m
$38,800
125 Victoria St.
Residence and lot
279 sq m
$30,600
129 Victoria St.
Vacant
279 sq m
$4,000
131 Victoria St.
Residence and lot
279 sq m
$33,000
133 Victoria St.
Residence and lot
279 sq m
$28,600
135 Victoria St.
Residence and lot
372 sq m
$41,000
21-31 Metcalf St.
9-unit apartment building and lot
$109,100
80-88 Metcalf St. (17-25 Albert St.)
8-unit apartment building and lot
149 sq m
$3,000
5 Albert St. (135 Main St.)
Residence and lot
171 sq m
$2,700
13-15 Albert St.
Residence
129 sq m
$2,700
30 Kennedy St.
Residence and lot
$4,000
31-33 Kennedy St. (14 Victoria Ln.)
4-unit apartment building and lot
334 sq m
$16,000
38 Kennedy St. (Lease)
$4,000
18-20 Victoria Ln. (Lease)
Building and lease lot
173 sq m
$80,200
12 First St. (Co-owner)
Vacant
287.7 sq m
$5,000
14 First St. (Co-owner)
Vacant
203.7 sq m
$5,000
27-29 Waring St.
10-unit apartment building and lot
358 sq m
$156,600
247-249 Rockland Rd. (Co-owner)
Vacant
624 sq m
$7,500
The first feral cats I've seen with their own food bowls. They've got a good little number going...
That's very interesting, Strolls. Did you also know that, on average and all other things being equal, fat girls use more soap?
Wow, nice photos, he must have taken them the only day of the year with no snow and not 30* below!
Dates you Ubes. They use unguents, balms, sprays, lotions, and serums nowadays. In industrial quantities judging by the bathroom cabinets in my house where two (non fat) women also reside. Granted, they are all just different words for soap.
Generally snow & ice only here in the period mid November to mid March - often St. Patrick's Day marks the last significant snowfall. In April, May & June we gradually get to more enjoy warm sunny days, then July & August are hot & humid, especially inland, but NOT in Saint John, NB on the Bay of Fundy (highest tides), so that is a nice place to visit to enjoy cooler weather break in summer. September & October we often enjoy some nice Indian Summer warm weather days before the brutal onset of winter, although some years we can get a green Christmas with no snowfall until January.
Can't beat those dirt cheap North End Saint John housing prices though, especially if you are handy with a hammer to fix them up.
I got a choice of bath wash, whitening serum, moisture conditioner, cleansing powder, make up clear, purifying and brightening milky foam, bubble mousse cleaner, anti-spots +oil control white activities, anti bacterial+antiseptic agent, body cream, hair therapy, foam, feminine cleaning, body salt fruit, red pomegranate whitening cleanser. Can anyone see the soap or even the f shampoo?
In our household we have four cats, 2 male, 2 female (all fixed) - 2 taken in as strays and 2 adopted from the local SPCA.
Of course I'm the one that does all the feeding and cat litter-box chores. We let them have their freedom outside if they wish and generally all four return by early evening.
Feral cats seem to do quite well in Singapore too with the assistance of neighbourhood volunteers:-
The cat guardians of Singapore
By Anna Jones BBC News, Singapore
12 June 2016
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There are an estimated 600 "community cats" roaming the housing estates of Yishun
Every city has its strays, but here in Singapore, they are little different. Not scrawny and vaguely whiffy, but glossy and groomed and known affectionately as "community cats".
By day, they are fed and watered by a small army of dedicated volunteer feeders - office workers heading home, hipsters heading out, ageing "aunties and uncles".
But at night, a hardcore of cat-lovers take to the streets.
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Dedicated carefully maintained feeding spots can be found all over Singapore
"This cat is very special," says a slight man in a loose T-shirt and flip-flops, crouching down by a tower block in northern Yishun district.
"She will let me know she is here, but whenever I go to her she will run away. Then when I appear to be going away, she will chase me."
True to form the cat - called Orange because she is - runs after us as we walk away into the night.
A serial killer?
"We just carry our handphones and we walk," says one woman, out patrolling.
"If maybe we can keep one cat safe every night that's enough."
Their anxiety for the cats is very real, and fuelled by a spate of mysterious deaths of community cats in Yishun earlier this year.
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Their ease around humans makes the cats an easy target for potential assailants
For weeks, Singaporean media was full of stories documenting the latest gruesome discovery.
Animals were found with broken limbs, drowned in ponds, with severe internal injuries and in one case, with an eye gouged out. In some cases, there was no doubting a deliberate act of violence.
In total, 39 cats were reported dead within a few months.
Fingerprinting a cat?
The man in flip-flops - who didn't want to be named - stands and pauses a moment at the entrance way between two tower blocks.
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Volunteers say the neat placement of the cat in the drain, far from a road, is a clear sign her death was not natural
"This is the exact location where they found the carcass," he says.
He pulls up a picture on his phone of the small pale cat, lying neatly in the deep storm gully, a trail of blood draining away.
It's obvious, he says, that this cat was deliberately killed.
The Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority (AVA), which is responsible for investigating animal abuse cases, has only ever confirmed two of the Yishun deaths as deliberate killings.
Thirteen were falls or traffic accidents, it said, while the other cases remain unsolved.
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It's almost impossible not to spot a community cat while out at night in Singapore
As corpses kept turning up, there were mutterings from activists that the AVA wasn't doing enough to investigate.
One activist told me that in a country with as many CCTV cameras as Singapore, it should be easy to find the culprit.
Louis Ng, an animal-lover and an MP for Yishun, told the BBC earlier this year that the problem was a lack of evidence.
"You can't fingerprint a cat. You don't know the next of kin of the cat, and there's a limited number of people you can interview."
Mr Ng, who helped set up a rapid-response team to investigate cat deaths, praised the "amazing community spirit" of the volunteers, calling it the one positive thing to come out of the case.
Two apparently unconnected suspects were arrested over the Yishun deaths.
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Bushy's colour and shiny coat indicate she may at one time have been a family pet
One was charged and then only this week, another was sentenced to 18 months probation after admitting throwing a cat off the 13th storey of a tower block.
It seems the Yishun deaths have come to an end - though only this week in a separate eastern district, a man was arrested on suspicion of another cat killing.
The AVA praised "civic-mindedness" for his quick identification.
'A passion for cats'
The man in flip-flops tells me he can't fully explain to family and friends why he patrols every night, on top of a full-time job.
"Not everyone can understand," he says. "It's just out of passion for the cats."
As he wanders through the night, he on the lookout for cats he knows - if any are missing, he raises the alarm with the cat guardian network.
Among the cats we meet on patrol is Bushy, named for her magnificent tail, her collar and bell suggesting she was at least at some point a family cat.
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Healthy and relaxed, Cowli's trust of people is a concern for the volunteers
The aptly named Fatty also briefly passes by before waddling into the night, while Botty's Father surveys the scene from a hillock. Botty himself isn't around tonight.
A black and white cat, Cowli, bounds over without hesitation and lies down near our feet.
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The volunteers hope Little Mulan's slight reservation around humans will help protect her from a potential attacker
As 4am approaches, he is disappointed when Little Mulan, a sleek grey tabby who is one of his favourites, keeps her distance.
But he is also hopeful, thinking perhaps her wariness of humans will keep her safe.
"The saddest thought," he says as he reluctantly walks away, "is if we will ever see her again alive".
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-35369688
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