The Sides of Saint John Part 1: The East Side

Saint John is a unique city. Unlike other cities in the Maritimes, Saint John is divided into several distinct neighbourhoods by its citizens. It is generally not enough to say you are from Saint John. You typically must specify the neighbourhood and hope that the person you are speaking to is from your neighbourhood, or at least a friendly neighbourhood. Failure to do so may indicate you are from out of town and possible from Moncton. I would suggest running now.

Here is a map of the various neighbourhoods:

I know that it can be hard for people to really understand what it’s like in each of the neighbourhoods, especially when you live and work on one side for your entire life. So, to better our knowledge, I will begin a multi part series where I will provide my overview of each of Saint John’s sides. Today, we begin with the East Side.

The East Side

Enter the East Side

The East Side really starts when you cross the causeway from the South End. You will know this is happening because the smell of March creek will really punch you in the face. When the smell fades, you are officially in the East Side. At this point in time, you will begin to enter the famous fog belt. If you are lucky, you will eventually break through and reach the mall.

The Mall

The mall is what makes the East Side the Side that all the other Sides are jealous of. “The Mall” typically represents McAllister Place, Parkway, and all the surrounding stores and strip malls. People will travel from all sides, and even from outside the city, to go shopping here. The mall is the East Sides greatest natural resource.

Heavy Industry

The East Side is also home to a lot of heavy industry, including Canada’s largest refinery. This can easily be spotted from the big stacks with flames shooting out of them. Sometimes they will also spew dark clouds of clean pollution (according to Irving Oil).

Heres our first East Side fun fact: contrary to popular belief, Irving Oil only owns 74.6% of the East Side and not 78% as often quoted. This popular misconception can be blamed on a misprint in the Telegraph Journal.

Rothesay Avenue

Another feature of the East Side is the large percentage of car dealerships per square kilometre. They are all easily located on the busiest street in the city Rothesay Avenue. Typically I would joke about how terrible the road conditions are, but they have improved a great deal. You are only likely to hit several potholes on the way to purchase that new car.

Although, if you are trying to find the Toyota dealership good luck. Just look at this awful map they provide on their website. Honestly now, they couldn’t have provided a worse map. The best part is that on their webpage, they actually say for the driving directions that the map directions are enough.

Conclusion

The East Side has all the good stores and lots of things to do. Although it tends to be windy, cold, and foggy, this does not dampen the mood of East Siders. You are now officially up to speed on the East Side. If there is anything I have missed, feel free to comment or email me! Stay tuned for the next part: The West Side!