Page 14 - Real Estate Now Sept-Oct 2022

TRAVEL

Moncton, New Brunswick:

Hub City is Rising Again

courtesy REALTOR.ca Team
A ffordable housing? Check. A booming economy? Check. Ocean views? Check. Relaxed lifestyle? Check. It’s no

wonder Moncton, New Brunswick was ranked by Money Sense as the top place to buy a home in 2022.
Sandwiched between the tides of the Fundy Coast and the warm saltwater beaches of the Acadian Coast,
this city in New Brunswick is home to heritage sites, museums, zoos, the fascinating Magnetic Hill, and picturesque
outdoors.
Moncton is a great place to visit, live, or do business. Let’s explore how the city came to be, what it’s known for, places
to visit, and what the housing market looks like.
The history of Moncton

Moncton was originally home to the Mi’kmaq First Nations before the French Acadians took over the area in 1698. A
few decades later, Pennsylvania Germans from Philadelphia settled in the area, followed by the Loyalists—a group
of Americans who made the choice to remain British subjects and left the United States after the Revolution. The
area became known as “The Bend,” a name derived from the way the part of the Petitcodiac River that runs through
Moncton curves like a bent elbow. In 1855, the area was renamed Moncton after Lieutenant Colonel Robert Monckton,
the leader of a British military expedition against the French.
Being in a valley with a reliable source of water made Moncton an agricultural settlement, but it wasn’t long before
the area transformed into a shipbuilding centre. The decline of wooden ships wreaked havoc on Moncton and its
economy collapsed.
It was the introduction of the railway that put the city back on the map. Moncton became the headquarters of the
Intercolonial Railway, as well as a central point for air and land travel for the Maritimes, and so the bustling town
earned the nickname “Hub City” as a result.
Moncton became incorporated in 1890. Its rebirth as a railtown continued when the Canadian National (CN) Railway
set up locomotive repair shops in 1918. CN closed its repair shops in the late 1980s, marking the end of an era.
The city’s prosperity bounced back in the 1990s with the rise of information technology and telecommunications
companies. True to its motto, “I rise again,” Moncton is now among Canada’s top business and innovation hubs.

What to know about Moncton
Moncton is the most populous city in New Brunswick with more than 85,000 residents. In 2002, it became the first
and only officially bilingual city in Canada. This designation makes the city a welcoming destination for anglophone
and francophone Canadians, immigrants, and tourists. Moncton is also home to some of the world’s natural wonders
and Canada’s most visited places.

The Bay of Fundy, which separates New Brunswick from Nova Scotia, is home to the world’s highest tides. The daily
tides can rise as high as a five-storey building (15 metres!). Interestingly, the tides bring along a type of dried seaweed,
dulse, used for flavouring or eaten as a snack.

14 | REAL ESTATE NOW | denise@BCislandhomes.ca