Hilly. Close-knit. Historic.
Like all older Canadian neighbourhoods, Saint John West is a more dense community, with a friendly and diverse atmosphere. Many residents choose to walk to do their daily errands. Primarily residential, this community offers single detached homes, small apartment buildings, and duplexes that are almost exclusively pre-1960, many reaching back to the 19th century.
This neighbourhood is very hilly, and mirrors its uptown cousin in more ways than that. King Square West and the much more developed Queen Square West are as much loved public treasures here as King’s Square and Queen Square are in uptown. King Square West has been popular with courting couples, and thus its nickname of Courtenay Hill, said to be a derivation of “Courting Hill”.
In this historic neighbourhood, there are many points worth noting. For example, Martello Tower, overlooking Saint John West, is 210 feet over sea level, and the standing oldest military structure in the city. Where the ferry to Digby docks today a popular bathing beach was located from 1900 to 1914—with changing rooms, a lunch counter, and a ramp to the deeper water. Today residents enjoy quiet tranquility and watching the tides at Bayshore Beach.
The boundaries and data used to define the neighbourhoods in this section are supplied by Statistics Canada as Census Tracts and may not reflect exact local area names and boundaries. Every effort has been made to include as many local names as possible.
