For years, Prince William Street has been one of the most beautiful blocks in Atlantic Canada, and one of the most underused. Heritage brick. Cast iron. Architecture that most cities would kill for. And for most of the year, it's a thoroughfare — a place cars pass through on the way to somewhere else.
This summer, there is a real chance to change that. The proposal on the table is simple: close the street to vehicles for the warm months, let the restaurants spill out, let the music play, let people rediscover that Uptown is worth walking through slowly.
Cities across the world have done this — Montreal's pedestrian summers, Halifax's Argyle, Copenhagen, Lisbon, Melbourne. Every single one saw the same thing happen. Business went up. Foot traffic went up. Crime went down. People fell in love with their city again.
Saint John is ready. The buildings are ready. The patios are ready. The only thing missing is a loud, unmistakable signal to city council that this is what the community wants. That's what this page is for.
The street becomes a room. Kids can run. You can cross without looking. The block stops being a road and starts being a place.
Tables, chairs, umbrellas, string lights. Every restaurant on the block extends out into what used to be asphalt. Brunch to last call.
Local bands. Jazz trios. A busker with a loop pedal. Sound bouncing off 140-year-old brick the way it was always meant to.
Not just a summer gimmick — a proof of concept. The start of a city that chooses, again and again, to put people first.
Every signature here goes into a report delivered directly to Saint John Common Council. Your name, your reason, your stake in this city.