Downtown Neighbourhood Plan

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Downtown St. John’s is a vibrant neighbourhood, recognized and appreciated for its unique and colourful residential neighbourhoods; its walkable business corridors; its popular arts and entertainment scene; its working port and cruise terminal; its unique collection of heritage buildings; and more recently, its world-class culinary offerings, among many other things.

Like much of the province, however, Downtown has been experiencing change:

  • Economic and business activity has wavered;
  • Many companies have relocated to other parts of St. John’s, leaving behind large, empty office spaces in the downtown area;
  • Retail storefronts are struggling to compete with online shopping, hybrid retail, and the ever-present challenge of big box development;
  • Businesses in general are facing a new reality as employees adopt working from home or other alternate live/work scenarios;
  • Long-term social changes due to COVID-19, such as increased awareness of hygiene and social distancing, have created challenges in the current compact urban environment;
  • There is a need to respond to impacts of a changing climate and improve the resilience of new and existing buildings, roads, and stormwater management infrastructure to extreme weather.

These challenges, among others, raise some big questions: What does all of this mean for Downtown? How do we tackle these concerns and ensure that Downtown St. John’s remains a desirable place to live, work, invest, and play in the future?

Finding the answer to these and other challenging questions is part of this Neighbourhood Plan.

The Downtown St. John’s Neighbourhood Plan will focus on the area highlighted on the following map:


Downtown St. John’s is a vibrant neighbourhood, recognized and appreciated for its unique and colourful residential neighbourhoods; its walkable business corridors; its popular arts and entertainment scene; its working port and cruise terminal; its unique collection of heritage buildings; and more recently, its world-class culinary offerings, among many other things.

Like much of the province, however, Downtown has been experiencing change:

  • Economic and business activity has wavered;
  • Many companies have relocated to other parts of St. John’s, leaving behind large, empty office spaces in the downtown area;
  • Retail storefronts are struggling to compete with online shopping, hybrid retail, and the ever-present challenge of big box development;
  • Businesses in general are facing a new reality as employees adopt working from home or other alternate live/work scenarios;
  • Long-term social changes due to COVID-19, such as increased awareness of hygiene and social distancing, have created challenges in the current compact urban environment;
  • There is a need to respond to impacts of a changing climate and improve the resilience of new and existing buildings, roads, and stormwater management infrastructure to extreme weather.

These challenges, among others, raise some big questions: What does all of this mean for Downtown? How do we tackle these concerns and ensure that Downtown St. John’s remains a desirable place to live, work, invest, and play in the future?

Finding the answer to these and other challenging questions is part of this Neighbourhood Plan.

The Downtown St. John’s Neighbourhood Plan will focus on the area highlighted on the following map:


Page last updated: 31 May 2023, 10:40 PM