Student Population: Growing youth culture

Idea:

I know that College Hill has been a thing for a long time, but has anyone ever thought of spreading the campus's out around the city? It seems to me that having all the schools in one place doesn't make sense if you want to integrate the students into the fabric of the community and retain them as citizens. Having separate campus locations would have greater economic benefits for the local economy and add a vibrancy to the city experience. College hill seems to be a bygone of the days when young people were kept separate from the big table. This wouldn't be a short term idea, but something you should think about to support transit, local business and residential development. Connecting these young people to the community should be our top priority, but sticking them all together on one hill doesn't seem to lend itself to that outcome. It would also be nice to see the schools make some bold architectural choices and recognise their role in building the city's future, culture and tourism.

Staff Feedback:

Thank you sharing your idea! The City’s post-secondary institutions are important partners for the long-term growth of the City. The City’s Municipal Plan encourages the city to collaborate with Fredericton’s post-secondary institutions to:

1. Attract students, researchers, and faculty to the City;
2. Retain and integrate trained graduates into the City’s workforce; and,
3. Support the development and attraction of business and industry to the City.

The Municipal Plan also includes policies to work with the City’s universities and colleges to ensure an adequate supply of housing is provided to meet the diverse needs of the student community. There is no restriction on where students can live and so providing more housing throughout the city will help contribute to the overall supply. Recognizing the importance of the student community and young professionals in Fredericton, many new developments throughout the city are including smaller unit sizes and more bachelor/one-bedroom units that are a more affordable product. One recent example that is within close proximity to the universities would be the Micro Boutique development on Waterloo Row.

There is also a Secondary Municipal Plan for the College Hill area, established in the early 1990s. As the city continues to grow, a comprehensive review of the College Hill Secondary Municipal Plan will certainly be necessary for the evolution of the area.

The City’s Growth Strategy also identified four new neighbourhoods to accommodate substantial residential growth over the next 25 years. One of the new neighbourhoods identified is Endowment Development Lands owned by the University of New Brunswick (UNB), referred to as “Uptown.” This area is bookended to the west by major retail designations and Knowledge Park, and to the east by the Grant Harvey Centre. As part of the Growth Strategy and Municipal Plan, the City will work with UNB to realize a variety of housing in a transit-oriented community with neighbourhood-scale amenities in a mixed-use node at its heart. This area is planned for 5,000-6,000 people over the next 25 years. Overall, the City’s post-secondary institutions and the student community are very much a part of the city’s development policies and play an important role in shaping the city.