Houses in Corner Brook, Newfoundland, Canada

A Corner Brook House on Wheeler's Street in Western Newfoundland, Canada.

After finally getting to Newfoundland from Vancouver and spending part of the day walking the Corner Brook Stream Trail, night has fallen, the temperature has dipped to freezing and I’ve decided to take one last walk for the day.

This time, I go it alone, bundling up and stepping into the fresh night air. I decide to walk further south along Wheeler’s Road to explore the residential streets of the city.

What surprised me the most was the Corner Brook houses: I have always thought of Newfoundland as such a remote, desolate place, but the houses in this neighbourhood are large, fairly new and decorated with nice cars and trucks.

And that isn’t the end of the neighbourhood. Most of the streets in this area wind around but don’t finish. Instead, tractors rest for the night from working and piles of dirt stand where soon-to-be new houses will reside. Real estate signs dot the sides of the road and it looks like a whole new set of families will be moving in.

I guess now the next step in Corner Brook’s future is about to take place: the pulp mill on the waterfront, once the mainstay of the city, has slowed down, while some residents are fighting to build up the waterfront; a new city hall is being built, much to the chagrin of those who want to clean up the more basic things like repairing the awful roads; the fishing industry is broken; and someone has got to start really taking advantage of the fact that the best ski hill in the Maritimes, Marble Mountain, is mere minutes away from the city, complete with a year round zip line.

An older Corner Brook House on Wheeler's Road in Western Newfoundland, Canada.

Perhaps the money going into the ultra popular city of St. John’s on the east side of Newfoundland and Labrador will be shared with the west coast, starting with Corner Brook. Or maybe not.

What I Liked:

• The Halloween spirit is alive and well in Corner Brook houses. I saw some great set ups during my neighbourhood walk, complete with a giant cat whose head turned from side to side, ghosts popping out of a pumpkin, and a witch driving a carriage, all set up on a front lawn.
• The streets at night (I haven’t been out downtown yet, though) feel completely safe and non-threatening. There were actually quite a few cars coming and going from houses, and lights were on, so the streets never felt completely deserted.