Charlottetown

Charlottetown /ˈʃɑːrləttaʊn/ is a Canadian city. It is both the largest city on and the provincial capital of Prince Edward Island, and the county seat of Queens County. Named after Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, queen consort of the United Kingdom, Charlottetown was first incorporated as a town in 1855 and designated as a city in 1885. It was most famously the site of the Charlottetown Conference in 1864, the first gathering of Canadian and Maritime statesmen to debate the proposed Maritime Unionand the more persuasive British North American Union, now known asCanadian Confederation. From this, the city adopted as its motto "Cunabula Foederis" -- "Birthplace of Confederation".

The population of Charlottetown in the 2011 census was 34,562; this forms the centre of a census agglomeration of 64,487, which is slightly less than half of the province's population (140,204).

Geography

Charlottetown is situated on its namesake harbour, which is formed by the confluence of three rivers in the central part of the island's south shore. The harbour itself opens onto the Northumberland Strait. The city is roughly V-shaped (pointed to the south) and constrained by the North (Yorke) and the Hillsborough (East) Rivers to the west and east.

Cityscape and architecture

Downtown Charlottetown includes the city's historic five hundred lots, as surveyed by Captain Samuel Holland, as well as the waterfront facing the harbour and the Hillsborough River. Adjacent communities to the original downtown included Brighton, Spring Park, Sherwood and Parkdale. The areas to the west, north and east of downtown have been developed in recent decades with several residential and commercial/retail developments, although the outer regions of the city are still predominantly farmland, as is an area in the centre of the city where an Agriculture Canada experimental crop research station is located.

The Agriculture Canada research station farm is the last remnant of the Queens Royalty common pasture lands and creates a large greenspace in the centre of the city, north of downtown. The development of the township of Queens Royalty, with its 12-acre (49,000 m²) estates surveyed during the 18th and 19th centuries along a north-south axis forced early road networks into a grid.

The present-day Charlottetown landscape is dominated by urban development along the waterfront areas, suburban development to the west, north and east, as well as the airport to the north. Commercial development, aside from the central business district, is concentrated along several road corridors:

• University Avenue/Malpeque Road
• North River Road/Lower Malpeque Road
• St. Peter's Road
• Mount Edward Road
• Kensington Road

The downtown core is augmented by several feeder streets:

• Queen Street
• Water Street
• Grafton Street

Tourism

The city's streetscape with a centrally planned downtown core containing many Victorian-era houses and buildings is an attraction, as well as the waterfront redevelopment project in recent decades which has seen walking trails and parks developed on former industrial lands. A new cruise ship terminal was opened by the port authority in September 2007 which, proponents hope, will make the city a more attractive destination for the growing number of vessels operating in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Popular attractions within the city include the provincial legislature atProvince House, which hosted the Charlottetown Conference, as well as Founders Hall, a recently redeveloped railway maintenance building which now houses an interactive trip through history tracing the development of Canada as a nation.

The Confederation Centre of the Arts provides live theatre, including the Charlottetown Festival during the summer months, as well as a nationally ranked art gallery. The Charlottetown Festival itself is headlined by Canada's most popular and longest-running musical, Anne of Green Gables - The Musical, which is an adaptation of Island author Lucy Maud Montgomery's novel. Several other small theaters and galleries can be found immediately surrounding the Confederation center including the Mac (MacKenzie theatre), the Arts Guild, and Pilar Shepard gallery.

There are 11 National Historic Sites of Canada located in Charlottetown, including Province House and the Confederation Centre of the Arts.

Education

English public schooling (gr. K-12) in Charlottetown is provided by the English Language School Board.^[17] French public schooling (gr. K-12) in the city is provided by the Commission scolaire de langue française.

The city has 2 independent schools. These include Immanuel Christian School and Grace Christian School.

Charlottetown is home to the University of Prince Edward Island. UPEI has programs in Arts, Education, Science, Business, and Nursing. The provincial university also houses the Atlantic Veterinary College. UPEI has a number of sport teams that compete in men's and women's hockey, soccer, rugby, basketball, and volleyball, and women's field hockey. These sports teams are called The Panthers.

Charlottetown is also home to several campuses of Holland College, the province's community college. In addition, there are various private training colleges in the city.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlottetown

Classifieds in Charlottetown