Moncton, New Brunswick 

Moncton is a city of 64,000 people with 126,000 people living in the Greater Moncton Area. It is situated alongside the Petitcodiac River in New Brunswick. French Acadians settled the area in 1733, but were deported to the southern states by the English over twenty years later. Some Acadians managed to hide out in the woods, and they are the descendants of the French who live in the city today. Settlers from Pennsylvania re-settled the area in 1766. In 2002, Moncton became the first officially bilingual city in Canada. 60% of the population are English speakers, and 40% are Francophone.  

Moncton has one of the highest rates of in-migration of any city in the Maritimes and is the fastest growing urban area east of Montreal. The city is positioned at the geographic centre of the Maritimes and for that reason has always been the transportation and communications hub; a stopping place whether travellers are going east or west. It is about a 2 hour drive to Halifax and 1.5 hours to both St. John and Fredericton. Sandy beaches for swimming and national parks to camp in are both nearby.

Some of the most affordable housing in the country is in Moncton. Moncton also has one of the lowest costs of living for all urban areas in North America. There are 13% less low income families here than the national average. The city has no dominant industry, but is is moving away from a blue collar economy into more professional services. 

There are several universities in the city. The Universite de Moncton is an all French-speaking university. Atlantic Baptist University is here, and the University of New Brunswick also has one of its campuses in Moncton. Mount Allison University is a 30 minute drive away. 

A lot of tourists stop in Moncton to visit the amusement parks, golf courses and to see Magnetic Hill. The hill is an optical illusion for drivers. When the car is put in neutral on the downward slope of the hill, it begins to roll backwards making it seem to actually be going uphill.