Raise the Hammer

If you like a small airport you would have liked it a lot more before it was expanded in the mid 1990s (it was about a 1/3 of it's size then); Also, if you were here before 1990, VIA would have been running.

If you were looking non big box stores one place would have been the Bay/Algoma St. area.

If you are wondering why many of the locals are down on their town there is: the lack of jobs unless you have connections or luck, some of the stupidest most myopic car driver's in the country along with badly synchronized lights that makes for needless stop-and-go traffic, mediocre city transit that has limited evening times and ends around midnight, needless urban sprawl that goes beyond the large city limits. There always seems to be the need to tear down much of the old to build something new (with no guarantees on workmanship and costs way over estimates). The fix is also in on many things from the vote for the city name (purposely splitting the vote by offering 'Lakehead', 'The Lakehead', and 'Thunder Bay) to city council asking for citizen opinion on big projects when it already has it's mind made up to if, how big, and where they will be, to local contractors being the tail that wags the dog on city building fixing and building projects.

The isolation of the city doesn't help - you are a good 7 hour drive from anywhere bigger (Minneapolis and Winnipeg). The only close city of around the same size is Duluth/Superior.

As far as the comment by IRK wondering why people who are "stuck" here don't leave. The cost of living isn't too high (that may change if the local gov't keeps increasing taxes for it's many recent white elephant projects), they may still have friends and family here or other commitments, and who is going to leave unless they have a better job lined up elsewhere without a skyrocketing cost to their housing. The philosophy being the devil you know is better than the one you don't even if you are working several McJobs (which IRK probably isn't - if you have a regular secure good paying job anywhere can be good).

The recent "boom" mentioned by IRK doesn't help anyone who has been here for a while and doesn't have very recent education and experience in the precise field needed. Most of the "boom" only helped those outside of the city getting a job here and only slightly indirectly helped a few here.

Many people here would hate living in a mega city; especially those that love having nature/outdoor activities always close by.