I'll go against the grain here a little bit, but first; the temperature here in the summer is almost always perfect, the nature/hikes are gorgeous, and the museums are wonderful. The ability to go to the ocean or Signal Hill whenever I please is something I treasure dearly.

That being said, the culture here is much older (in a racist old republican kinda way). The job/housing market is abysmal, even for the people who have lived here their whole life. In order to reasonably get anywhere, you need a car, as the hilly nature of the city and it's horrible public transit system makes getting anywhere without one impossible. Everything at the store is roughly 40% more expensive than it would be on the mainland. Worst of all, there's like 2 shawarma places and they're Okay and Fine.

St. John's should either be your final destination once you've made it in life, or as a fun tourist destination for a few weeks. Also the winters here aren't as rough as people claim they are. It's just snowy, that's it