HALIFAX - Once declared by Shakespeare, "What is the city but the people?" suggests he may have been as successful an urban planner as playwright. If people are core to a city, perhaps the way a city is planned and developed ought to incorporate people's needs, visions and values. Historically, Halifax has not been known for engaging its people in the process of city building. Strong citizen opposition and lack of engagement in projects such as the Cogswell Interchange, Scotia Square, the Chebucto Road widening and, most recently, the Convention Centre, exemplify this process. In recent years, the process has been shifting. Citizens were involved in the creation of Halifax's downtown vision and plan, HRMbyDesign. Over 1,000 people gave input to design the Halifax Central Library. The Fenwick Tower Redevelopment engaged citizens in multi-stakeholder visioning sessions led by a private developer. In this new context of growing citizen engagement, it is fitting that Capital Health, an institution whose primary interest is health of the people of Nova Scotia, be among this list of trailblazers. Nearly 100 people on Sunday, November 21 sat around small tables in Guild Hall of the Atlantica Hotel, just across the street from the former Queen Elizabeth High School. Today the building sits empty, appearing abandoned to the unknowing eye, yet is the future site of — well, that is yet to be determined. Sharing ideas for what this space could become is what brought these people to a hotel for the entirety of their Sunday afternoon.

HALIFAX -Here it is Halifax: an opportunity to rethink how our city uses its interim and vacant sites for the common good. Together with Dalhousie University’s Cities and Environment Unit, Partners for Care of Capital Health will host a public meeting to explore ideas for the interim use on the site of the former Queen Elizabeth High School. Once demolition of the school is complete, the land at the corner of Bell Road and Robie Street will transfer to Capital Health. At some point in the ...

TRANSPORTATION MONCTON - Woman struck at intersection[Times & Transcript] HALIFAX - Herring Cove Road bike lanes nixed by Halifax council [The Coast] N.B. - Miramichi council gives road revamp green light [Times & Transript] HALIFAX - No bridge toll relief for Metro Transit [the Coast] CITY HALL FREDERICTON - Hearing of objections planned [Daily Gleaner] FREDERICTON - City alters meeting schedule again [Daily Gleaner] N.B. - Making way for condo project [Telegraph Journal]

CITY HALL HALIFAX - Council puts brakes on bike lanes [Metro News] SAINT JOHN - City lawyers look at move by Rothesay [Telegraph Journal] FREDERICTON - Changing demographics will be the focus of meeting in Fredericton [Daily Gleaner] HALIFAX - Council set to deal with downtown development [Metro News] BUILT ENVIRONMENT MONCTON - Riverview housing development grows [Times & Transcript] FREDERICTON - Convention centre on track - director [Daily Gleaner] N.B. - Memramcook studying bilingual signage policy [Times & Transcript] TRANSPORTATION N.B. - Traffic down to one lane each way on Paul Street, Dieppe [Times & Transcript] FREDERICTON - Officials say traffic ...

co-hosted by Veronica Simmonds If coffee doesn't quite spark your brain on Mondays, get your juices flowing with Spacing Atlantic's musing of the week. We pose a question - you think, write, comment, share philosophies, facts, ideas or opinions. We will summarize the discussion and provide musings of our own. Don't be shy! Comment away .. Were you first in line to see the Queen while she was in Halifax? Did you stay at home in protest? Did you dress up as her and parade in your own beautiful hat? Were you indifferent? ...

Photo by Clara Stewart-Robertson & Jennifer Pritchard HALIFAX - "North End neighbours and all Haligonians alike - look out!" proclaims Ecology Action Centre's Community Environmental Educator, Kristen Rae Finley. That is, look out for the Neighbourhood Earth project launching this summer. Using art as a medium to learn about our landscape and urban ecology, Neighbourhood Earth is a free education program with a community focus. Initiated  by the EAC’s  Diversity Committee, this program hopes to grow ...

co-hosted by Veronica Simmonds If coffee doesn't quite spark your brain on Mondays, get your juices flowing with Spacing Atlantic's musing of the week. We pose a question - you think, write, comment, share philosophies, facts, ideas or opinions. We will summarize the discussion and provide musings of our own. Don't be shy! Comment away .. Downtown Halifax has abundance of empty storefronts & spaces. How might we better use this space while it awaits development or more permanent occupancy? photo by Hugh Pouliot

HALIFAX - The Downtown Halifax Business Commission (DHBC) recently launched a promotional campaign to "tell a better story" about your experiences downtown - that is, after you get out of your office/home/car to take advantage of the fun factory that our downtown can be. One ad tells the story of the great food I ate, the park I sat in, and the conversations I had during my lunch break - rather than "I ate at my desk today". This positive approach piqued my interest, got me thinking about the downtown story I tell, and ultimately lured me to their annual general meeting last Wednesday evening. As I arrived Paul MacKinnon, Executive Director of DHBC, was delivering an entertaining tongue-in-cheek presentation on people's perceptions of the downtown, informed by their annual survey. Overwhelmingly (yet not surprisingly) parking shortages emerged as the hot issue. I had to surpress myself as the city-design-geek in me physically cringed. Considering the plethora of challenges and opportunities we Haligonians could speak up about - why does parking always take centre stage? What a dull story: "I tried to go downtown but there wasn't enough pavement to sit my big auto on for an hour or two, so I didn't go."