Over the last month, Spacing Atlantic has engaged in an in-depth analysis of HRMbyDesign, the ambitious plan set fourth by the municipal government to transform the region over the next 25 years. This is the final segment in a series of weekly installments that has explored the plan's various nooks and crannies, carving out a unique and fresh perspective on the HRMbyDesign process. ________________________________________________________________________ HALIFAX - Aside from making our downtown more sustainable, economically vibrant and heritage-friendly, HRMbyDesign also intends to change the way we move. The Downtown Halifax Secondary Municipal Planning Strategy (Downtown Plan) section on transportation addresses issues such as the reorganization of downtown streets, active transportation, public transit, freight movement and parking. One of the main parts of this section is the Street Network Plan. The Street Network Plan designates primary uses for downtown streets with the goal of streamlining traffic . Under the plan, Lower Water, Hollis, Prince, Sackville, Duke and Brunswick streets are designated as higher traffic flow streets. Barrington and Spring Garden are going to be taking on a greater role for public transit, while Bedford Row, Granville, Argyle, and Market — amoung others — will take on greater roles for pedestrian and bike traffic. Motor vehicle traffic on streets that are to be primarily used for biking and walking will be discouraged by allowing only one direction of motor traffic. I like this element of the Downtown Plan. It provides a good foundation on which other improvements to downtown transportation can be made. When HRM talks about active transportation, they mean walking and biking. We took a brief look at pedestrian related improvements in the piece on HRMbyDesign and sustainability, so let’s take some time to look at cycling.

HALIFAX - Quinpool Road is a great place to do a little shopping, grab a bite to eat, or maybe even catch a movie. Unfortunately, if you’re heading to Quinpool on a bike, you might have a bit of trouble finding a place to lock it up. Sure, you have the standard telephone polls and other road signs, but these can’t really accommodate higher volumes of cyclists. If we truly want to encourage people to move towards more sustainable urban lifestyles, we need to ensure that some of the simple infrastructure needed to make this a convenient transition for people is in place.

HALIFAX - What makes a city great? Is it a beautiful skyline? A rich cultural heritage? Maybe it’s an exciting nightlife. These are all possibilities of course, but I personally think that when it comes right down to it, the thing that makes a city great is its nickname. When I think about it, all of my personal favourite cities have one:  New York is the Big Apple, London is the Big Smoke, Chicago is the Windy City, Vancouver is the City of Glass, Hamilton is the Hammer, even Toronto is Hogtown. I Halifax is another awesome city, ...

HALIFAX - In our current era of environmental awareness, people are increasingly coming to appreciate the importance of getting their food from local sources. Eating local foods is old news to most rural Canadians; they’ve long been enjoying the products of their local farmers markets and backyard gardens. But for us city dwellers, it's a relatively new concept. One restaurant that has been a major player in Halifax’s local foods movement is The Wooden Monkey. For six years, the Wooden Monkey has been serving up tasty and creative cuisine — primarily from local sources. Christine Bower is one of the co-owners. She says that there are a number of unique challenges to running a restaurant that uses mainly local suppliers.

For the next month, Spacing Atlantic will engage in an in-depth analysis of HRMbyDesign, the ambitious plan set fourth by the municipal government to transform the region over the next 25 years. This series of weekly installments will move through the plan's various nooks and crannies, and carve out a unique and fresh perspective on the HRMbyDesign process. ________________________________________________________________________ HALIFAX - The language of the Downtown Halifax Secondary Regional Planning Strategy (Downtown Plan) places great emphasis on environmental sustainability. The plan views sustainability as “[a] fundamental underpinning of the design approach to the Regional Center and downtown Halifax.” In spite of the high value that HRM places on sustainability, the Downtown Plan in its current form falls flat on this particular issue in a few ways. One way that HRMbyDesign says the downtown can move towards greater sustainability is by improving public infrastructure in ways that encourage walking, cycling and use of public transit. I'll be focusing on the cycling and pubic transit implications of HRMbyDesign in next week's installment, so for now let’s hone in on the pedestrian elements of the plan.

For the next month, Spacing Atlantic will engage in an in-depth analysis of HRMbyDesign, the ambitious plan set fourth by the municipal government to transform the region over the next 25 years. This series of weekly installments will move through the plan's various nooks and crannies, and carve out a unique and fresh perspective on the HRMbyDesign process. ________________________________________________________________________ HALIFAX - One of the central objectives to HRMbyDesign is the revitalization of the downtown core. The hope is that the new, more clearly defined zoning and design rules will create a climate that is hospitable to developers and retailers, while encouraging Haligionians to both live and work in the downtown core. In the opinion of one of the leaders of Halifax's business community, HRMbyDesign lays a lot of the ground work necessary to reach these goals. Paul Mackinnon is the executive director of the Downtown Halifax Business Commission. He says the biggest advantage of HRMbyDesign is clarity: “We’ve been lobbying council to come up with a new downtown plan for years, because for he past 30 years it was a mixed plan strategy...that document was very vague and sometimes even contradictory about how you could develop downtown.” The old rules really held back potential development project. “We’ve had examples of a developer who thinks he's proposing something within the rules actually having to wait three years to get approval," says Mackinnon. The new planning rules under HRMbyDesign are by contrast much simpler. “The greatest change in terms of zoning is the complete removal of the previous complicated mosaic of land use zones, and its replacement with two simple zones: DH-1 (downtown mixed use), and ICO (institutional, cultural and open space),” says Andy Fillmore, urban design project manager with the Capital District.

HALIFAX - Things are progressing nicely in the construction of the Canada Games Center on Halifax’s Mainland North Common. Margaret Soley in HRM's department of Infrastructure and Asset Management says that construction crews are hitting all of their major targets as far as time-line is concerned. She expects that the field house, fitness center and community center components of the facility will be weather-tight by December 22nd of this year with the remaining pool area all sealed up by late January 2010. If this keeps up, Soley expects that the Center will be finished on time and on budget for the December 2011 deadline. The Center is being constructed for the 2011 Canada Winter Games, which will take place throughout Halifax and the surrounding area. It's the largest project associated with the games, and with a $40 million price tag, HRM sees the center as "the cornerstone of the sporting legacy that will accompany the 2011 Canada Winter Games." Halifax and the surrounding area will see a number of other infrastructure improvements related to the games, in total there will be $15 million in other capital improvements: Ski Martock and Ski Wentworth are receiving a combined $7.6 million to make improvements to their trails and snow making abilities; St. Margret's Center in St Margret's Bay is getting a little more than nine-hundred thousand dollars for improvements to its ice rink and seating; and the Halifax Forum is also getting about $900,000 for improvements to its dressing room and concourse areas. You can see a full list of all the improvements here.

HALIFAX - ChangeCamp Halifax is one of many ChangeCamps being run across the country that aim to encourage public participation through harnessing digital media and social networking. The event will include presentations and 'breakout sessions,' where different groups will discuss political issues of particular significance to Halifax like “what changes would you like to see in the area of sustainable transportation, community housing, transparency in public information, poverty alleviation, etc.?” Groups will then discuss both web-based and non-web-based strategies to address these issues in workshops and short sessions.  ChangeCamp Halifax promises to be non-partisan ...