HALIFAX - Last week HRM Council appeared to approve two high-rise developments on Barrington Street – a 17 storey building on the site of the Roy Building and a 20 storey tower to be built on top of the Discovery Centre. Sound familiar? Confusingly, Council seems to have approved the same two towers in April of 2009. Adding to the confusion, both towers are within the Barrington Street Heritage Conservation District, and appear to violate the new downtown plan approved through HRMbyDesign. What exactly is happening with these two proposals? First, neither project has been granted final approval. Although the Roy Centre project was announced in the summer of 2008, and the Discovery Centre proposal submitted in February 2009, Council has to date only decided what rules the projects will be reviewed under. In March 2009 Council voted to review these projects under the existing Municipal Planning Strategy (MPS) instead of the new downtown plan, which was still being developed through HRMbyDesign. Both proposals are taller than the height limits for Barrington Street that were ultimately set by HRMbyDesign. Consequently, Council felt it would be unfair to review (and ultimately reject) these developments based on the HRMbyDesign standards, which had not been finalized when the tower applications were submitted to the Municipality. The Council vote, which happened last week, was needed to amend the Heritage By-law — a step that was missed in 2009.

The [Re]Presenting Halifax series revisits historical and contemporary maps, diagrams and other interpretive readings of the Halifax region. See my first post for the full aims of this project and more information about contributing to the series. HALIFAX - Halifax is well represented by the grid — a street pattern that is as symbolic of our British colonial past as the Citadel itself. And in many ways, the grid still serves us well today; the narrow blocks have contributed to Halifax having one of the country’s most walkable downtown cores despite it being situated on the side of steep hill.

SAINT JOHN - Last Wednesday evening will prove to be a watershed for uptown development. Common Council voted 8-3 to award a $ 20.6-million tender to build a new police headquarters in the historic city centre district. What else could bring people back from the suburbs and encourage more visitors to the city?

[caption id="attachment_5415" align="alignnone" width="395" caption="This could be how Herring Cove Road might look after proposed changes are made."][/caption] HALIFAX - Over the past two months, a special road project has been working its way through City Council — a road project that would see our active transportation network expanded by nearly one kilometre. Although this doesn't seem like much, due to its proximity to schools, recreation centres, a bustling commercial district and residential neighbourhoods, this new AT corridor might be the most practical application of a bike lane that HRM has seen. As stated in a previous article, encouraging active transportation by installing more tangible infrastructure has numerous health, social and economic benefits. Despite all these factors, the Spryfield & District Business Commission has stood against the removal of car lanes in favour of bike lanes, citing anecdotal fears about losses to business.

HALIFAX - Something brilliant might be coming to the Spryfield area this summer. City staff have been working diligently on a new street design concept for Herring Cove Road.  This new plan would include a street diet --much akin to what is going on in Toronto-- to make space for bike lanes in the area. Therefore, Spryfield residents will see Herring Cove Road drop from its typical five lane cross-section to three, with two brand new bike lanes. Additionally, boulevards are also being installed as medians along the road to offer pedestrians refuge when crossing the proposed three lane street. This is definitely going to be a big step up for the community. Presently many cyclists and non-cyclists alike are dismayed as the five lane road (more akin to an ocean of asphalt) kicks up dust and sand in the air and encourages motorists to exceed posted speed limits when heading through the area. Furthermore, the inbound shoulder of the road is reminiscent of a potholed WW2 no-mans-land, making cycling in the area difficult for even the best of riders, and unthinkable to novice riders or those considering using the bicycle to commute to work over the summer. The commercial sector and developers are bound to see a boost in business as well. Neighbourhood studies out of Toronto and New York indicate pedestrians and cyclists account for up to 90% of patronization in local stores and shops. GPI Atlantic also indicates that neighbourhoods with increased transportation diversity encourage more commercial and residential interest in communities. Don't think people cycle enough in Herring Cove to warrant such optimism? GPI Atlantic continues to indicate that as active transportation infrastructure is installed, a 10-30% decrease in local motorized transportation is typically observable.

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."

HALIFAX - About 25 people gathered in front on the Halifax Farmers' Market last Saturday to take part in Halifax's Jane's Walk. This year's walk, "Change of (s)Pace," wandered through the downtown, stopping to muse about all kinds of transformations the city is undergoing. photo by Alison Creba Hosted by Spacing Atlantic contributors, we followed the participatory principle that everyone is an authority on their community.  Anyone interested was given the opportunity to share thoughts and knowledge on their neighborhoods and city, taking up the megaphone whenever the urge arose.

This piece is cross-posted on the Halifax Media Co-op HALIFAX - Following a stream of events in opposition to the G8 meetings in Halifax this week, Monday night's 'walk and talk' through Halifax's North End helped to bring the discussion down to the local level. A crowd of approximately 50 people snaked their way through the neighbourhood, stopping sporadically along the way to share information, criticism and personal anecdotes about changes affecting the community — with new condo developments the major target of attention. While highlighting signs of gentrification in the North End — an increasingly complex and contentious debate — more broadly, the walk drew attention to the parallels between the G8's international development agenda and the private sector approaches we're seeing deployed here in Halifax.  "The contextual difference is disturbingly slight," said Brad Vaughn, organizer with the Halifax G8 Welcoming Committee and the walk. "It's clear that this version of diversity, of development, prioritizes what is clean and safe and profitable for a certain economic class and a certain set of consumer preferences," said Vaughn. "It doesn't clean it up, it makes it stagnant, it makes it expensive, and it pushes the locals into homelessness," added another walk participant, Vince Vining.