HALIFAX - You've probably never seen the most important mid-19th century building in town. In the 1850s, it must have seemed like today’s “Ship Start Here” contract. A huge government building project that at one stage employed 300 men: so large it required the contractor to build a modern brickyard in Eastern Passage and a steam powered woodworking factory on the waterfront. And where is it? Behind the walls of Canadian Forces Base Halifax - Stadacona, is the block long Wellington Barracks. What survives is the officer’s residence and it ...

HALIFAX - Lately I have been looking at “snapshots” I took of downtown Halifax about 1967. It made me realize that for most of my life there have been big holes as lots were cleared and remained empty for years and sometimes decades. These not very clear pictures show the corner of Prince and Market Streets looking south east. I did not take them as a real panorama but they almost fit and together they give a more comprehensive sense of the site. The desirable little brick building remained ...

HALIFAX - The process by which Rank Inc.’s new business super-complex, Nova Centre, was approved by HRM Council has lacked significant public input since the early stages of development in 2005. The investment of over $50 million dollars per government has, over the last year, prompted community interest groups, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, journalists, and Halifax MP Megan Leslie to direct attention to the lack of due public consultation, especially since the majority of those polled are against it.  The unanimous municipal, provincial and federal funding raises questions about government responsibility to public interest. HRM Open Projects gave artist Scott Saunders the space and means to address this conflict. His installation of Town Square, 100 mannequin figures wearing business suits strewn across the rubble foundation of the former Chronicle Herald building, is an artwork that is not a solution to the outcome of private wheeling and dealing, but is one response to it.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This article was previously published in Spacing Magazine's fall issue. HALIFAX -- Both Moncton and Halifax have their unique challenges in implementing a sustainable development path for their respective regions. This diversity of tactics was on full display during debates this past summer in both cities about road alteration projects. In Halifax, a decision on the proposed expansion of two-lane Bayers Road has been delayed. The project called for a four-to-six-lane widening along significant portions of the street, essentially turning it into a highway corridor for suburban communities leading into peninsular Halifax.

HALIFAX - The spirit of Nocturne is access to art. This is a noble and worthy venture, but one that needs a bit of tweaking. Taking art into the street for passersby to engage with is exciting and shines a new light on the city that we love. However, the realities of building and urban infrastructure make many public and private spaces in Halifax inaccessible. This is felt at Nocturne, where we are invited into spaces, and yet not all of us can ...

EDITOR'S NOTE: Based on feedback from an earlier post on urban density, Spacing Atlantic will feature one of the top five dense residential neighbourhoods in Atlantic Canada each week. Previous neighbourhoods: Quinpool Road Halifax, Nova Scotia; North End Halifax, Nova Scotia; Uptown Saint John, New Brunswick; Downtown St. John's, Newfoundland & Labrador. So, why density? Residential density, the number of people living in a given area, is one of the most important characteristics of urban areas. High densities create vibrant streets, support main street commercial areas, and encourage walking, biking and transit use. But how dense should our neighbourhoods be? What types of buildings create high densities? What do high density neighbourhoods look like? Hopefully this series encourages people to look around their neighbourhood and ask: how does density affect the quality of my neighbourhood? Without further ado...on to number one!

Over a year ago, the Nova Scotia Archives began a pretty standard scanning project. We have close to 100,000 images on our website and every year we add thousands more... that amounts to many, many hours spent scanning. The photos in question were nitrate negatives, not prints. Nitrate refers to a type of film base. It was one of the first transparent bases made available commercially, way back in the 1880s. Photos developed from nitrate negatives are gorgeous, but there is a bit of a problem with the ...

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Currently designated a "primary bike route" in the city's Active Transportation network, proposed changes to Lower Water Street suggest that HRM has no intention of supporting their own plan."][/caption] HALIFAX - On September 19, 2011, traffic patterns in Downtown Halifax were altered in an attempt to ease congestion in the city's core. In this first of three planned phases, a number of streets that currently allow two-way traffic now only permit one-way traffic (including sections of Blowers, Market, Sackville, George, and Granville streets), while a section of Grafton Street will now allow two-way traffic. Subsequent phases in October and March will see Lower Water Street becoming one-way north bound, signals added to the Duke and Lower Water Street intersection, and bike lanes added to both Lower Water and Hollis streets. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Phase 1 came into affect September 19, 2011. "][/caption] In a report to Council, HRM Staff claim that “the highlight of this plan is the creation of new bike lanes on Hollis Street and Lower Water Street”. Why then does this plan sacrifice the safety of cyclists and efficiency of both its active transportation and public transit network?