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.

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.

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. ________________________________________________________________________ Odds are if you’re reading Spacing Atlantic, you have at least some knowledge about HRMbyDesign. While there’s been lots of coverage of  plan in the the media, most of it has not been particularly comprehensive. One reason for the limited nature of the coverage is the fact that the documents which lay out the groundwork for HRMbyDesign are composed of typically dry, jargon filled, government bureaucrat speak — not exactly a fun afternoon read. Luckily for the readers of Spacing Atlantic, I’m interning here for a month and I pretty much have to do whatever they tell me. Thus, we begin the first of Spacing Atlantic’s in-depth series on HRMbyDesign. This week we’ll be looking at the heritage portions of the plan. The majority of the information that will be looked at here was found in two documents: Downtown Halifax Secondary Municipal Planning Strategy [ PDF ] (which, for the purposes of brevity, I’ll call the Downtown Plan) and Barrington Street Heritage Conservation District Revitalization Plan [PDF](The Barrington Plan). The fact is, there are a lot of really cool old buildings in Halifax. Andy Fillmore, the Urban Design Project Manager for the Capital District, told me that there are currently 126 registered heritage properties in the downtown study area. The protection of these properties is a central component of the whole downtown plan. The main way that heritage properties will find further protection under HRMbyDesign is through the creation of heritage districts.