This just in: The opening of the Canada Games Oval has been POSTPONED due to the unseasonably warm weather! Plans to open the week of Dec 19th... stay tuned! HALIFAX - After months of curious construction, the time has finally come!  The monstrous Canada Games Skating Oval will open to the public tomorrow evening, launching the first of many free public skate opportunities to come. As reported in Lezlie Lowe's giddy Chronicle Herald article, the oval will offer free daily skating, ...

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 - This city is suffering from an affliction of vacancy. Not of vacant spaces themselves, but of an inability to make anything of them. Spacing Atlantic will be co-hosting an event this Saturday for the 4Days unconference in an effort to “generate ideas for the downtown's stockpile of vacant spaces”. With that in mind, this installment attempts to presents two bold alternatives to what are otherwise dead zones within a dynamic urban context. This also provides for further reflection on the previous theme: public land holdings as "non-living pieces of peninsular Halifax". [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="576" caption="Current conditions in the "city centre" of HRM"][/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="576" caption="Alternative condition - farms and forest - for the "city centre" of the HRM"][/caption]

HALIFAX - I'm peddling hard, snaking my way through the nonstop slew of traffic on Spryfield's Herring Cove Rd.  I gag on dust and diesel fumes as I speed past fast food outlets, boxy-beige shopping plazas and angry commuters. There's nothing particularly special about this patch of urban sprawl; I could really be anywhere. But l discover a lush urban farm, full of a colourful blend of sunflowers, ripe tomatoes, fragrant herbs and much more when I veer off the main road. The Urban Farm Museum of Spryfield, on the corner of Rockingstone Rd. and Ardwell Avenue, provides sanctuary to all those who need to get away from the hustle and bustle of city life. City dwellers interested in learning more about Spryfield's agricultural roots and the art of urban farming can do so if they bike out to the farm or hop on the  #14 or #20 bus, both of which  stop near the urban farm. Spryfield was the city's bread basket in the 18th and 19th century, but farms began disappearing in the '50s to make way for urban development. The municipality appropriated most of Janet Kidston's family's farm in 1969, but she licenses the few acres she has left to The Urban Farm Museum Society. The Society runs programming teaching locals of all ages, abilities and walks of life how to grow food in the city. City farming is not a novel concept, but sadly much of the area's farming knowledge has been forgotten.

HALIFAX - When the weather starts to turn and the long pants start coming out life can feel a little unfair. "Why me?" you might ask yourself. Why must I stop wearing shorts? Why must I live in a climate that changes? Why must there be seasons? Well, on Sunday Megan Leslie and Imagine Bloomfield are going to tell us why. The Harvest Fair, held at the Bloomfield Centre from 1pm to 3pm, will be a celebration of the  bounty of our fair city. Local food is the ...

Halifax, Nova Scotia photo by Dean Bouchard, member of the Spacing Atlantic flickr pool

[caption id="attachment_5829" align="alignnone" width="600" caption="A small corner of the North End Community Garden in Halifax."][/caption] HALIFAX - Urban gardening is by no means a new concept in Halifax. In fact the first time I remember hearing about urban gardening was in 2005 during my second year at Dahousie. The Gazette — Dal's free weekly — was covering a new urban garden on campus for students to plot, till, plant, weed and pluck. Unfortunately, the article left little information about where the garden was actually located and even less ...

HALIFAX - 'Neighbourhood Earth' — an Ecology Action Centre initiative, delivering urban environmental education through the arts — is providing a slew of free youth and family-friendly workshops and events in the North End this month. Click 'Continue reading this post' below for a full schedule of events. For more information, contact Community Environmental Educator Kristen Rae Finley at community@ecologyaction.ca or (902)429-2202.

HALIFAX - The Halifax Cycling Coalition and the Halifax Bike Week Planning Committee would like to invite you all to the 2ND ANNUAL HALIFAX OPEN STREET PARTY at the North Commons in Halifax. This year is slated to be a jaw-dropper! Food, Music (by CKDU), dancing, synchronized cycling, bike fashion shows, a bike rodeo for the kiddies, bike valet parking on behalf of city staff, and possibly some dynamite prizes! So please, pick up your helmet, put on some rollerblades or walking shoes, or pull out your ...