The room was packed. The chairs filled first. Extra chairs were brought out. Then the aisles filled with people until finally, the doors opened so attendees could pour out and watch the panelists from outside. The No More Warehousing: Time for Housing and Dignity for Nova Scotia’s Severely Physically Disabled panel was held at the Halifax […]
Sandra C. Hannebohm
Posted inNews + Opinion
Planning experts skeptical of Midtown North development
Debate around the Midtown North development has some planning experts worried about the long-term costs of ambitious housing projects. The residential and commercial development has begun construction on the block between Almon Street and St. Alban Street, along Robie. It features six buildings surrounding a courtyard with commercial space on the floor levels, 60 affordable […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Less than half of metro housing’s pest control budget spent on hiring pest control companies
Metro Regional Housing Authority’s pest control budget for its HRM properties is $1.4 million, but for the past two years, less than half of that amount was spent on hiring pest control companies. The 2018 federal budget gave the provincial government an additional $12.4 million for improving housing properties, but pest control budgets aren’t specifically […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Cogswell District building on anti-Black history
The new neighbourhood set to replace the Cogswell Interchange is the conclusion of a slum removal strategy that started in the early 1900s, says a Concordia University planning professor, and now threatens affordable housing in the surrounding area. Ted Rutland, the author of Displacing Blackness: Planning, Power and Race in 20th Century Halifax, says every […]
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Tourism association pulled out of Airbnb working group after two meetings
A working group report on the regulation of online accommodation sharing websites like Airbnb and VRBO has input from just about every relevant stakeholder—except the tourism industry. The only representatives from the Tourism Industry Association of Nova Scotia at the table pulled out of the working group after two meetings. The provincial tourism department formed […]
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Hotel and property managers don’t trust Airbnb
Airbnb’s refusal to share data on the number of multi-unit hosts who use its platform is a concern for traditional accommodation industries. Last year, the Hotel Association of Canada commissioned CBRE to complete a nationwide report measuring the impact of Airbnb accommodation-sharing on the hotel and housing markets. Across Canada, the report showed 83 per- […]
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New data suggests Airbnb’s impact on Halifax’s rental climate
Airbnb likes to position its hosts as everyday people offering up their homes for a little cash when they take a vacation or leave on a work trip. But new data assembled for The Coast shows the exact opposite. Over half of the Airbnb listings in the urban core seemingly belong to property owners with […]
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Bilby Street’s unaffordable future
When Jennifer Beamer moved to Bilby Street in 2003 it didn’t really feel like a neighbourhood. “Frankly, it was a neighbourhood I could afford to buy a house in,” she says. But even in 2003, the short stretch of single-family homes was changing. Over the years the surrounding area has developed into the trendy north-end […]
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UPDATE: No affordable housing for new Cogswell district?
Halifax spokesperson Nick Ritcey responds to this article in an email to The Coast, saying the final decision on affordable housing has not yet been made: “The implication that affordable housing will not be included within the Cogswell district is incorrect. Decisions about affordable housing in this area have not been made. “In July, Regional […]
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Tenants organize against Park Victoria’s pest problem
Tenants at Park Victoria are fed up with broken promises to resolve an infestation of pests including ants, cockroaches and bed bugs throughout the south end apartment building Y. Park, a long-time tenant at 1333 South Park Street, has been living with the problem for weeks inside his apartment. But he’s not alone. “There are […]
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Micro grow-op, dispensary supporters say new cannabis land-use rules too strict
It’s not the most contentious of HRM’s new cannabis bylaws, but it still has its critics. Halifax regional council voted unanimously in favour of land-use amendments for cannabis production facilities and dispensaries in HRM following a public hearing Tuesday. The bylaw amendments are the third of a set of policy changes in anticipation of legalization […]
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Cigarette smoking still restricted on Halifax property
Regional council defeated a motion Tuesday that would have exempted tobacco from the city’s new anti-smoking bylaw. Despite councillor Sam Austin’s attempt to amend the nuisance bylaw and separate cannabis and tobacco use, all smoking and vaping on municipal property will be restricted to designated areas after October 1. It wasn’t the outcome Austin was […]
