Former Coast art director Kate O’Connor finally convinced Santa to trade in that tired red suit for a much spiffier green one. Find more of her colourful O’Connor illos at kateoconnor.ca.
A reader sent in some sad photos with the thoughtful subject header, “Horseshoe Island is going to shit!!” Which about sums up this week’s malfunction.
These info poles near Blowers and Grafton (read: Pizza Corner) have lost their oval cap. And you know what fits perfectly into a pole with no cap? Paper plates. More specifically, Paper pizza plates. We know. We looked.
There are dirt piles, and then there are dirt piles! This one---on the Common, near the skatepark---falls into the latter category. It’s huge! And it’s growing foliage! Daaamn, son!
There’s no rest for the wicked, or anyone else for that matter, near Maitland Street. A nice little lavender bench in the parking lot through-way behind Taz Records on Gottingen is a shadow of its former self.
A few weeks ago, we issued a ticket for a waist-high crotch-endangering pole at Robie and Willow. That pole was subsequently removed. Unfortunately, we found its evil twin on the corner of Cornwallis and Maitland.
On either side of the Windsor and North intersection, one lane of traffic splits into two, and then, after the intersection, back into one. No signage. No lane markings. Just a big merge-unmerge nightmare.
The streetlights on Portland Street in downtown Dartmouth are still adorned with festive holiday trim. That’s heartwarming, but quite out-of-date. It’s February, people; there is no joy in February.
This tree and this parking sign aren’t getting along. The sign is using the tree as a pole, and the tree is fighting back by eating the sign. They’re the original odd couple!
Construction of the new Citadel High School has muscled in on the Bengal Lancers, our fave equine urbanites. Is this the end of Halifax’s voyeuristic obsession with jumping show-horsies?
On South Park and Sackville (across from the CBC building), there’s this weird pathway thingy that leads you to a dangerous tightrope walk along the curb--right beside zooming cars of death.
This “no parking” sign on Maynard is sleeping on the job. Newsflash, signy: Nobody will notice you if you’re lying face-up on the ground—except birds, maybe. Or pilots. Or sad people.
Local rockers The Hemingways once recorded a song called “What the Hell’s with Connaught Pharmacy?” Good question. No longer a pharmacy—no longer a business at all—Connaught Pharmacy is obviously filled with stuff, but not obviously doing anything.
The city has given notices to owners of several buildings in the north end about “dangerous and/or unsightly” appearances, and a deadline has set for the owner to clean them up. But what if the property owners refuse?
The phone/power pole on Gottingen (across from Alteregos) has a sizeable chunk of an old pole completely suspended by power lines. We’re not wussies over here, but that shit is scary.
This protective fencing on the Common—designed to protect the turf from the wear ’n’ tear of rock ’n’ roll—was scheduled to be removed in the spring. Spring has sprung. The fence has not.
The corner of Argyle Street and Sackville Street is missing its road sign, making it difficult for tourists, new citizens and blurry bar patrons to know where they are.
Ah, the coming of spring: a magical time when melting mounds of snow reveal a season’s worth of garbage. Take this, for instance, just outside the Wal-Mart in Bayers Lake. Now that’s magical!
This basketball court on Ashburn Avenue has two flawed baskets—one has no mesh, and the other has no function because it’s lying on the ground. This is the worst thing to happen in b-ball since Dennis Rodman did that horrible embarrassing thing he did.
That’s not a mirage---there’s a river running through the West End Mall parking lot. The ever-present puddle takes up an entire lane of traffic on route to a stop sign and serves as an obstruction, rain or shine. Drivers have the option to plough through
A reader tipped us off to this fire hydrant on the corner of Gottingen and Falkland, which has been recently repainted a delightful bright orange—unfortunately, some of the surrounding sidewalk also got sprayed. Orange sidewalks? In your dreams, hippie.
Capital District spent quite a bit of money on the planters in front of the Halifax North Memorial Public Library on Gottingen Street. But instead of a lush green oasis, we get a sad, stagnant pond. Sigh.
Construction at the intersection of Vernon and Pepperell has created two speed-bumpy things, making the two-way stop a tad confusing. And frustrating. And…bumpy.
The pathway near the QEII Health Sciences Centre on Robie is constantly littered with cigarette butts. And they’ve even got those special cigarette butt-catching thingies on the side of the hospital. You’ve got the thingies!
The signs on the inside of the boards at the Halifax Metro Centre have some unnecessary quotation marks around the word “not,” making their message seem amusingly sarcastic — at least to grammar snobs like us.
A reader sent in this complaint about the corner of Inglis and Barrington: “A nice little park was taken away and the sidewalk that went through it was removed and replaced with stones. Sections of the main sidewalk were also destroyed.” Sure enough, par
This pole on the corner of Robie and Willow once held a guide wire in place. Now it whacks pedestrian crotches. What happened to you, pole? You used to be cool.
A significant number of Atlantic Film Festival banners still proudly hang from our city’s telephone poles and street lamps. It’s fine, until you consider just how long ago the festival really was. Eight weeks, my friends! Imagine that! Doesn’t the time
A reader submitted this photo of a fire hydrant on Harvey Street, and it’s all a-covered in goo. What manner of goo, we haven’t clue. But it’s pretty goo-ross. We decide to investigoo.
Halifax has some sad looking pay phones, like this one on Gottingen. For those of us who still don’t own a cell phone (yes, we exist), pay phones are a quarter-eating necessity.
Tarp and pylons and barricades and rubble have been sitting on this South Street sidewalk for what seems like an eternity. It’s a perfect recipe—if you’re making fugly.
On Patrol is patrolling near the police station. Crazy, right? The patrollers have become the patrolled! Anyway. This sign fell down right beside the po’ po’ parking lot near Rainnie Drive. We don’t mean to poo poo the po’ po’, but then again, that does
There is a serious sidewalk shortage in Bayers Lake. Trying to navigate Bayers Lake on foot is impractical and occasionally life-threatening. But sidewalks seem like a reasonable expectation.
Cars! On Granville Mall! What madness is this? The historic (and pedestrian-exclusive) square is currently being renovated—some of the vehicles are there to help with the construction. That’s OK, but apparently other parkers are taking advantage.
Paramount Apartments on South Park has a billboard in the middle of the sidewalk advertising its spacious parking lot. Requiring yellow reflective paint and cumbersome wooden barricades, this is the biggest “fuck you” to pedestrians we’ve seen in a long
A reader sent in a tip about this churchy building in the Public Gardens, which leaves its outside and inside lights on all night and day. Why so bright, churchy?
The eyelevel gallery on Gottingen Street has come up with an imaginative way to display art: Via billboards in the lot alongside the gallery. This month’s billboard has a typo. Is this artistic licence? We’ll find out.
The entrance to King’s College—the gateway for hundreds of young minds into a world of academic achievement, critical thought and self-discovery—has a really big pothole.
The recently re-christened Buddy Daye Street features a low-drooping wire, complete with an even lower-drooping severed wire. Whoever’s responsible should have a low-drooping head.
You’re in Point Pleasant Park. Inexplicably, your dog poops out a plastic bottle. You pick it up. You try to find somewhere to recycle it. You fail! You rush your weird dog to a vet.
On either side of the Windsor and North intersection, one lane of traffic splits into two,and then, after the intersection, back into one. No signage. No lane markings. Just a big merge-unmerge nightmare.
This week, we tackle bathrooms at the city-owned Khyber building. Our hot tipper writes, “The tampon/pad receptacles are up to the rim...and its been like that for over a week.” Charming.
Buried beneath this pile of snow in front of city hall, there are two bike racks. What are they doing under there? Nothing. What could they be doing? Holding bikes. What are we going to do about it? Make a big cranky fuss, that’s what.
Portland Street in Dartmouth has been reduced to one lane since early September. Construction was to end by mid-November. Now, it’s December. Soon, it will be January. Soooo...
In the proud Halifax tradition of “neglected things that have turned into garbage cans,” this former base of a streetlight on Cogswell has turned into a garbage can.
Last week we tried to tell you what’s up with the mysterious Connaught Pharmacy. But guess what? We got it wrong. That’s right—wrong. We’re brave enough to admit it.
“I hope you can fix this one,” emails an outraged Haligonian, tipping us off about the large rusty bolts exposed on decaying playground equipment at Joseph Howe elementary on Creighton. “No kid deserves to play near this junk.”
This chain-link fence beside the Holy Cross Cemetery on South Street is not doing its fencely duties. When your only job is to stand up straight, drooping is a notable failure.
This week’s municipal malfunction is a little more abstract than your run of the mill pothole or broken sidewalk. The Q104 website has a little section called the “Thong of the day” and has little to do with classic rock and more to do with disrespect fo
Reader tipping continues this week with the shabby-looking basketball net near Inglis St. Elementary school. I wouldn’t dunk on that thing with a 10-foot pole. Which I would need. To dunk.
This parking sign has turned Maynard into an avenue of lies. The sign says it’s OK to block the driveway to Joseph Howe Elementary School. How can that possibly be true? Where will the children park their adorable little cars?
A big ol’ pile of dirt is blocking a footpath on the Halifax Common, forcing pedestrians to walk around it, or face the slightly inclined consequences.
Take one part massive concert. Add 100,000 feet. Mix with rain, sprinkle with heavy equipment. Churn for 6-8 hours, or until field turns brown. Gauge public reaction, and possibly repeat.
Barrington Street has been robbed of its schedule for the Metro Link buses. All that remains is a glowing neon light bulb, which can’t really help us figure out what time the 159 comes. Also on the missing list are the Link schedules on Alderney Drive an
The HRM totally bit On Patrol’s style. The new “Access HRM” button on the city website (halifax.ca) serves as a slick new On Patrol-esque service. And we’re a little miffed they didn’t even give us the props we so richly deserve. Oh yeah, and when last w
The concrete platform built in front of the Halifax North Branch Library is still statue-less after an unsuccessful call to artists for submissions last spring.
So, we’re walking along Bishop near Barrington, and we see half the sidewalk isn’t paved. That sucks. We shrug. Then we notice that some of the signs are in the middle of the sidewalk. That sucks too. We forgive. Finally, we trip on one of two signpost
A reader alerted us to the fact that the fair city’s poster poles are turning into eyesores. What was originally intended to keep our DIY postering under control has effectively proven it’s really effing hard to keep that kindof exuberant art and self-
The North Common public washroom sings a siren song to the urine-saturated. But like a spring of fresh water in a hot, dry desert, ’tis but a mirage—the damn thing is always locked. That pisses us off.
The Christmas tree across from the Hydrostone market is only partly lit up. Everything looks fine from one angle, but when you walk around to the other side—Christmas is ruined.
Gerard Hall, Dalhousie’s Sexton Campus residence, is surrounded not with young students eager to live and learn, but with scaffolding and concrete rubble.
