Ok, I am so goddamned sick and tired of certain groups of individuals resisting and protesting each and every new development in Halifax. In case you are unaware, we live in a city, where growth and development should be encouraged, instead of fighting it every step of the way. So, perhaps a new highrise will cause some view obstruction of the harbour. Who the fuck cares? If you want scenery, move to the fucking country and admire all the view you want. In the city, new development needs to move forward. How the hell is Halifax ever going to keep-up with other Canadian cities unless you idiots learn to keep your big mouths shut and let progress happen. I’m shocked that the Mayor allows these “groups” to have a say in these matters anyway. Grow some balls and tell these heritage preserving losers to go admire their precious view elsewhere. —Pissed Off Haligonian
This article appears in Apr 28 – May 4, 2011.
On the other hand….if you want high-rises & sky-scrapers, move to Tokyo.
OP, I agree. Other cities are able to have a moderm mix of old buildings with modern development, but these groups in HRM are opposed to any kind of development that would move this city into the 20th century. Just look at the buildings we have now….they look like shit. Even when the goahead is given for a project, the architechs are prevented from creating a nice building and instead replicate the same shit. Take those condos for instance!
it just kills me how much people complain about how craptastic Halifax is, yet a good portion of the population resist the proposed changes. You want a better city? You’ve got to open up to the fact that change is going to be an inevitable part of the process.
to hugo and others drones…a city will never survive moving outwards,it must move up or your property taxes will explode to the point where no development will occur.
Other cities have been through what we are feeling now and they realize that old and new must exist side by side..in a few years,we as a society will not be able to afford transportation cost,thus suburbia will be dead!!!!
Me, a drone? lol, that’s a first.
It’s all a matter of preference, I prefer a city where I can see the sun and breath the air when I go for a walk.
Ever been to LA?
It seems to me like the city is staring to see the light and is more open for development, no matter some old farts say! Hopefully in the next hundred years or so, there will be a skyscraper.
you’re not a drone hugo http://www.themovieblog.com/wp-content/upl…
ffs http://img.chan4chan.com/img/2009-03-30/ch…
I’m not a drone & here’s my pic to prove it ;P
http://www.technovelgy.com/graphics/conten…
The Los Angeles comment by Hugo shows the knee jerk reaction these heritage groups have to development. As if Halifax could even be 1/10th of an LA, lol.
Heritage buildings can and do get along quite nicely with modern buildings, in any other city anyway. Ever been to Lower Manhattan? Where you will find 90 story towers (_actual_ skyscrapers) next to some of the oldest buildings in the city.
When the majority of people of this city get tired of being hand-fed their ideas and attitudes by tired old obstructionists like Phil Pacey, only then will we move onto a future that involves less suburbs, and more city core.
I happen to like drones. They can do a lot of good
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6jLYdUe7e2A/TbLf…
dartmouthy, you mean like the ‘twisted sisters’?
Ah yes, such an aesthetically pleasing design that blends so well with the historical and heritage aspects of Halifax. That was heavy sarcasm in case you missed it.
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/150/3810956…
hey pissed, didn’t you hear yet. hailfax is dead, and has been, for quite some time. don’t be fooled by the mayor, this town is history, and not the good kind.
I agree with the O.P on this one
here here! lets get out the water cannons.
You forgot to mention the main roadways in Manhattan are 4 to 6 lanes wide plus parking.
The sidewalks are each 15 to 20 feet wide, so there’s a nice gap between buildings. There s a lot of the old & new there though,
I’m not sure what exactly the problem is with the Heritage Groups. Can someone point out somewhere where they’ve been successful? I don’t know of any but i could be wrong. What i see is pretty well ALL development being approved after a lot of debate. Isn’t that more or less the way it’s supposed to work? That is, all interested parties express their opinion, we debate it and make a decision. And so far, it would appear the development side wins out every time. If so, what are the pro-development people yapping about? I seem to remember an article or 2 in the Coast about approved but not built developments downtown and it would appear the Heritage Group is not stopping construction of any of them. Instead it’s the developers not building the buildings they planned to build. I personally love cool modern architecture although i’m not sold at the “we must build to impress other people in other cities mantra”. But i also like the old and i appreciate the history voices even if they don’t have much of an impact. At least they moderate the discussion because as much as i like modern stuff, i shutter at the thought of what some people would do to this city in the name of ‘progress’. What i really wish is that we stop trying to impress the rest of the world (who don’t and never will care) and instead focus on what we want for ourselves.
The future Halifax will be filled with huge tall buildings (which combat urban sprawl and are much more environmentally friendly than 4-5 story buidlings)…but first the forces of regressive “historical” organizations have to be utterly defeated. WHO CARES about the view of the harbor from Citadel Hill?
More, have you ever been to Lower Manhattan? Other than West Street andthe FDR, show me a 6 lane street in Lower Manhattan… oh wait… they don’t exist. They have this thing called mass transit… has been working out really well for them. Might want to look into it 😉
Hugo – but it blocks the view of… the refinery in Dartmouth! Oh noes!! lol
Last timeI was in Manhattan 3 years ago .
I stayed at the Essex House Hotel right across the street from Central Park south. I was up & down 7th Avenue, Broadway, 8th Avenue, 9th Avenue. I was at New York’s Metropolitan Opera House for a week. Those main streets were big & multi laned ,the side streets were narrow, but nothing like Halisux’s !
West 58th Street, right behind the hotel had a little pizzaria that made the best thin crust pizza, I’ve ever had. That street would be similar to Barrington street…except it wasn’t filled with derelict buildings & closed store fronts .
Yes, the Avenues uptown (when you get into the post 1800s grid territory, northy of Houston) are wide, indeed, with sprawling sidewalks… I agree you’ll never realistically shoehorn a 90 story building anywhere in Halifax… nor do we “need” them… but it’s just an illustration that for progressive centres around the world, old can inhabit the same general space as new.
It all comes down to proper pedestrian amenities at ground level, set backs, green space, transit, a million other things… But what it does not come down to is “there are five older buildings in a 5 km radius, so therefore, we can’t have a modern multi-story building here”. That is just asinine and ridiculous! And counterproductive to the success – financially and otherwise, of Halifax as a whole. We don’t need more exit 5s in other words, lol.
PS More if you remember the name of the pizza place lemme know – I’ll definitely check it out next time I’m down 🙂
Here here!!
Since I moved here, Halifax has been talk talk talk. Debate is fine but when it takes a decade to make a decision, where’s the progress? And to the people comparing Halifax to new York, really?
I’m not “comparing” Halifax to New York… I am using New York as an example of a progressive city where they can build skyscrapers and still have heritage buildings AND the sky doesn’t fall. And well, Halifax obviously isn’t with the Heritage fuck-tards on the loose.