So I live in the Hydrostone. Nice quiet area to raise your kids in a community that is filled with little shops and local cafes. Now to the people building the hideous condo across the street: screw you!!!! Not only did it take you 6 months to dig your underground parking hole with your jackhammer machine bits but now I can’t even catch the bus on Young st. Because you park your damn cement trucks or whatever else you hapen to have there that day right in front of the damn stop!!!! Also since when does the northend of Halifax need a StarBucks!? There is a small local bakery and cafe across the street that will most likely lose buissness because of corporate greed and shitty coffee! So to all the rich fucks that will swarm the area once the building is finished: I hope the building rots around you all!!!!
—sick of “progress” for the benefit of the rich!!
This article appears in Nov 26 – Dec 2, 2009.
Because the Hydrostone is full of self-important, pretentious, pseudo-intellectuals like yourself who live there because it reminds them of whatever little European town mommy and daddy sent you backpacking in while you were in university. That should be Starbucks prime real estate.
qpmzwonxeibcruv likes Dr. Fever’s comment.
Dr. Fever just said exactly what I was thinking, but wouldn’t have ever been able to put so well.
The only thing I would have added was “self-important, pretentious, pseudo-intellectual ‘The Coast’ readers like yourself…”
Ohh, and if people don’t like Starbucks and don’t go there, they won’t be there. This has actually happened in many parts of Australia, where more than half of all Starbucks locations there have recently closed due to the Aussies’ not patronizing these locations because of their already strong coffee / cafe culture.
I’ve never been in a Starbucks because it intimidates me.
Starbucks is fine. A few years ago, I used to have some misguided ideology against it, just because it was one of these “big greedy corporate American businesses, man!” but I got over it. Starbucks coffee sure tastes a fuck of a lot better than that Second Cup crap!
I’m not trendy enough to be in Starbucks or Second Cup.
I shall brew my own coffee and it shall stay warm in my dorky thermos. And no one will ever know that it’s really just hot-chocolate because I’m not even trendy enough to drink coffee. Shhhh.
Hilarious those that would trash the residents yet say nothing about Starbucks. Maybe we have ‘self-important, pretentious, pseudo-intellectual, ‘The Coast’ reading, Starbucks buying’ commenters….;)
Home-brewed home-made hot chocolate sounds like it would be pretty decent, and definitely some kind of trendy.
Nothing as wrong with Starbucks as many people seem to think, ‘time for a tune-up’. Like I said, I used to be one of them, until I realized ideals, ethics, and morals are just stupid and that I should do what I want as long as no one’s getting hurt too much. No point in fighting what doesn’t need to be fought. Choose your battles, etc… fuck, I’m tired and going to bed!
I like the idea of a shopping area where you can look down the street and not see a single corperate franchise. Like Commercial Drive in Vancouver, although on Commercial there was a very active initiative to keep them away whereas Hydrostone has just been lucky so far.
one thing that is wrong there is that SB coffee is probably about 20 times better than whatever place is there now. so i wouldn’t worry about it.
Wow, I actually agree whole heartedly agree with Dr. Fever on this one … they wouldn’t be putting one in if they didn’t see a market! That said, there is really nothing wrong with Starbucks – it’s no more over priced then any of the “organic”, “local” alternatives … or the bakery in the Hydrostone currently. They would be saying the same thing about Tim Horton’s (even though it is much cheaper and maybe more traditional “north end style”). It’s like, “I want my over priced yuppie organic coffee as long as it comes from some place no one uncool has heard about”!
There are only so many places one can park large vehicles OP, so I’m not going to force them out of a bus stop like I would a car. If you need to take an AM rush hour bus, either stand where the bus driver can see you and wave or go to the next stop.
As for the Starbucks, people will go to whatever coffee shop suits their taste. If you want to support local business, then keep shopping local business.
I live very close to the Hydrostone, and I RARELY see the “self-important, pretentious, pseudo-intellectuals” Dr. Fever is referring to. The Hydrostone residents I see every day are mostly seniors. Do you spend much time in the Hydrostone, DF???
As for the new condo development being “hideous”, how can you possibly tell what it’s going to look like??? It’s barely framed yet!!! I’m giving it the benefit of the doubt, and hoping it will be in keeping with the rest of the neighbourhood.
I find it funny that people get so up in arms about new condos in the city. Halifax is a peninsula, and there’s very little building land left. It’s not like we can go building a bunch of houses. Yet we want people to live in the city where they can walk, cycle, and take transit to where they work, live, and play. The most efficient way to do that is house them in multi-unit buildings. Like they do in every other city…
Actually, I had friends who lived in the Hydrostone. His parents are the aforementioned types all in one basket, as well as many of his close friends and most of his neighbours, and so is he for that matter. In fact, mommy and daddy are financing his living in Banff (an equally pretentious area, but significantly more cocaine). I’m not saying that they’re all like that. Here’s an experiment for you Jennie— go to janes on the common on a sunday morning and try and spot the Hydrostone residents. Most of them you will find are the pseudo-intellectual artist types who think that Halifax is a mini New York. What I find really offensive is the OP clearly thinks that the small shopping district in the Hydrostone is cheap! Last time I checked, the cafes were over priced, and the boutique stores had boutique prices that would be appropriate in the downtown core.
As I said, I’m only basing my opinion on the people I see and speak to every day. Sure there are a few pretentious people, but I’m pretty sure you find them in every community. The vast majority appear to be regular working folks and seniors.
I only like places like Starbucks, Second Cup, Just Us cafe, etc., because they offer soy milk for my lactose intolerant self.
Most local places offer soy as well, HaliwoodGirl. I’m in the same boat.
I almost exclusively brew my own coffee because I can make it exactly the way I like it. It’s my opinion that most chain shops (with Just Us! being the exception) brew too hot, making the coffee bitter and unpleasant.
Oh god! Not another building in Halifax? You’d think we were trying to be a city or something! You’re right OP, we should stop putting up buildings here and stay in the 20th century. Dumbass
“There is a small local bakery and cafe across the street that will most likely lose buissness because of corporate greed and shitty coffee!”..
That’s called the creative destruction of capitalism. Ain’t it great??!!
Haliwoodgirl: I like those places too because I can’t tolerate dairy either. And let’s face it, all those places make better coffee than the swill a certain cheap mega chain produces.
I happen to enjoy starbucks and I don’t apologize for that either. I don’t go every day, but I do treat myself to a latte here or there and I find them quite tasty and i can always get a sugar free option. If OP doesn’t like Starbucks, fine, don’t go there. But stop shitting on the rest of us for having a different preference. And large chains such as SB wouldn’t arbitrarily put money into building new locations without actually studying the market in the area. If they felt (through research and market studies) that there was no market demand, they wouldn’t be putting on up there, OP. Perhaps you should take a basic marketing course before you make arbitrary, uneducated statements on behalf of your community.
Also: anyone know if that complex going to be condo or rentals? I’m sort of interested in relocating closer to the downtown area, and the hydrostone area is one of my favs.
Starbucks is locally owned. I own part of it and I’m sure hundreds(maybe thousands) of other Haligonians do as well. I’m pretty sure all of the staff live here too.
As long as the local cafe that’s already there keeps making elephant ears Starbucks can jam a pogo stick up their hole..
ahh commercial drive i miss sunshine coffee co. big time and murchies too
Enjoy your latte 6 months from now.
i live in the hydro. i watched them build that thing eveyday from the start. doesn’t bother me a bit. i like watching the construction. i saw them lift a porta pottie on the roof with a crane. it was awesome!!
Great examples of the addictiveness of caffeine.
It is now a crime, in the UK, to stay up all night drinking coffee, and then drive. Recently a man did, caused a train wreck, and is serving 5 years, one for each passenger that died.
So no more “caffeine is harmless” hooey, OK?
Bring on the $1.00 a cup caffeine “sin” tax, and ban it while driving…
You want nanny state, you got it…