I get annoyed when I hear/read about Haligonians complaining about the “loss” of the Halifax Commons due to big concerts. It’s a COMMONS… for the people… ALL the people… not just the few who use it for recreational use, and access isn’t limited for the entire summer, but only for a few weeks!
The ones who are FOR outdoor concerts/events on the Commons aren’t as outspoken as those who like to complain about it, but I’d be willing to bet that if all Haligonians were asked, the majority would support large outdoor events.
We live in a CITY… we SHOULD have large outdoor events! These events bring people/money into the area, and also promote our fair city. How much money/promotion comes in from the recreational activities on the Commons? Plus, there are other outdoor areas for those activities: Point Pleasant Park, Public Gardens, Fort Needham Park, Seaview Park, to name but a few! There are also baseball/soccer/football fields all around the city, and I doubt they’re used much in the summer months, when concerts tend to happen.
If you’re adamant about keeping this city from “coming to life,” maybe you should consider moving to the country… lots of outdoor spaces there… go play! —Haligonian
This article appears in Jul 29 – Aug 4, 2010.
Actually, I’m pretty sure that baseball diamonds, soccer fields, etc are all booked up during the summer months throughout the city. When in the fuck else WOULD they be used? January? Meanwhile, those who gripe about the concerts are a little ridiculous. I hate the music that comes, but it really doesn’t cramp anyone’s lifestyle THAT much.
It’s the squeegee panhandlers complaining that they don’t have anywhere to be lazy, expect the world to owe them something and drink the beer other peoples’ spare change has paid for.
Damn squeegee kids. Can’t we crack down on them and ship them up to Cape Breton or something?
Yeah I don’t get everyone complaining about the concerts. It was fun. Even if you’re not into that kind of music the nightlife afterward is fantastic. Halifax is one of the only cities that has great downtown outdoor nightlife. Everywhere else the party happens in doors, and no one comes out after the city has shut down. Get out and enjoy it! God forbid you have to stay up past your 8 pm bed time.
“one of the only cities that has great downtown outdoor nightlife”
every time I go downtown at night, I see fights, hear yelling from all angles, and general chaos… frig that. I don’t care how lonely I get, I refuse to go trolling through the ‘clubs’ down homicide hill.
Yeah, someone got stabbed in the head outside McDonalds on Springgarden recently. I choose to overlook that. It’s nice and lively from my car window. Oh and clubs … blehhhh. That’s all I have to say about that.
o.p., if as you say the commons are for everyone, then why don’t we get a cut of the revenue that comes from these concerts. instead of taking the money from our pockets to repair it.you logic is screwed a tad. we pay for the upkeep, and get nothing in return, not a good business propsosition to me.
You get nothing in return? I guess that means you never use the Commons? Do you get money from other venues/offices/parks that our tax dollars pay for? Enlighten me, since my logic is a tad screwed. My original post said nothing about a “business proposition.” My point is that a CITY should have outdoor events that bring life/excitement/promotion to it… I’m not looking at the “business” of it, though I would think events bring business to local hotels, restaurants, etc… you disagree? I didn’t go to Black-eyed Peas, nor am I going to see Alan Jackson, but I’m thrilled that the opportunity to see these acts is there for those who want to attend!
The Garrison Grounds are large enough to handle both these acts. The promoter should never have been allowed to leave his shit up for weeks on end. Basically using our land as storage? FU. Most people who are ‘for’ concerts on the Commons are people who live in Clayton Park and Fairview who don’t even step foot in the Commons…
You say that the people who are for the outdoor concerts on the commons aren’t complaining, but I think if you sat at the gate of those concerts and asked how many of the people going in actually lived close enough to the commons to use them, you’d find the number very small. Most of the people going to these concerts are from out of town/province. They aren’t going to be so outspoken simply because the blockade on the commons doesn’t affect them in any way. I live less than three blocks from the north commons, and I am very annoyed with the treatment of this public space. As if it wasn’t bad enough that they didn’t fully repair the damage to the north west corner of the commons from last years concert until about a month ago, now we can’t even use this “public” space. I agree that Halifax should have large outdoor events, but why not put some of the money into making an outdoor concert venue that isn’t taking away from currently used public areas? Mayor Kelly said on the news the other day that he felt the commons was fine, but I’ve lived close to the commons my whole life, and I’ve only ever seen him use it for photo ops and when there are events like these concerts taking place, so of course he wouldn’t see the problem. The other public open spaces that you’ve listed are great, but I walk everywhere, and I took this into consideration when choosing a place to live. I picked the area around the commons, because of the commons. It’s an area that makes Halifax what it is, it’s not a big city, it’s not overcrowded with bland gray high rises. If you’re so adamant about having big events OP, why don’t you move to a larger urban area? While HRM may have a population large enough to be called a city, if you took it back to the separate towns and “cities” that it was before, Halifax would just be a large town. Yes, this modern idea of “progress” is seemingly inevitable, but when you look back on your opinions about what Halifax should be 50 years from now, when those opinions have or have not come true, I think you’ll be disappointed with what could have been. My position is that Halifax, HRM, big port maritime place, whatever you want to call it, is a very unique place, and to turn it into every other modern city in North America is a huge mistake. If you want Halifax to be more like Toronto, move to Toronto for a few years, see the issues that they’re having because they do have these big outdoor events, they may not be as drastic as those in Halifax, but the GTA has a much greater budget for these these events, in fact the budget for events like this in Toronto is almost 80% of the budget HRM has for everything. Not that having a bigger budget is always a good thing, i.e. the G8/G20, Toronto would have survived just as well with half the overarmed, overaggressive police officers and security guards. I’m getting off track here, so to bring it back, in a response to someone pointing out some issues with your logic, you say that we don’t get money from things paid for by our tax dollars, within the context of the commons this is ludicrous, my tax dollars that pay for the commons, offer me the use of this public space whenever I want to use it (or so it would’ve seemed until the barricades were erected). I’ve got to wonder if you’ve ever lived with roommates, or in an apartment complex, if you’ve ever had to deal with someone deciding they were going to take the living room, or lobby, and use it for whatever they want, not letting anyone else in. Same situation, just on a different scale. Oh and @Diz, I work at 5 am, and during the summer, that’s every day of the week, I go to bed early so I can get up early and provide you with services that you’d cry about losing if I wasn’t there. If everyone stayed up until 3 or 4 in the morning, the only people who would be up to serve you coffee or look after your kids would be crackheads, I’m sure you’d love that.
Wow Grizz, where is your return key?
741 words … I made my comp read this to me and even that bitch said, f*** this. One bleeding day of the week. 1! There is a sound ban after 11. Chill out. However I will say that everything is so choc a block in this city. A friggin beer bottling building in the middle of town, smoke stacks right there, the hospital in the middle of everything, streets here there and everywhere, going nowhere. Not very much thought went into planning this place did it. Anyway most places I know have huge arenas on the outskirts of town, not too far away with ample parking etc etc where crap is held.
You’re right, we SHOULD have large outdoor events! Unfortunately, it’s apparently too much to ask that we have large outdoor events that don’t suck donkey dick. I don’t care how big an event it is, Kid Rock’s presence isn’t going to be promoting anything that anybody wants. Not that it matters anyway since they spent all that money just to cancel the event outright – that dosen’t sound like evidence of ‘majority support’ or ‘good promotion’ by any stretch of the imagination.
Frankly I just think Halifax is too small to consistently attract big-name talent or bring in decently-sized crowds. You can say it’s a chicken-and-egg thing (and I guess it is), but both are the result of the same fundamental problem. You want large outdoor events that are going to have a reliably high turnout? Wait for the population to double – if it ever does.
and did we all miss the part that this part of the Commons will be closed as they will begin construction of the speed skating oval for the Canada Games. Suck it up people. There’s so much green space in this city, a corner of the Commons won’t change anyone’s life.
Grizz your tax dollars pay for you to use it every day if you choose since you live so close, but for those that live in Clayton Park/Fairview like you said get to use this space for ONE NIGHT! Remeber it’s not just you paying taxes in this city – everyone else pays for that public space just as much as you!! Suck it up for a couple weeks and find somewhere else to walk your dog for fuck sakes. Stop trying to ruin everyone else’s fun that they paid good money to see.
Living in Clayton Park doesn’t prevent you from using the commons, just as living in downtown dartmouth doesn’t prevent me from using PPP. That’s a stupid argument.
If Halifax wants to have large concerts and attract big names, we should build an amplitheatre. It’s as simple as that. Try going to a show at the Molson Amplitheatre and then see if you’d rather go to the commons, to stand in the mud, use a portapottie, etc etc.
People just like things to complain about…if we didn’t have commons concerts, people complain that nothing happens here, we get big names to come here and people flip the fuck out. This is a CITY people, as much as you wish it to be a shitty little town forever, it can’t be. If you want to live in a quiet peaceful little place, then live there. It’s most likely a lot cheaper and you don’t have us to deal with :D.
I know people are mostly upset about “losing” the commons for a couple weeks, but do you really think it makes sense for the city to pay people to put it up, take it all down, store it all somewhere and then put it all up again in 2 weeks? That’s a waste of money and resources and I don’t see how this affects your life so dramatically. Did you complain when the pow wow was here for a week? Probably not because it’s not a concert.
There will always be a segment of complainers in our midst, no matter the issue. My complaint is that while we have a perfectly good outdoor concert venues at the Commomn and Garrison Grounds, there don’t seem to be any promoters who actually know which acts to promote to draw a crowd, with the exception of possibly the Macca show last summer and maybe The Stones in ought six. Where is Michael Kohl when you need him?
Unruly…. good points!! 😉
-OP (Haligonian)
melectric, ‘the city’ isn’t paying people to put up/tear down the stages and tents, its the promoter that pays. The powwow took up space for three days, and nothing was fenced off, besides a little corner with the teepee village. People were free to come and go as they pleased.
Lets move the concerts to Point Pleasant Park.
… and then the city subsidizes the promoter for his loss revenues…
Q) How many hipsters does it take to organize a “decent” concert on the Commons?
A) Some obscure number. you’ve probably never heard of it.
Heh Heh Heh. Good one Ivan.
If you want to argue that concerts on the Commons are fulfilling the purpose of the Commons, ie. recreational and green space for the use of all the people, then make the concerts FREE and open to all, otherwise shut up.
I like the Commons being used for concerts.
The Common used to be all the way from Inglis st to where they are now. Maybe all those houses, schools, hospitals and broadcast centers need to be torn down to make green space, like in the good old days.
yea that would go over well methinks 🙂
I can think of numerous places in the city that should be torn down to make “green space” except cleaning up the subsoil contaminated with Tim’s cups, condoms, dogshit, crack residue, meth-piss, glass pipestems, and 9mm cartridges would make The Tar Ponds project resemble mopping up after incontinent old Uncle Jimmy who smells of Chipmans, black licorice and restraining orders.
you clearly don’t love around the commons, go back to clayton park.
dizzy…you forgot about the crematorium on king st…that area has very interesting odours
I always liked the smell of the bakery, and the bells from Kings although the latter were less appreciated the 2 years I spent in “The Roost”. The campus piper my first year did a bitchin’ version of ” Smoke on the Water”