First let me say, I love this city. But…
Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed how desolate the downtown area has become? What ever happened to the quirky shops and boutiques of back in the day? when you could find unique items and interesting shops and Barrington Street was fit for more than tumbleweed racing?
It is depressing to see the sidewalks rolled up at 6 and nothing in store windows but For Lease signs and Starfish Properties Decor.
C’mon, couldn’t there be some rent incentive to get business back down here? It’s great that Attica at least is putting displays in otherwise empty windows because the Starfish signs are sad.
Wouldn’t you love to have a good ol’ fashioned Hardware store on Granville, or some funky clothing or shoe options on Barrington? What about a retro Soda Shop of days gone by? Or an arcade? Or a friggin’ place to buy buttons… WHATEVER..
Hooray for the stores that are still there, but they are struggling and let’s face it, rather over priced. The touristy places are fine on the water, but why can’t we work just as hard at enticing locals?
Don’t you think property owners would rather offer cheaper rent than having buildings empty and rotting? The downtown core should be hustling and bustling, not crying and dying. This city deserves more dignity than boarded up windows and delapidated store fronts.
—Depressed Downtown
This article appears in Feb 18-24, 2010.
Nothing will get done with Barrington Street – it’s been all fucking talk for the last 20 years and with this set of goddamn vacous idiots in City Council, they’d rather discuss a tomcat’s nutsack than do anything to revitalize our pathetic downtown. If a smelly shithole like Saint John can spruce up and attract business to their downtown core, you’d think we could do one better. Fat fucking chance.
Well, if you sell most of your downtown land to developers with plans for buildings that are totally out to lunch and unfeasible , this is what you get. A bunch of landowners who are sitting on their properties and building plans, starving downtown. Can downtown really support 5-10 more 20+ storey buildings? Like the Fares plan we wrote about in Dartmouth this week, the chances these buildings will ever get built is slim – we don’t have enough money in this city or province to make it happen. Modest proposals are the only solution in NS in general and downtown in particular.
Actually, I agree.
The downtown seemed to be on the verge of a major revival just a few years ago, and suddenly it has gone into a very visible decline.
Some of this will (hopefully) be temporary, as the new development down by the waterfront is now underway, and I understand that the re-development of the Sam’s buildings is soon to begin as well. I really do hope that these two “upgrades” help turn the tide for downtown.
I live downtown and walk around there every day, so I do find it depressing of late, and also quite embarrassing in terms of what we do or do not offer for visitors.
I think Council’s lack of focus on the area shows. But Council isn’t entirely to blame, because SGR is flourishing.
I don’t know what’s wrong with Barrington. Maybe the rent is artificially high, or people didn’t care that much about CDs (I’m referring to the demise of Sam’s and CD Plus) and sometimes the closures are the decision of the owner(s), like Peep Show. What I’m sure of though is the fact that the high rents are what driving away the most dedicated and financed small business owners, and maybe that’s what the property owners want. That and don’t they want to tear the Roy building down?
The waterfront properties already cater to the locals; we just know to stay the hell away. Why would I go to Murphy’s (which is now open year-round) when there are much much better restaurants just down the street? Don’t worry, the Murphy family already does quite well with tourist money, so they’re not going anywhere.
The downtown core is going the way of the tumbleweed and will continue to do so. Everyone shops in Bayer’s Lake, Dartmouth Crossing, and online these days. No one has the time to search the streets of the downtown core for a parking spot, avoiding getting plowed down by cars/cement trucks on Barrington, scurry away from homeless beggars looking for “spare change” for their habit, and pay for items with inflated prices.
You know your street is fucked when even the Tim’s closes.
You hit the nail right on the head there Basil!!
I wouldn’t lose hope just yet.
I think the success to date of interesting small places like Biscuit, Freak Lunchbox, and Peepshow proves that the market for those stores exists in Halifax, even if they have to close down in their current location for unrelated reasons. (My understanding is that Peepshow had to close because their lease wasn’t renewed, not because of lack of customers.)
Isn’t the Roy Building slated for a major overhaul rather than a tear-down? I know there are concerns about “facadism” but the truth is that some of these buildings can only continue to be usable for modern needs if the insides are completely revamped. Sadly, sometimes it is only the facade that can be saved, and I would rather keep that than lose an interesting building entirely.
The Green Lantern Building is another interesting case. The inside had been left to deteriorate for far too long, the damage from Hurricane Juan has yet to be repaired, but I think in time an interesting and very usable space could be re-invigorated there.
Perhaps the new construction will pave the way for some of these long-needed improvements to happen.
Ooops! I should NOT have implied that Biscuit was in any danger of closing. I only meant to include it as an illustration of a unique small business that has a loyal customer base downtown.
I understand though, that Freak Lunchbox is closing and Peepshow has closed, both due to leases not being renewed.
Sorry if I offended anyone.
So TTFN what should council do?
Buy the buildings?
I love that the first reply is so often “Stupid Council”, from folks that have no clue.
The landlords are the ones jacking the rents up, and was stated above, are sitting on them waiting for redevelopment
What are you goin on about, downtown halifax hasn’t changed in 15 years!
maybe some subtle, very unnoticeable changes, like charm diamond centre opening on spring garden, but before then it was timothy’s coffee for as long as I remember. Same bars, same gift shops, and same malls. For the love of me I can’t figure out how mills bros stays open. I rarely see anyone there.
As far as I recall, I think Sam the Record Man, Dooley’s, Granite Brewery, a couple of used CD stores, and misty moon are the places that closed on Barrington! Thirsty duck was replaced by Maxicali rosas, which came from the other end of the street. In fact, I saw more newer places open and close shortly after due to lack of interest, hence the reason why Halifax hasn’t really changed.
the freak is closing…man oh man that blows, i don’t know the solution to this problem…its sad
This is a parallel to most cities around north America. Everyone piles in their cars and drives out to the big box stores in the suburbs. People don’t send letters anymore. They don’t even need to call their friends anymore thanks to facebook. Instead of fixing downtown, we built Dartmouth crossing. Its sad, but its that simple.
well fuck that shit, i will continue to be a luddite…i use the phone, don’t shop big box and will say hello to everyone i see… even you johnny
“This is a parallel to most cities around north America. “
most cities this big with this much heritage and culture have both the big box stores and a interesting down town actually man.
most, yes. Obviously gems like Montreal, NY, San Fransisco, Vancouver, ect ect… are exempt from my generalization. Its the same in winnipeg, and many smaller less popular citys in the U.S…. Paingirl, that’s awesome. Keep it up.
don’t you think halifax could be the san fran of the east…no? too weird? its hilly and beside the water and i know there are a myriad of colourful characters
Well, we do have the suspension bridges, but not as many aging hippies.
“”Everyone piles in their cars and drives out to the big box stores in the suburbs.”‘
Actually, most people drive “in” to these stores…as more and more “successful” folks leave the inner city, sorry.
But it’s your own fault, really.
Even your waterfront sucks….where is the big marina in the summer time to bring in the boaters, and the boat-watchers? Ever been to Granville Island? Even tourists can’t believe there’s no public marina in the entire fucking city….we’re “famous” for our sea-faring history and the best we offer is an old rusty diesel trawler with three telephone poles for “masts” and charter boats that look like the box they came in?
IMO a ‘downtown’ should be about fun, excitement and entertainment….look at Soho, West End, Leicester Square…if people come for a vibrant night life, and they’re more likely to return in the day to shop if they see attractive storefronts/windows….
In fact, even people who DON’T frequent the “night life”…they like to buy stuff from a “hip” area…they live vicariously through the “urban entertainment” folk.
That’s why the decline of Barrington St. in Halifax correlates with one thing, and one thing only…the closing of the Misty Moon. That’s right, all down hill after that. You made your quieter bed, now lie in it…
You want to put Barrington/Halifax back on the map? Stop trying to “protect” all those old depressing so-called “historic” buildings – tear them the fuck down and build the mother of all wicked and cool “modern” complexes….theatres, pubs, shops, live music venues….BIG OPEN spaces (Not little dark hovels from 19th century buildings)!! that’s why people LOVE the new Market Square in Saint John…it’s big and modern and open, and yet preserves SOME of the old architecture…
Get with it Halifax…go see, as I do, the rejuvenation of US cities (one of the few perks of being a trucker)…Read my lips: THERE’S NOTHING SPECIAL ABOUT MOST OLD DEPRESSING BRICK AND STONE BUILDINGS…they’re everywhere in North America folks, trust me! They don’t even really represent the true history of Halifax, most of that was wooden and has long since rotted away! They represent a time of robber barons, merchant dynasties and war profits from the early 1900’s!
Been to Hubbards lately? Took 15 years but we finally got that goddam old rotten “historic’ (guffaw) fishplant torn down, and now we can finally revive our waterfront ionto something that benefits the community at large, not just “romantics” like Tim….
Ruby Jane – isn’t peep show closed now? I though I saw that this summer . For whatever the reasons barrington is dead – It’s dead . It’s depressing to walk down tumbleweed alley and see not much anymore !!!! Andy got alot of it right there with his post .
True to landlords with their asspokers out to gouge rent as high as they can . Thats not going to work very good .
It’s almost like halifax got its old skid row back !!!! City council is retarded . Yea BIG PLANS HRM BY DESIGN . Great way to waste money there with nary a solution . Would have been more well spent if they used it for rent incentive for start up business’ to get moved in .
Not dissing Dartmouth Crossing or Bayer lake , but WTF? Shouldn’t we have , as a city collectively realised and offered wicked incentives for these stores to move in downtown rather then on the outskirts of town? We are catering to vehicular traffic there , not pedestrian traffic downtown . Downtown is geared specifically for pedestrian traffic .
And to refute bitchers about no parking downtown and the likes . Check all the bitches about pedestrian unfriendly BL or DC. And how these bitchers complain about shitty bus service out there . I think the balance would and could be met .
But as we have it now – it’s dead and empty . I hate coming back every year and seeing more and more vacant holes around downtown!!! (total darksider) and it makes me sad !!! Also as it stands , there seems to be nothing much we can do while city hall diddles away another couple million dollars figuring out why its empty and not using the bucks to draw business . Fuckin total waste!!
I agree, cosmolily: Saint John is a depressing shithole! Very sad city in many ways: sad looking, sad feeling, sad (bad) smelling… sad sad sad!
As bad as you think downtown Halifax may be, just be thankful for one thing: at least you don’t live in Saint John, New Brunswick, the asshole of the world. I’d rather live in Baghdad or Port-au-Prince, at least the weather’s nicer and there’s a bit more activity.
What downtown Halifax needs, Barrington Street in particular, is a strip club! How would that be for activity? At least the Pogue is almost always busy, it’s the one bright light on that street. Then again, just head up a block to Argyle Street and that’s almost always bustling, too. We can’t have every street in a city of our size “bustling with activity.” Some of us have to work and don’t always have time to “bustle.”
Yes, we do need “cohesive, vibrant, sustainable communities” and all that other bullshit planning-speak nonsense… not that I’m disillusioned or anything…
theweedhog, HRMbyDesign is a good start because it aims to repopulate the peninsula. The reason Barrington is in the state it’s in is because of terrible planning in this city: constantly expanding outwards. Bayers Lake, Kingswood, Dartmouth Crossing, Timberlea, etc. We ought to have an “urban growth boundary” like other cities (Portland OR, Toronto, Boulder, Ottawa, Vancouver). Blue Mountain wilderness area, Long Lake, Five Bridges are a good start, but it should extend up to Pockwock Lake and around Sackville.
I think all the new office buildings and renovations proposed for Barrington will help a lot. As will the condo/hotel tower proposed by United Gulf for the old Texpark site, if it ever comes through. I also hope they build something on the old Birks site soon (Barrington and George)
Hey Q..let’s open a LTWWB strip club. Now there’s a thought. LOL
P.S I call pimp duty!!! =)
Calvin, “Urban Growth Boundaries” tend to be unpopular in other cities as they usually tend increase property prices and make less land available for development, which, naturally, go hand in hand. Not that that’s necessarily a bad thing, it’s just that when people rant and rave about how great it is that you can get a nice big house with a nice big back yard in Halifax for $200,000, “you could never do that in Vancouver or Toronto,” etc etc, then complain about urban sprawl, but also don’t want taller buildings downtown and in existing residential neighbourhoods… well, they’re being a bit hypocritical I think. That sentence maybe didn’t make much sense, but I’m too lazy to change it so it makes sense now, so you figure it out.
falling angel, you can be Queen Pimpess and I will be King Pimp! Strip clubs can be fun for the whole family. Great entertainment. And I would be honoured to start the show with my own dance. Ladies, contain yourself, The Beast is loose!
I totally agree with BMF. I hate all those old buildings in downtown Halifax. I want tall, shiny new buildings that are comfortable, clean and bright. Something that doesn’t make me feel like I’m in a cave.
“place to buy buttons”
Yeah because that’ll obviously pay the bills.
The reason why all the “quirky” shops are gone OP is because they get 1 person spending $10 for every 10 theives, to every 200 lookie-loos.
Is the United bookstore the only thing left from back in the day? The Paramount theatre, Misty Moon, the Sci-Fi/Fantasy bookstore long gone. I’ll miss the Freak’s Lunchbox too!
the other end of barrington SEEMS to be faring a bit better…hey c’mon there’s a mac store and the new bbq joint…from sgr over its a ghost town and ss is not doing well either
unique items? sister sarah’s moved out dude. or were you looking for something a little more weirder, then try province house, they got some real weird fucking things there, also check out city hall.
The disease afflicting Barrington Street has now moved over to the faux ‘downtown Dartmouth Crossing’. My good lady informs me the Liz Claiborne is closing.
“No surprise” said I, “Too much square footage and not enough feet”
As the economy slows you can kiss goodbye to a few stores out there over the next 12 months.
Twisted Sisters development – who will pay the crazy rents ? Not the Harper gang, nor the Dexter gang and the Kelly gang just renewed at $12 a sq ft. Keep hold of all the pretty presentation pics, you can use them in a couple of years for a ‘Whatever happened to …’ feature.
yea I agree with you there calvin . With bigger cities this is true . But having come from dartmouth and living in several bigger cities , I can see what you say as true . But hali especially has it’s own uniqueness . HRM by design has its virtues . But I haven’t seen fuck all come of it !! Especially when it involves downtown hali . I don’t even give a shit about halifax , but I hate seeing it fail as a centre thats vibrant .
d’mouth crossing rents are really high…a fellow came into our shop wanting us to move there…took a look at the numbers. gack
You want to shop on Barrington Street…Where you going to park ?
Exactly…there is no parking, well that’s carrying it too far, but there is very little parking. Although for your shopping pleasure there are an army of ticket nazi’s . So who wouldn’t love to park a long ways from where they want to shop, trudge up hill to get to the street you want to shop on, shop while running at full speed (because that’s the only way you’ll get to travel say 6 blocks of Barrington street) then head back to your car & your inevitable 25 dollar parking ticket, because you were 1.5 seconds past your time & how do I know they can ticket you that fast ?
Because I have sat outside the Metro Centre on more than one occassion & watched them wait for a meter to expire.
Go to the malls, the BLIP, or the Crossing you’ll get free parking & you can take your time !!!!!
PS-do you know why we can’t ever get rid of the dumps on Barrington Street & have anything new & shiney & bright ? Our streets are too narrow.
Have you ever been to a city with streets of tall buildings, like N.Y. City or Chicago ?
The streets are W I D E ! narrow streets there are 4 lanes there. wide ones are 6 or more, & sidewalks go 20 feet wide in downtown Manhattan, New York !
So if you want shiney bright on Barrington Street, you best not allow anything taller than 3 stories !
I always feel sorry for tourists arriving by car; straight off the old bridge onto Gottingen Street (lock the car doors) down the hill onto vibrant Barrington Street, there go the shocks – then if they make the turn onto SGR – a little normalcy. What does this place offer? SFA
Man, kind of a depressing thread…lol
Really though, what was along Barrington to begin with? Sam’s, CD Plus (both fading media, but they always had competitive prices for the most part), Dooley’s (a sterilized pool hall that couldn’t compete with Locas, because people who want to play pool in a high end setting can buy their own table, along with a location up on SGR), Carsand Mosher (which I can only assume is a rent issue, big box stores offering cheaper semi-pro consumer level cameras), Ginger’s (a confused little place; a comedy club, then a bar, back to comedy club, it depended on Picnicface’s preference), Peep Show (which was a decision by the owner, which I can only assume is due to high rent), then finally nobody seemed to care when the pawn shop in the Freemason’s building closed up shop. I cannot recall the name of the bookstore that closed up during the summer last year, and please remind me of any others I have forgotten.
Do we really care that these stores have closed? Honestly? How many of them had you actually frequented? If you did, how often did you see the place busy enough to be in one of the busiest business districts? I know that shouldn’t matter, but these places really don’t add to the distinctness of an area, maybe Peep Show/Freak’s did/does (for now), the old bookstore for sure, Sam’s (only because it’s owner and the store were iconic), but the remainder? Not really.
I’ve been in the FireWorks Gallery a jewelery shop on Barrington in the last year.
It is actually the only place I’ve been in on Barrington, unless you count the Barrington Inn, when I travel the pedways.
H&M shouldve went downtown instead of in the most unfashionable sketchy place imaginable. its not my favorite store or anything but at least they could afford to rent out two spaces and bring some traffic around instead of independent businesses taking the risk and for the most part, failing miserably.
Whether it’s quirky shops, hardware stores, salons or offices, or just window displays advertising other stores, something at least should be done NOW, at least superficially. The appearance is embarrassing, and with tourism season approaching, even a bit of cosmetic window dressing couldn’t hurt.
Mave
You’re right- and the Sam’s building would have made an excellent department store location. Like Attica, it has three levels; it could have been like the old department stores (I’m thinking Crowell’s in Sydney, back in the day.. which used to remind me of the Brit comedy “Are You Being Served”)