Walking the talk
Your recent issue about Halifax's pedestrian-friendliness brings a pet peeve of mine to mind. I regularly visit a business near the Windsor Exchange, and the easiest way for me to get there, which I do on foot, is to walk along Kempt Road after I come north along Robie Street.
Kempt Road has a sidewalk, on the north side, which runs about three-quarters the length of the street, then ends. After that, one must walk in the road. With the current conditions, with most roads missing a few feet on either side because the plows won't plow to the curb, my walk is mostly a dash from parking lot to parking lot, running along the edge of snowbanks between gaps in traffic, hoping not to get hit.
Also worth noting is the number of crosswalks on Kempt Road. Other than the ones at Kempt and Young, and at Kempt and Lady Hammond—the two ends of Kempt Road—can you guess how many crosswalks there are in the entire length of the street? The answer is zero. Not even one.
Halifax has a very long way to go before it can even remotely be considered pedestrian friendly. —Peter, Halifax
Bus drivers are the best
I do not feel we express our gratitude often enough for Halifax Transit drivers, so I wanted to say how incredibly happy I was to be delivered home, extremely late on Saturday night/Sunday morning, by the #14, then the #52 bus.
I spent several hours that stormy evening either waiting at very cold bus stops, or sitting on buses moving very slowly or not at all. So boy was I ever relieved when I finally got back home! Kudos to our Halifax bus drivers! —Kathleen Morrison, Halifax
Keeping it Khyber
Re: "Yes, the Khyber is still safe (for now)," Jacob Boon's March 24 Reality Bites post: City staff are so sneaky! Don't trust them! They will make promises to the arts community that will never be fulfilled. When the Khyber Building was operating as an arts centre, it was unlike any other space I've visited across the country, producing cultural activity that can compete with any other Canadian city. —posted by DanJoy at thecoast.ca
Sell the building and demolish it already. I understand the history of the Khyber, but every building in downtown has history. I'm so tired of all the bleeding-hearts groups (with no money, I might add) trying to keep dilapidated buildings open when developers are doing everything in their power to bring DEVELOPMENT to these sites. For the first time in ages there are construction cranes looming over the downtown skyline. This is good, this is a CITY—not a sleepy little village. —posted by Mwagon
A lot of Haligonians seem to share this sentiment that old buildings are unfit for the modern era and prevent us from moving forward. That's nonsense. Solid, architecturally accomplished historic buildings are a non-renewable civic asset that provide HUGE value to cities. Real cities recognize that. Halifax is coming around, no thanks to the "tear-it-all-down" crowd. —posted by pigeon
