In Dartmouth rises a bluff that provides a spectacular view of the Halifax Harbour. To the south you see Georges Island, McNabs Island and, on a clear day, even the lighthouse on Devils Island, at the harbour entrance. Turning northward, you’ll see the towers of downtown Halifax, then a perfect view of the Macdonald Bridge and onward to the shipyard and into the Bedford Basin.
The bluff is in what is called the Dartmouth Common. I live nearby. The Common is one block north of the Alderney ferry terminal and just south, across the street, from the new Bridge Terminal. Every day, tens of thousands commuters pass nearby, but it is a lonely place. The Common serves as an off-leash park, so especially in the morning I’ll see a handful of dog walkers. On weekends I’ll sometimes find a baseball or softball game on the single diamond, back behind Bicentennial School. At the bluff’s edge, there’s a tiny gazebo, a perfect place for lighting up a joint while contemplating the view, and a few friendly people use it for just that purpose. But otherwise the Common is mostly avoided, shunned even, even by the people who live nearby, even by me.
And for good reason: The Dartmouth Common is a downright dangerous place. The paths are nice shortcuts between the transit terminals and my “flower streets” neighbourhood just up from downtown Dartmouth, but there are so few people using the paths that safety is compromised. Judging by police reports, someone is mugged on the Dartmouth Common about once a month. Probably many more attacks go unreported. In fact, when the new Bridge Terminal was being designed, the all-male planning team was talking of removing Thistle Street between the terminal and Victoria Road and returning it to park use, but at a public consultation that idea was nixed by women who pointed out that the traffic on the street provided the only safety while walking home late at night. It’s the same for me. When I take the ferry home from work, I sometimes cut through the Common, but never if it’s dark—I take the long way around, on the roads, under the streetlights.
There used to be safety concerns on the Halifax Common, too, but that problem has been solved, at least in winter, thanks to The Oval. It’s clear that what makes a park safe is people using it, providing a critical mass of eyes and ears looking out for each other.
I’ve long wondered how we could reach that critical mass of safety on the Dartmouth Common, and I found the answer last year when I visited Germany. In the former East Berlin, in a working class neighbourhood, is something called the Volkspark am Weinbergsweg, a park that had only recently been reclaimed from drug dealers. Now, the park is amazing, with a wonderful playground for children, some sports fields, a small treed area with benches and outfitted for chess and table tennis, as well as a sprawling lawn, seemingly permanently dotted with picnickers. I visited the park both in the daytime and at night—it was always crowded.
The secret to the success of Weinberg Park is a small building, a cafe, built into the hillside. A stone porch extends from the front of the building, out over the lawn, and holds maybe 30 tables. People in the neighbourhood come by for a light dinner and drinks. I had some nice locally brewed beer. Some couples purchase a bottle of wine and bring it out to the lawn for their picnic. The cafe provides the critical mass that makes the park safe, and so the park is a success.
Imagine such a cafe built atop the bluff in the Dartmouth Common, with outdoor seating overlooking the harbour. Commuters would walk up from the ferry or over from the Bridge Terminal, for a respite on their way home. People in my neighbourhood would stroll over at night, for a glass of wine under the stars, looking at the lights of Halifax. And the Dartmouth Common would be safe. It would be used. It would be a decent urban park.
But, alas, we have an absurd view of parks in Halifax. With some few exceptions, vending is frowned upon, and alcohol is flat-out illegal. Moreover, we paint all parks with the same expectation: as green wildernesses first. People fit in only so far as the green wilderness is maintained. I don’t want to change Shubie Park or Point Pleasant Park, and certainly not the true wilderness parks in the making, but this would be a much better city if we changed the way we interact with our urban green spaces, and brought people and green together.
I raised this issue with Peter Bigelow, the city manager of real property, and whose job is to figure out what we’re going to do with parks.
“We agree with you,” he says. “Our parks should be better utilized.There’s an opportunity to have them better programmed, so that they are more intensely used.
“Getting people onto those streets is an objective,” continues Bigelow. “Getting people into those parks is an objective. So what we’re trying to figure out is how to create a better, more social environment. And that’s what you’re articulating—vending is one of the ways that you do that. But in every place, it’s not the right prescription.”
In these pages we have a look at the social role of parks in the urban core, what works, what doesn’t work and how we can do better. —Tim Bousquet
This article appears in Jan 10-16, 2013.
Dartmouth Common is a jewel in the downtown. Definitely, underutilized.
In summer, I go there on my lunch break, just to stroll or sit in the gazebo and read. I could count the number of people that I pass by, on one hand. There needs to be a way to get more people in there.
The idea of a small cafe, is intriguing. That open space near the memorial cairn would be great.
This would be a fantastic idea, and there is no way the area Councillor would ever support it. The Premier would also quash it, as demonstrated when he threw a snit fit about constructing the new transit terminal on “Dartmouth Common” land. Sadly our political leadership conspire to keep parks as underutilized green space where the humans are intruders.
This is a great idea, but if they started selling devil juice in the Commons how long do you think it would take the NSLC with their new tax-payer funded secret police force to shut it all down!? Maybe in 500 years we too can drink beer in a park, like they do in Germany…
I’d like to see a bit of expansion to it too – that chunk of land between King and Edward.
Improved access would also help – the Thistle St, Alderney Drive and Wyse Road borders are not pedestrian friendly, not even now with the new intersection signals. For example, an elevated pedestrian walkway from near the old library site to the Geary Street lookoff would be useful.
Shubie is a successful Dartmouth park because people can easily find a place for their cars. Dartmouth Commons isn’t successful, in part, because where the hell would a visitor park their car? There aren’t that many convenient streets nearby.
Just an FYI: green wildernesses do not feature trimmed lawns. Still, a cafe in the Dartmouth Commons would be great. Maybe Propeller Brewery will be into it once they’ve installed on the dark side.
I’ve been living on my “flower street” for nearly two years now and frequent the Dartmouth Common throughout the year. I spend good many of my summer days in the park with a blanket and a book, and although the traffic through there is not comparable to the Halifax Common, there is a steady stream of people coming through during the summer months.
There seems always to be someone with their dog, people sun bathing, smoking, or just cutting through. And it is a main thorough-fair for cyclists most of the year. Even in the winter, people walk their dogs and use it as cut through. Not to mention that the big hill after some snow is a known and utilized sledding location.
I would have to disagree with your portrait of the park being as dangerous and deserted, although I never cut through after dark either. The Dartmouth Common is one of the many wonderful things this area of Dartmouth has to offer and although it could certainly it could use more traffic, but I don’t think a retail venue of some sort is the answer. Improved accessibility from the surrounding streets would be good start. Improved access to parking surrounding the park maybe. But not booze (as if that would ever happen here anyway).
All the time I spent drinking in this park as a kid! (Among other things, Ha.) I guess I was years ahead of my time 😀
But I second Toulie’s post – I’ve lived within five minutes of this park all my life, and though it is dark at night, I’ve never personally run into any problems
I’ve lived in Dartmouth for 30 years. I own a home in the downtown area as well. I use the park all of the time. I pass through in the night as well. I see people in the park all the time. Day and night. I have never…ever had a problem. I would expect more from a journalist than this sensationalized title. It is absurd. I am a middle class, educated respectable male and this article is ridiculous. The park should be better used. And it’s parts deserve to be called better than “The Bluffs” ( I have no idea who calls it that. But I ask my circle of approximately 50 Dartmouthians who live in the area. We walk our dogs, push our strollers, picnic, sun bath, toboggan and sip coffee while watching the ships. And you want to put a bar there? Or a Cafe?Pull your head out of your arse. Grab a drink at one of the many pubs downtown. Or are they also too dangerous? Let’s work on making it better by building some proper walk ways, some lights and some landscaping…and use some common sense.
Don’t blame the commons. Dartmouth is mentally ill, period. Danger everywhere. Thugs attacking handicap and elderly. People are the danger on the dark side and always have been due to the fact that most are genetically linked to the NS hospital patients of decades ago. Combine that with some meth or crack and voila, you have Dartmouth NS
A cafe would be nice. Don’t think there’s one yet. 🙁
ion a side note im trying to piece together the history of the park from the quakers and miqma the, acadians and would like to finally give the real story like cloverdale mine and the millstones history .so much forgotton history .lets get the metal detectors ready.
Very good points. I recently took my two grandsons to the common to throw a ball and frisbee and have a picnic. I have no issue with off-leash parks or off-leash parts of parks, but you will be limiting use by some others. I spent my time there shooing dogs away from our food and stopping them from running up on two small boys. Both of whom were nervous.
Perhaps something else to consider, besides your point about vending, is making the park a partial off-leash park so that those who do not own or want to be around dogs can also enjoy it. I mean, there’s a lot of room for everyone.
Also, we need more people to lobby the city about vending and alcohol. I understand that it is a problem with some people but most people I know drink in moderation and would love to stop for a glass of wine or a local craft beer and a bite. We are so pedestrian in Canada about how/when/where alcohol should be consumed. If more people made the case for vending, the more likely it may happen. Excellent suggestion Tim.