Within a two-block radius of my home in the north end of Halifax, there are six condo buildings in various stages of development. This, of course, doesn’t include the four adjacent lots at the end of my street that are being sold as a package for its tear-down value of $2 million. Who gains and […]
Affordable housing
Posted inNews + Opinion
Province passes on Bloomfield Centre
For the second time, the province of Nova Scotia won’t be buying Halifax’s Bloomfield Centre. The deteriorating former school and community centre is once again facing an uncertain future according to an update heading to Regional Council on Tuesday. Council voted last August to sell a portion of the 3.3-acre site to the provincial government […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Halifax shelters scramble to keep people warm during winter storm
UPDATE: Despite HRM’s press release listing 1223 Lower Water Street as one of the comfort centres open all night, NS Power has apparently shut it down for the evening. The lights are on at Out of the Cold—for now, anyway. Organizer Eric Jonsson says the power has already gone out twice today, which has left […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Rent control idea frozen out, along with Nova Scotian tenants
Rent control could be a step in the right direction for Nova Scotia but some think it won’t be enough to address poverty and housing affordability. The NDP proposed new rent control legislation last month that would see rent increases capped at 0.8 percent for the first year, and become negotiable after that. During Jagmeet […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
What is council for, Halifax?
[Image-1] Council is for the people, all of the people, for so many of their everyday needs. For their bodies, their minds and in many ways their souls. How can it be that in the 21st Century, this brave new Canada of Justinian selfies, G7 status and pursuit of a new Security Council seat, the question […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Poverty issues takes centre stage at Dartmouth Centre forum
[Image-1] Residents of Dartmouth Centre got a chance to put faces to campaign buttons when seven of the eight candidates running in next month’s municipal election took part in a candidates forum Sunday night at Grace United Church on King Street. Tim Rissesco, Kate Watson, Sam Austin, Gabriel Enxuga, Ned Milburn, Warren Wesson and Derek Vallis […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
15 questions with District 5 candidate Tim Rissesco
[Image-1] The Coast sent all 53 candidates running in HRM’s municipal election the same 15-question survey in order to help their residents and our readers know a little more about who’s running for council. Here’s what Tim Rissesco from Dartmouth Centre sent back. ——— Why should residents of your district vote for you? I have the […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Halifax’s housing costs remain (relatively) affordable
[Image-1] In today’s age of inflated housing prices and looming bubbles, shadow selling, house flipping and trading, the real estate supply in Canada is beginning to look and act a whole lot more like precious metals than necessary dwellings for you and your family. “Parts of the HRM are certainly still affordable with an average […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Landlord licensing: a solution to shitty landlords?
[Image-1] When the hot water at Brett Bell’s apartment stopped working, he called the company that managed his property. It didn’t help. Since it hadn’t received complaints from any other tenants about the water system, Bell’s claim was shrugged off. “I was like, ‘I’ve been taking cold showers for the last couple days,’” says Bell. […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Seeking shelter from the storm
[Image-1] Affordable housing is one of those terms that seems to mean less every time you use it. At least, that’s how Elaine Williams sees it. “When they say ‘affordable housing,’ that drives me crazy.” Williams has lived in Mulgrave Park, at the northern end of the Halifax peninsula, for decades—45 years, to be […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
A game of cat and mouse for public housing tenants
[Image-1] When Jodi Brown moved into her new home in Spryfield’s Greystone neighbourhood, she knew she would be making some changes in her lifestyle. She didn’t know that she was signing up to live with rodents. Like many tenants in public housing throughout HRM, Brown is dealing with an infestation of mice. And just like […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Bayers Road expansion plans target apartment buildings
City and provincial bureaucrats are moving full speed ahead with a proposed expansion of the Bayers Road/ Highway 102 corridor, and are asking city council to approve land acquisitions along Bayers Road to prepare for it. A council committee is scheduled to take up the matter in September. If built, the expanded roadway will be […]