Voice of the City

I’m an introvert and a total lesbian—two key pieces of information that would’ve been useful to connect much sooner than I did. Because I spent a decade looking for my own pride in all the wrong places. Surprisingly, and much to my dismay, when you come out you don’t receive a guidebook in the mail […]

The Coast’s article last week regarding mutual support (Two decades of world-class delusion, July 11) is spot on. Nova Scotia has a strong and vibrant history of mutual support based on study clubs, cooperatives and credit unions. But here’s the challenge: cooperatives have struggled. Small and localized has a hard time sustaining itself in a […]

In recent months, four major Canadian cities—Toronto, Hamilton, Winnipeg and Calgary—have joined Edmonton in deciding that farm animals, such as chickens, have no place in an urban setting. And this brings us to Halifax, where just one resident, who seems to want special treatment to have poultry in a dense residential area, is flaunting our […]

I moved to Gottingen Street because I wanted to be in the middle of a neighbourhood that was alive. Having spent most of my life in Fairview and a number of years in the residential west end, I longed for the foot traffic and noises of a busy street. Gottingen Street has always had a […]

The other night, two friends and I were on our way to Gus’ Pub, and, on Agricola Street, we encountered a man and two of his friends coming the opposite direction. The most obvious guy was a large, fairly intimidating dude who was staggering and holding a beer in each hand. He came up to […]

I don’t remember the day I was born, but I’m told it was January 27, 1968. I’m also told I was meant to be a boy, and that my name was Tony before I entered the world at 11:38am. It seemed particularly important that I get this first test right, since I later came to […]

My alarm goes off at 4:30am. I have to get up—I have an appointment at 5:20am and need to move. Quick shower, some fruit and a cup of coffee, out the door by 4:50am. The streets are dead. Although the sun isn’t up you can tell spring is about to burst. Birdsong fills the early […]

It’s ironic that less than 24 hours after Halifax council approved the municipal budget, a report by Stantec Consulting was made public which outlines how HRM could save almost $3 billion by the year 2031. That would free up $148 million per year to invest in better services, or to reduce taxes. And Stantec was […]

For the 20 years we have lived in our house on Tulip Street, we have only thought of that strip between the road and the sidewalk as a place to put our garbage for collection. It is a bit of hard sod that gets trampled down in the summer and torn up by the sidewalk snowplow in the winter. When the […]

I too think it’s crazy that we aren’t growing food everywhere. There are hungry people out there. There are people without jobs.When we remember that basic wealth is generated when sunlight hits chlorophyll, that for most of human history plants have provided our economic basis, we should be growing useful things everywhere. Especially in this […]

I have been an avid stargazer since I was a boy. I learned the constellations, observed the Moon and Jupiter in my little telescope, and enjoyed the Milky Way (our galaxy) arcing overhead, with the occasional meteor shower to liven things up. But something has changed over 50 years: the Moon and planets seem OK, […]