Keith P. |
Mar 24, 2013 6:43 PM |
Quote:
Originally Posted by W.Sobchak
(Post 6064800)
So in my trek through the wilds of the Internet jungle, I fell upon a website with the 1945 master plan for Halifax. I have to say that the city back then seemed to have a better idea with what the peninsula shoul grow into.
http://cargocollective.com/cause/194...ity-of-Halifax
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Fascinating reading. The city authorities apparently were more far-sighted then than are ours today, considering this was done when Halifax was consumed with the war effort and the future was somewhat uncertain. Perhaps that allowed a degree of freedom to their deliberations that is not found today, where political correctness and the need to satisfy various special interests seems to slant their actions.
It is interesting that most of the recommendations seem quite sound. It is also interesting to note that, as is typical of Halifax, virtually none of them were implemented. The closest seems to have been the construction of the SGR memorial library, although even that was cheapened up considerably by deleting the recommended 2000-seat auditorium that would have served as an arts facility.
I found their comments on the street grid riveting. They identified then what I constantly rant about today - the antique and obsolete road network. They identified a great many solutions that are quite sensible, from the NW Arm bridge with supporting street improvements, a complete redevelopment of the ridiculously undersized North St-to-Chebucto Rd corridor for the then-proposed MacDonald Bridge, numerous logical fixes to existing street issues of the day, and a series of diagonal arteries from the waterfront area uphill to the center of the city to alleviate the steep grades. All of these ideas on the road network were brilliant, all would still be trememdously useful today, and I do not think a single one of them was ever implemented. Shameful.
Highly recommended reading.
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