Here's an amazing aerial of the area on the NS archives site from 1935. If you zoom in you can get a really good idea of what kind of structures Stephenson was talking about in his report. Keep in mind that by 1955 (when the research was being done for the report) they would have been that much more run down due to the additional 20 years of deterioration in Halifax's harsh climate. Of course you can't make out all the details in this photo but combining it with the commentary of the report paints a pretty good picture, IMHO.
It's interesting when reading the report, for those of us not, um, experienced enough to remember them firsthand, to consider that the report itself is a snapshot in time, presumably done with as much honesty and accuracy possible. Input was taken from members of many disciplines (health, fire, police, etc.) in an attempt to consider all aspects of the situation. I was a little taken aback to read about the conditions in which people were living in some of those old, rundown structures, including multiple families living in space originally intended for single families, some without adequate bathroom facilities, some with contaminated water, broken windows, inadequate heat, etc. Not to mention the potential for fire.
So taking this into account, it's interesting to imagine how many of these buildings were really so bad to be unusable by the mid 1950s, but also to look at some of the more prominent stone and brick structures which likely would have been good candidates for repurposing had they survived to the present day.
Location of photo at archives:
http://novascotia.ca/archives/virtua...ves.asp?ID=131
And a zoom to compare with the pics in the post above:
