Quote:
Originally Posted by Franco401
It takes far longer to "get things done" in an advanced democracy. That's just the way it is. If you would trade one for the other, you can move to Russia.
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While it's true that consultation and good planning take time, there's still such a thing as a reasonable timeframe for these projects.
The Shannon Park redevelopment was discussed for Halifax's 2014 Commonwealth Games bid. That was the bid to host in 2014, not a bid in 2014. A lot of the bid materials were created by 2005 or so.
Many other Halifax sites are similar, like the old high schools (St. Pat's and QEH). I think they were torn down around the early 2000's and they are still empty. The sites remind me of Detroit. Except in Halifax's case there's lots of development going on in general, just not on these government-controlled lots. I think it is reasonable to question why these developments have taken so long, particularly St. Pat's (QEH tied to a hospital project which is much more complicated), although it seems like things are starting to move a bit more. A big part of the problem was apparently building up a bunch of bureaucratic dependencies between different planning exercises which were themselves delayed. This is a recipe for huge delays, and the payoff for the wait is often unclear.
At this point there aren't many derelict lots or surface parking lots with private owners. Almost every weedy lot or prime parking lot is some kind of governmenti-related project that got stuck in limbo for years. In many cases these are very prominent sites and the neighbourhoods they're in will be compromised until they're developed.