When I read the article in yesterday's Chronicle Herald (
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Metro/1231455.html ) it worried me that one location mentioned was out by the airport. Just imagine trying to shuttle thousands of people out to the airport from Halifax and Dartmouth. One thing that was mentioned in the article is that "you want a quick in and quick out" location. The locations being discussed will not fit this criteria for people taking public transit. It seems as though the people who are being left out are students, teenagers, elderly who don't drive, and everyone else who won't drive a car to the stadium.
I posted a map of current transit use. Although shuttles could be used, having shuttles going to a remote area will mean long trips and many more buses will be required. When budgets are being cut, these special shuttles will likely be cut or severely limited. I think a stadium should be located near the thickest transit lines on the map below. However, if Halifax residents are determined to put a stadium on the fringe of the city then I hope that it will have a large number of temporary seats. Then if the chosen site is found to be a poor location, Halifax won't be forced to use it for decades. Stadiums have been built in poor locations many times in other cities. I hope that people involved with selecting the stadium location will start phoning the planners of stadiums throughout North America to get opinions on the best location - central or on the fringe.
(source:
http://www.halifax.ca/metrotransit/documents/5yearStrategicOperationsPlan.pdf )
I keep wondering why the Halifax Mainland Commons isn't being considered, especially since there seems to be good transit network already going to that area. And it isn't on the peninsula.
For people familiar with the Toronto area, Mississauga has a population of about 700,000 and is directly to the west of Toronto. However, even though Toronto has a major public transit system, getting from downtown Mississauga to downtown Toronto would take at least an hour. Trying to get there from other less direct (but heavily built-up areas) can easily take 1 1/2 hours, even during peak hours. This is one of the reasons why the Rogers Centre (Skydome) was put near the center of the GTA transit system instead of on the fringe. Even getting to the Roger Centre by car is easy since events don't coincide with rush hour traffic (sports events and concerts aren't held when people are at work - for example, on workdays, baseball games are held at night under the lights to get the most number of people to attend).
Although a football stadium has been stated to be a dead zone since it will only have 10 - 15 events per year, if this is the case then the stadium usage should be re-considered, and designed so that it will get more use. Regarding dead zones, Halifax has the Citadel Hill in the middle of the city which takes up far more space than a stadium would, and it still seems to be a vibrant city.
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of Nova Scotia, BD.
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