General Updates and News

[worldlyhaligonian]

Calgary is the worst large city in Canada, I don't care about what anybody in Calgary has to say. The economy is entirely based upon resource extraction, otherwise nobody would live there.

We should be copying smaller european cities.

[worldlyhaligonian]

Originally Posted by Drybrain

Cool links.

Only quibble I have with anything said in there is that Nenshi is very much a typical Calgary mega-booster, and he's really invested in this idea of Alberta as a pure meritocracy, which is total nonsense. So I think he's a great mayor, but he's not the most objective/rational person to weigh in on this issue, I don't think. (He says Calgary is successful because "no one cares who your daddy was." The reason for Calgary's success, as I'm sure we all know, lies underground a few hundred kilometres north of the city.)

Totally. Just like when people out there call people in the east "lazy".

Sorry we aren't destroying the environment while being huge philistines.

[Hali87]

What puts the CFA thing in perspective for me is going on the Canada threads and reading posts from people from Newfoundland (or even talking with Newfoundlanders in real life). They will casually mention how in many parts of NL, even St. John's, your last name is very important. It will completely shape people's first impressions of you, and will likely be the difference between getting a job or not getting one. Beyond that, it also matters whether someone is Anglican or Catholic. I'm not sure what happens if someone isn't Anglican or Catholic, but my guess is that being Muslim or Jewish isn't exactly an advantage. Rural vs. Urban roots also seem to matter a lot more than here, and I often wonder if people of non-British Isles or French heritage feel alienated there.

I've never really seen any of this in Nova Scotia, and in Halifax all of this seems 100% alien. I've never heard of anyone being judged by their last name (except, perhaps, Mike Savage) and most people I know here are prejudiced against "Christians" if anything.

[Hali87]

I actually went to an event at the Bus Stop Theatre a few months ago; it was people talking about their experiences on Gottingen Street and in the North End. I can't remember who was hosting it, but it may have been Clare - in any case, the host expressed her frustration, at the beginning, that most of the people who showed up were white university students. That comment in itself was probably more relevant than anything that preceded (although a part of that also irks me - I'm half Asian, but not "visibly" - so does or does that not give my opinion more credence somehow? If I announced that I was half Asian would that give my opinion more credence? Whatever.) . I watched about 10 people get up and sing the North End's praises and decry any naysayers who would dare imply that crime etc. happens there.

I felt awkward in that the only meaningful story I could have told involved being robbed at knifepoint and seeing my best friend nearly bleed to death as a result. I decided not to ruin everyone else's night by telling it.

I guess the point of that anecdote is there are a few different overlapping clusters of people in the North End - people who live in real poverty, people who struggle with addiction, mental health issues, homelessness etc., people who aren't directly a part of that world but are exposed to it and interact with it, and people who consider the poverty and crime "character" in the abstract sense and externalize any of the real consequences of it. For this last group the neighbourhood is a bunch of enlightened people who "get it" while nobody else does - being able to live in a poor neighbourhood is just further proof that they "get it". What they tend to forget is that the way it became known as a poor neighbourhood in the first place is because so many people living there had no real choice in where they lived.

[counterfactual]

Originally Posted by Hali87

What puts the CFA thing in perspective for me is going on the Canada threads and reading posts from people from Newfoundland (or even talking with Newfoundlanders in real life). They will casually mention how in many parts of NL, even St. John's, your last name is very important. It will completely shape people's first impressions of you, and will likely be the difference between getting a job or not getting one. Beyond that, it also matters whether someone is Anglican or Catholic. I'm not sure what happens if someone isn't Anglican or Catholic, but my guess is that being Muslim or Jewish isn't exactly an advantage. Rural vs. Urban roots also seem to matter a lot more than here, and I often wonder if people of non-British Isles or French heritage feel alienated there.

I've never really seen any of this in Nova Scotia, and in Halifax all of this seems 100% alien. I've never heard of anyone being judged by their last name (except, perhaps, Mike Savage) and most people I know here are prejudiced against "Christians" if anything.

Yeah, NFLD is very bad for this. I find St. John's folks very, very, different from people from rural NFLD (find the latter, genuinely friendly and much less self-consciously pretentious).

[counterfactual]

Originally Posted by Hali87

I actually went to an event at the Bus Stop Theatre a few months ago; it was people talking about their experiences on Gottingen Street and in the North End. I can't remember who was hosting it, but it may have been Clare - in any case, the host expressed her frustration, at the beginning, that most of the people who showed up were white university students. That comment in itself was probably more relevant than anything that preceded (although a part of that also irks me - I'm half Asian, but not "visibly" - so does or does that not give my opinion more credence somehow? If I announced that I was half Asian would that give my opinion more credence? Whatever.) . I watched about 10 people get up and sing the North End's praises and decry any naysayers who would dare imply that crime etc. happens there.

I felt awkward in that the only meaningful story I could have told involved being robbed at knifepoint and seeing my best friend nearly bleed to death as a result. I decided not to ruin everyone else's night by telling it.

I guess the point of that anecdote is there are a few different overlapping clusters of people in the North End - people who live in real poverty, people who struggle with addiction, mental health issues, homelessness etc., people who aren't directly a part of that world but are exposed to it and interact with it, and people who consider the poverty and crime "character" in the abstract sense and externalize any of the real consequences of it. For this last group the neighbourhood is a bunch of enlightened people who "get it" while nobody else does - being able to live in a poor neighbourhood is just further proof that they "get it". What they tend to forget is that the way it became known as a poor neighbourhood in the first place is because so many people living there had no real choice in where they lived.

Thoughtful post, Hali.

But you should have told the story. It would have either been a show stopper in a funny way.

Or... may have won you some kudos for witnessing a death in the North End, and yet.... and yet here you are praising north end at Bus Stop Theatre!

[IanWatson]

Originally Posted by Hali87

For this last group the neighbourhood is a bunch of enlightened people who "get it" while nobody else does - being able to live in a poor neighbourhood is just further proof that they "get it". What they tend to forget is that the way it became known as a poor neighbourhood in the first place is because so many people living there had no real choice in where they lived.

Spot on! There's a comment on The Coast story from a Joshua Collins that exemplifies this perfectly. Somehow Alterego's is honorable and creates community, while Humanity Cafe does not. Somehow it's not possible for a place to be "home" if it takes the form of an apartment building with bachelor units and not a shared single-unit dwelling with a fire pit in the back.

[xanaxanax]

Originally Posted by IanWatson

Spot on! There's a comment on The Coast story from a Joshua Collins that exemplifies this perfectly. Somehow Alterego's is honorable and creates community, while Humanity Cafe does not. Somehow it's not possible for a place to be "home" if it takes the form of an apartment building with bachelor units and not a shared single-unit dwelling with a fire pit in the back.

Well to be fare Alterego's is more of a community place they host djs and dance parties/ a backpackers information centre, its a place for people to mix and socialize, Humanity Cafe doesn't offer any of that, it has nothing to do with who lives where or in what.

[Hali87]

Alterego's also has a policy of hiring from within the local neighbourhood, so that might be it.

[Hali87]

Originally Posted by counterfactual

Thoughtful post, Hali.

But you should have told the story. It would have either been a show stopper in a funny way.

Or... may have won you some kudos for witnessing a death in the North End, and yet.... and yet here you are praising north end at Bus Stop Theatre!

I ended up just not saying anything - most of the people there were just watching anyway. It was an interesting event, but frustratingly one-sided and self-congratulatory. Thankfully I didn't actually see anyone die (my friend ended up being ok but was hospitalized for a while). Incidentally, another buddy of mine lived above the Bus Stop Theatre a couple years ago and witnessed the fight that resulted in the death of Raymond Taavel.

[mcmcclassic]

I didn't think I'd ever say this but here it goes - This empty lot looks better than what was there before (former crack houses). Looks like all six buildings are gone.





Photos by me.

[counterfactual]

Originally Posted by Hali87

I ended up just not saying anything - most of the people there were just watching anyway. It was an interesting event, but frustratingly one-sided and self-congratulatory. Thankfully I didn't actually see anyone die (my friend ended up being ok but was hospitalized for a while). Incidentally, another buddy of mine lived above the Bus Stop Theatre a couple years ago and witnessed the fight that resulted in the death of Raymond Taavel.

I actually do think the concerns that the North End is "unsafe" are overblown by mainstream media-- usually CH and other dailies using local crime for click bait because crime coverage sells-- but I also find the self-congratulatory/pretentiousness of some people's "North End-er" attitude also difficult to bear.

Seems like you were served with a heaping helping of the latter.

[spaustin]

Originally Posted by mcmcclassic

I didn't think I'd ever say this but here it goes - This empty lot looks better than what was there before (former crack houses). Looks like all six buildings are gone.

Yep. That corner has been a drag on the neighbourhood for over 30 years. Nice to see it go.

[fenwick16]

Originally Posted by Duff

This is moving along nicely. One from today.

I wonder if the blank concrete wall could be covered with ivy? The renovations will make MacKeen Tower look much better but the blank concrete wall will still be there (as seen in the rendering below):

(source: http://www.halifax.ca/boardscom/drc/documents/Case19058.pdf)



If the ivy would grow up the wall by 30 to 40 feet as in the image below then it would hide much of the blank concrete wall. Ivy doesn't seem to require much sunlight since I have it on my north-facing wall in a narrow 6 foot wide passageway between my house and the adjacent house. (It doesn't need much maintenance either since it keeps coming back even after ripping it down ).

(source: http://www.urbantoronto.ca/news/2011/10/vancouverism-part-1-early-concord-buildings-1995-2003 )

[connect2source]

Here in Vancouver, at a condo called Electric Avenue, they installed fake window-like frames along the blank painted concrete wall which I find quite successful in 'softening' the appearance and less invasive and potentially damaging than ivy. Something like this could work well for the MacKeen tower.

source : http://vancouver.livehigh.com/vancouver/downtown/condo/electric_avenue

[fenwick16]

Originally Posted by connect2source

Here in Vancouver, at a condo called Electric Avenue, they installed fake window-like frames along the blank painted concrete wall which I find quite successful in 'softening' the appearance and less invasive and potentially damaging than ivy. Something like this could work well for the MacKeen tower.

source : http://vancouver.livehigh.com/vancouver/downtown/condo/electric_avenue
http://i1302.photobucket.com/albums/ag13...l_Developments_BCS1433-1_zps4192354c.jpg

Thanks for posting this information connect2source. There are some brutal blank concrete walls in Halifax that it would look good with that fake window system.

[ILoveHalifax]

How about some art work? A giant mural? A light show? Anything but fake windows.

[counterfactual]

Originally Posted by connect2source

Here in Vancouver, at a condo called Electric Avenue, they installed fake window-like frames along the blank painted concrete wall which I find quite successful in 'softening' the appearance and less invasive and potentially damaging than ivy. Something like this could work well for the MacKeen tower.

source : http://vancouver.livehigh.com/vancouver/downtown/condo/electric_avenue

Not a bad idea..

[Keith P.]

In downtown Halifax, we could have faux-windows on a faux-Victorian!

[eastcoastal]

Originally Posted by worldlyhaligonian

You guys have gone off the rails with this one.

I've been called out for saying "from away"... let me clarify... I don't mean another country ...

Come From Away, in my (white) experience, is not often directed at people from another country. It's usually used to indicate someone is not considered part of the community. Sometimes it's even used within provincial boundaries (mainland vs. Cape Breton).

Its purpose is to immediately cast the subject of the term as "other" or "them," with opinions that are not as valid as "ours" or "mine."

It's divisive and lazy.