Jane's Walk Halifax

[spaustin]

Jane's Walk Halifax is coming up next weekend (May 3-4). If you haven't heard of Jane's Walk before, it's a series of free walking tours led by volunteers. It happens the first weekend in May in over 100 cities around the world in honour of Jane Jacobs. I'm co-chairing the Halifax event this year and there's a full roster. You could go on walks from 9:00-6:00 on Saturday and Sunday. The complete listing is available on the Jane's Walk facebook site

Of particular interest to forumers might be my walk through development sites/opportunities in Downtown Dartmouth, TJ Maguire's stroll down Barrington, Tristan Cleveland's discussion of public space on the Commons and Quinpool Road and Sean Gillis and the Its More Than Buses walking discussion of effective transit. The Purcell's Cove Backlands and the future of Wyse Road will also be the subject of walks led by the two community groups (bit more political). One I'm really looking forward to is the Behind the Walls tour of CFB Stadacona. It include the rarely open naval burial ground.

Hopefully I'll see some of you out next weekend (pray for sun!)

[spaustin]

Here's the inside of the walk guide with all the listings.

[halifaxboyns]

If I could go; I would (to the ones in Halifax). Looking forward to the Calgary ones though...

[spaustin]

So May is rolling around again, which means it's almost time for another weekend of Jane's Walk. This year's event will be on May 2 and 3. I'm in the process of finalizing participants, but it's looking like we'll have some history, some art, a waterfront walk with WDCL and much more. If I can get myself organized, I'm planning on leading a walk through the Dartmouth Common. Should be another great year. If anyone is interested in leading a walk, there is still lots of time to sort one out. Topics can be on pretty much anything, so long as it lends itself to a stroll and everyone is qualified to lead. A diversity of topics and walks makes for a more interesting weekend! If you have an idea and are up for volunteering your time this year, get in touch and I can provide more info. My email is sam@samaustin.ca

[Drybrain]

I wouldn't want to lead a walk--I'd be terrible at it

But I think it'd be fascinating to see a downtown endangered/demolished buildings walk: The whole Doyle Street block owned by Westwood (Tom's Little Havana, etc), the Green Lantern, the Dennis, the Roy site, the buildings at the 22nd COmmerce Square block (especially the Champlain), and the Khyber (which isn't imminently at-risk, but is quite possibly in for a long, slow decline if the city doesn't pay up to save it).

I'm pretty certain there's no comparably dense concentration of significant endangered buildings in Canada--which gives the lie to the idea that a lot of people have that this is just the price of progress. It's quite surprising and a bit shocking when you tally it all up and compare with other cities. It's extra worrisome given that our most-at-risk structures are also some of the biggest and most impressive historic buildings we have (Green Lantern, Dennis). And it's REALLY incredible that several fall within our "conservation" district.

The framing fits right in there with Jane Jacobs as an early pioneer of architectural conservation: new ideas use old buildings, and all that.

[spaustin]

Originally Posted by Drybrain

I wouldn't want to lead a walk--I'd be terrible at it

But I think it'd be fascinating to see a downtown endangered/demolished buildings walk: The whole Doyle Street block owned by Westwood (Tom's Little Havana, etc), the Green Lantern, the Dennis, the Roy site, the buildings at the 22nd COmmerce Square block (especially the Champlain), and the Khyber (which isn't imminently at-risk, but is quite possibly in for a long, slow decline if the city doesn't pay up to save it).

I'm pretty certain there's no comparably dense concentration of significant endangered buildings in Canada--which gives the lie to the idea that a lot of people have that this is just the price of progress. It's quite surprising and a bit shocking when you tally it all up and compare with other cities. It's extra worrisome given that our most-at-risk structures are also some of the biggest and most impressive historic buildings we have (Green Lantern, Dennis). And it's REALLY incredible that several fall within our "conservation" district.

The framing fits right in there with Jane Jacobs as an early pioneer of architectural conservation: new ideas use old buildings, and all that.

I really like the idea, but I disagree with one thing: You would be good at it You already have a list of buildings to visit so that's a route. All that's needed from there is to be able to say a few words at each stop along the way. The 22 Commerce would be a really great spot to highlight a lot of heritage approaches since there is the completely rebuilt Granville Mall north side and the really unusually early heritage adaptation to the Merril Lynch Building. I'm sure a "see them before they're gone" walk would attract a lot of people interested in heritage who would be eager to chime in as well.

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by spaustin

I really like the idea, but I disagree with one thing: You would be good at it

Ha. Well, I'd think about it, but my work situation is such that I can't commit to being in town that far in advance--weekend travelling, etc.

But if some other Jane's Walker wants to steal the idea, go nuts.

[ILoveHalifax]

I would like to go on that walk to promote the use of dozers. hehe

[spaustin]

Originally Posted by ILoveHalifax

I would like to go on that walk to promote the use of dozers. hehe

A construction site walk would be another great idea

[curnhalio]

Originally Posted by spaustin

A construction site walk would be another great idea

Heck, just the block between Almon, Robie, Gottingen and Young would show off several u/c or mid-rise development sites with potential. It would also cover the old St. Joseph's church site which has been a crater for several years now. One could also invite a spirited debate over why the undeveloped sites continue to remain that way.

[Colin May]

Originally Posted by curnhalio

Heck, just the block between Almon, Robie, Gottingen and Young would show off several u/c or mid-rise development sites with potential. It would also cover the old St. Joseph's church site which has been a crater for several years now. One could also invite a spirited debate over why the undeveloped sites continue to remain that way.

Dell Holdings in downtown Dartmouth - undeveloped since 1968 and zoned for 84 units. We'll be holding a 50th anniversary party in 2018 - you won't need an invite.

[curnhalio]

Originally Posted by Colin May

Dell Holdings in downtown Dartmouth - undeveloped since 1968 and zoned for 84 units. We'll be holding a 50th anniversary party in 2018 - you won't need an invite.

Wow. How can a parcel of land sit so long without anything built on it? Aren't they paying taxes on the land?

[Colin May]

Originally Posted by curnhalio

Wow. How can a parcel of land sit so long without anything built on it? Aren't they paying taxes on the land?

Old man, now deceased, from Toronto. He fell for the sixties BS of inner city re-development and thought he'd make a bundle. And then the residents, me included ( in the 80s) had other ideas. He had a nice house on Shore Road, Bedford overlooking the Basin.
Stubborn old bugger, had no interest in development for families to support local schools and businesses. Wanted as many apartments as possible, which didn't comply with the official plan. Didn't help him being linked in a long and detailed Globe and Mail article about gangs, intimidation and corruption in the Toronto construction industry.
About 10 years ago I contacted the province about the low assessment on the 2.1 acre lot and got the value bumped up. The assessed value today remains well below market value - where can you get a fully serviced lot for less than $50,000 ?

[planarchy]

Originally Posted by Colin May

Dell Holdings in downtown Dartmouth - undeveloped since 1968 and zoned for 84 units. We'll be holding a 50th anniversary party in 2018 - you won't need an invite.

There is nothing registered to dell holdings in DT Dartmouth - where is this?

[Colin May]

Originally Posted by planarchy

There is nothing registered to dell holdings in DT Dartmouth - where is this?

101 King Street or 27 Church St adjacent the Park.
www.viewpoint.ca has it as 27 Church.
It has been known as Dell Holdings for a very long time, people downtown knew where it was as did the planners and local business people. The owner had an Italian name.

http://www.canlii.org/en/ca/scc/doc/...canlii400.html

http://pattersonlaw.ca/PattersonBlog...dings-Ltd.aspx

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by Colin May

101 King Street or 27 Church St adjacent the Park.
www.viewpoint.ca has it as 27 Church.
It has been known as Dell Holdings for a very long time, people downtown knew where it was as did the planners and local business people. The owner had an Italian name.

http://www.canlii.org/en/ca/scc/doc/...canlii400.html

http://pattersonlaw.ca/PattersonBlog...dings-Ltd.aspx

This would be a great place to live - hopefully the day will come when this land is developed.

[Ziobrop]

Well Im In.

Architectural History of Halifax 101 will aim to educate the walker on the Built History of Halifax from 1749 to Present times. The Walk will look at how styles have changed, and how improvements in materials and technology have enabled those changes.

Join me 9am Sunday May 3, Grand Parade.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by Ziobrop

Well Im In.

Architectural History of Halifax 101 will aim to educate the walker on the Built History of Halifax from 1749 to Present times. The Walk will look at how styles have changed, and how improvements in materials and technology have enabled those changes.

Join me 9am Sunday May 3, Grand Parade.

Sounds cool! I may just do that. We'll see how my schedule unfolds for that weekend...

[spaustin]

It's look like a great weekend. There are 17 walks this year on a variety of topics. I'm leading one through the Dartmouth Common. Others, besides Peter's that might be of particular interest to forum members would be Stephen Archibald's Concrete Tour through Dal, Bill Mill's Reinventing Main Street, Tristan Cleveland's walk on Young Street and Andy Fillmore's waterfront tour. Attached is this year's complete listings.

[JET]

http://thechronicleherald.ca/opinion...t-but-not-gone