Public Housing Community Offers Model For Regional Centre

Built after the so-called Halifax Explosion 90 years ago, the highly regarded neighborhood that surrounds Canada's first public housing project is filled with gardens, alleyways, parks, shops, schools, and history -- all within walking distance.

1 minute read

October 3, 2006, 9:00 AM PDT

By davarnado


"A key tenet of urban design is offering exactly what The Hydrostone does: so-called complete neighbourhoods."

"It's a brilliant design…the kind of thing we should be doing more of, and yet we did this great design…and suddenly we just stopped, we never did it again."

"Halifax Regional Municipality is looking at developing an urban design policy for the so-called regional centre: peninsular Halifax and downtown Dartmouth, bordered by the Circumferential Highway."

"...the Office for Urbanism reported that people want more emphasis on complete, walkable neighbourhoods, and on a healthy mix of past and future."

"On the one hand, we want to protect our ties to history and the kind of great historical roots the place has; on the other, we want to be a modern city and a place that has rich possibilities for the future...and those things, in many people's minds, aren't always completely aligned."

Thanks to D. A. Varnado, AICP

Sunday, October 1, 2006 in The Daily News, Greater Halifax Communities

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