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 designâ€¦the kind of thing we should be doing more of, and yet we did this great designâ€¦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

FULL STORY: Great cities aren't born, they're made

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

Community / Economic Development World North America United States

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