Downtown Halifax

The City That Can

Remember when we were the little city that could? Those of us with longer memories might remember when we were a boomtown during the Second World War. Some might remember when we conducted ill-advised, but bold urban renewal projects in the 1960s. Some might remember when we were the urban lifeblood in the 1970s, with theatres and high-end shops on Barrington Street. Some, like me, only came to Halifaxin the 1990s, but we, too, recall with fondness when Halifaxwas a place of promise and hope and a little bit of a swagger. I can’t help but reflect fondly on the summer of ‘95 when we hosted the G7 conference of world leaders. This was a time when people swarmed to the Downtown, not to riot, but to get a glimpse of Hillary Clinton shopping in Historic Properties, or Helmut Kohl driving by in his limo, or Jean Chrétien schlepping a case of Alexander Keith’s across Grafton Street. To close the event (and it really was a Haligonian event, not a closed-off session of world leaders), we had a huge Ceilidh on Citadel Hill, and 40,000 people showed up. Who would have thought that Halifax could have so successfully hosted so large an event? Well, we did!

As the same time, the city was booming and expanding. We were joining the big time and getting Walmart and Price Club, and cutting swaths of new homes in formerly forested areas. This was also progress, because you could have the total package – a big suburban home, with a job in the urban core. We were becoming Toronto, without the attitude!

The sense that I get now, is that we no longer feel like the city that can. We seem to be becoming the city that is too small, too poor and too myopic. Maybe we feel a little burned by some of the mistakes we’ve made (i.e., Cogswell Interchange, subsidizing retail parks, and sprawling beyond our capacity to service). Maybe amalgamation really has stripped all areas, even old Halifax, of its identity. Maybe the fiscal reality of trying to service an area that is larger than PEI means we can’t afford to invest in the Downtown core, and we really can no longer afford to dream big.

But, I don’t believe it. In 1995 we were the city that could. Now, 15 years later, even if the ship has been going in the wrong direction, it is not too late to turn the ship around. We are still a great city. We are still a great Downtown, for while we have not maintained it as we should, we still have the assets that Mother Nature and our forefather city builders left us. A compact, walkable, livable Downtown nestled between a Citadel and a harbour is a blessing we still have.

So, fellow Haligonians, what do we need to do? First, we need to believe! Can we afford a new library and a new convention centre and invest in our Downtown infrastructure? Yes, we can. In fact, we must make these investments in order to make a prosperous HRM and province, and our political leaders are finally seeing that. We also need to convince all of our citizens that there is a need for some change in the Downtown. We must not only keep, but reinvest in our historic buildings. But, we also need to build the city for our next generation, with great architecture side-by-side with those buildings. History and development must co-exist in such a compact Downtown, and the Downtown Plan recognizes this. Let’s not just adopt the plan – let’s make it happen.

The library is coming, and that will be a great legacy for our youth. Next, we must expand the convention centre. One can argue about the specifics of the business case, but all we’re really arguing about is the magnitude of the positive impact it would have. The first convention centre changed Downtown for the better, and the next one will do it again. We need to encourage our provincial officials, elected largely on the promise that they would care about Halifax, to move ahead with this – and now.

I am not an economic analyst, but I can read the signs of Downtown. Right now, our confidence is shaken. And it has become inextricably linked with the fate of the convention centre. If this project does not happen, not only will it result in real lost opportunities, but a gloom will settle over this city, much larger than the post-Commonwealth Games depression. We need a spark. A catalyst. We need to, as a society, begin caring for our Downtown again. Right now, the convention centre is that catalyst. It’s not the only thing we need to do. But it is the first thing. Confidence just needs a spark, and with that spark, I have no doubt that we will once more be on our way to being the little city that not only can, but does.