Halifax needs a leader who'll give us back our heart
Victor Syperek
The Daily News
Who is going to step up to the plate and challenge incumbent Peter Kelly for the right to run this fair city? I know I'm not - but I sure want to write about it. And I must say this, it is a lot of work, and I do admire anyone who will put his or her best foot forward and start this race. May the best man - or woman - win.
Being the father of one of Nova Scotia's most notable exports, one of the Trews, I take great pride in being able to travel to France to watch the group perform in Marseille next week. I will also be noting any unique or clever things the cities along the Cote d'Azur do to make themselves more comfortable for their inhabitants and visitors, such as appropriately placed benches and low walls for sitting and watching the parade of life go by.
It's interesting to think of the evolution of a city. Most early cities weren't planned; they just happened.
While travelling from point A to point B, man - being a basically lazy, no, let's make that efficient, being - takes the path of least resistance. If you look at a footpath, it rarely runs in a straight line. It will meander around boulders and trees, and, instead of running straight up a hill, it's likely to zig-zag its way to the top. Once a couple of people walk over the same ground, and tend to take the same logical route, a worn path appears. Add horses and cattle to the mix and it widens and becomes a road.
Somewhere along this road, either where it crosses a stream or maybe where two roads cross each other, some enterprising fellow - having noticed the multitudes - will erect a building and start selling food, drink and even shelter. If he flourishes, more people will set up businesses, and soon we add a church, a school, and a bank. A town is born, all of the buildings meandering along the twisty paths. Or a town can grow up around a major project, such as a cathedral, or, in Halifax's case, a military outpost.
But the point is, except in some cases where the Romans actually planned a town and its future expansion, it's organic growth. And as long as people travelled by foot or horse, it grew in a way that suited people. You would grow around a town centre or square, with shops and amenities off in all directions.
But with the advent of the automobile and the roads that they require, we now build towns around strip malls and shopping centres. Our towns are sprawling out of control, covering millions of acres of fertile land and creating cities that don't suit people at all.
I find it amusing that the new Dartmouth Crossing development has created a downtown section. So as we bulldoze our buildings for parking lots and lose the town feel, we are creating fake towns to replace the real ones.
It's madness to build vast housing estates like Clayton Park and not have shops, restaurants and amenities at the heart of them all.
All new developments should be forced to include bicycle lanes; lanes in the existing city should be devoted to bicycles, motorcycles and scooters. The priorities must change from cars to people.
It takes a bold voice to try to change the out-of-control developing we seem to be sliding toward.
And it's a bold, proud, civic leader we need running this city.
There will be some interesting times ahead.
It's been asked before and I'll ask it again: why don't we install a skating pond in front of City Hall? It would give this city some heart again.
Why is it that when Sobeys, or the Irvings, or now Keith's Brewery - which certainly have plenty of their own money - need to expand, or build a new building, the government is always there with a handout of a few million?
They say it's to create, or keep, a few hundred jobs.
But a local businessman, such as myself, who has managed to keep 150 employees paying taxes for more than 10 years, can't get on that gravy train. Go figure.
I heard what I thought was a funny news story last week.
The U.S. government is accusing Canada of having poor control over our border, allowing people to slip into the U.S. Isn't that why the U.S. has its own border guards - to stop people from slipping into their country? I think they are letting themselves down.
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