Letter to the city: Lack of safety on Halifax crosswalks requires real consultation and action now
Martyn Williams writes the Halifax road safety steering committee after drivers killed 8 pedestrians on crosswalks since the beginning of 2018.
Urban planning
Weekend video: Rooming houses – How the North End and Dartmouth gentrified
In 1995 there were 156 rooming houses in Halifax and Dartmouth. In 2016 there were fewer than 20 left. This video looks at the reasons why. Greed (aka capitalism) is the obvious reason, but urban planners and poor bashing media also played a role.
Letter to Halifax leadership on a golden opportunity to revisit the Cogswell development
Martyn Williams: There were numerous core concerns raised by stakeholders and by design experts regarding Cogswell’s lack of connectivity, lack of character, and lack of genuine buy-in and involvement from the community and stakeholders. Now we must take time to reconsider Cogswell, before mistakes are made. The new Cogswell just exists on paper right now. Nothing is irreversible.
Weekend video: Once upon a Black Halifax
This documentary puts a face to the rapid changes gentrification has brought to the Halifax North End. We meet some of the older residents who reminisce about life in their old neighborhood, one that actually deserved to be called vibrant.
Planning the gentrification of the North End, an interview with Ted Rutland
“We’d all benefit from living in a city that was less racist, that was less unjust, that was less oppressive, that was less centered on displacement in the interest of white supremacy and profit.” An interview with professor Ted Rutland about urban planning as a misguided strategy to reduce crime and poverty and pave the way for gentrification of the historic Halifax North End.
Making space for pedestrians – An email exchange between Halifax’s Brad Anguish and Martyn Williams
On April 29 Martyn Williams sent an open letter to Jacques Dubé (Halifax CAO) and Brad Anguish (Director, Public Transportation and Works) expressing concern that genuine issues relating to social distancing rules and lack of space for pedestrians were not taken seriously by Halifax City Hall. Here is a further exchange between Brad Anguish and Martyn Williams.
Open letter: Halifax crosswalk fatalities are easily prevented, so why not act?
10 pedestrians died in Halifax traffic over the last 2 years, almost half of them while using a crosswalk. Making crosswalks safer is not rocket science, writes Martyn Williams, so why should we accept that our life and personal safety is less important than traffic flow?
Media release: No to 8-storey parkade on North Side of Museum of Natural History
Friends of Halifax Common has written to HRM Mayor and Council asking that they refuse the province’s latest proposal for a provincial parking garage for the Halifax Infirmary – which is to not build a 7-storey parkade on the south side of the Natural History Museum; but instead to build an 8-storey on the north side of the Museum; and, to join the Hospital to the new parking garage by way of a pedway above Summer Street.
Martyn Williams: Make social distancing for pedestrians a priority
Martyn Williams: The Coronavirus crisis has brought to the forefront a perennial problem often swept under the carpet or pegged for gradual street redesigns over decades: How can we enable pedestrians of all ages and abilities to move around safely?
Martyn Williams: Pedestrians should not be targeted on Halifax’s cramped and narrow sidewalks
Martyn Williams: “People will need more space and new measures to be able to walk safely and responsibly. A change to our spatial priorities will help bring home the message that everyone should keep a safe two-metre distance from others, without the need for large fines that few can afford to pay.”