Hey Halifax, that dress makes your ass look fat.
28 Jul
Maybe if we just let that out a bit....
Some people are upset with Toronto Star columnist Christopher Hume for saying seemingly unkind things about Halifax, the city in which I live:
“…one wanders around this old maritime city and can’t help but marvel at its urban potential. But first the streets must be reclaimed.
The irony, as always, is that Halifax is its own biggest asset. Compact and connected, it is in good shape for what awaits us after cheap oil. But in a world where monster trucks dominate, these qualities are liabilities. And so Halifax tends to look shabby and under-populated.”
He’s dead on the money. We bring in thousands of tourists, and should they wander up from the historical harbour front to the Spring Garden Road area, they often have to pass through Barrington Street and its papered up windows.
Hume also makes a point about Halifax needing to be “…rescued from the car.” Still dead on the money, but with a city council who can’t see their way clear to even a haphazard system of bike lanes, let alone a coherent transportation plan that encourages mass transit, bikes and pedestrians over cars, I wouldn’t hold your breath on that one.
Without rational direction and reasons for businesses to want to be located downtown, the urban core of Halifax will, at best, stagnate in its current state. At worst, the brown paper blight of Barrington will spread.
I love Halifax – a marvelous city with smart, creative and warm residents. I don’t have to live here, I choose to. I reside, shop, and socialize almost entirely in the downtown area. This city is like a beloved friend, and sometimes the best thing you can do for a friend is to tell her that her ass is hanging out of a skirt that no longer fits.
So, hey Halifax, I love you, but we really need to talk about that outfit. It’s just not working any more.
Oh my! I’d love you forever if you took that photo yourself
I did not, but I have done some stealth muffin photography. Sometimes one cannot resist.
… but they did re-seal/cover the (butt) cracks on Barrington Street, so that’s a start – right?
I completely agree with you and with the article in question. People have gotten their knickers in a twist because the columnist dared to be from Toronto and to criticize Halifax. But he said nice things as well. And he made an excellent point about our downtown. We have good things going for us and I’m tickled pink to help promote the downtown on our blog (and have done so for awhile), but I see what he’s talking about. It’s a nice city, but there is room for improvement.
I agree about the twisted knickers. I love to talk up the downtown, but I have this real fear that we are at a turning point and HRM council is taking down the wrong road entirely.