Quote:
Originally Posted by Drybrain
In hindsight, one way to deal with this would have been to open up more single-family peninsula properties to multiplexes years ago, when land and construction costs were cheaper. That could have created potentially a large number of centrally located "ground-oriented" townhouses, stacked townhouses, front-back duplexes, etc that could have scratched that kind of itch for yards and front doors even on the peninsula, while adding density.
The other thing would be simply to create better greenfield housing: more dense, with more amenities in close proximity, rather than the semi-forested enclaves that swallow up so much land. i.e., more Fairview, less Hammonds Plains. (This kind of suburban density is the norm in most of Canada, evne though the street layouts are the typical nonsensical mash-up of cul-de-sacs.)
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That would have helped, though to keep it real Fairview was planned in the early 20th century or before, when the standards for lot size were much different and empty land was plentiful. It would have been considered a less-desirable part of town to live in, so larger lots might have been considered a reason to move there for somebody who didn’t want to live right in the midst of the city. So not sure that it’s fair to judge based on today’s planning criteria. Not sure that “density” was considered overly desirable in the outskirts at the time, nor would many people have thought that we would be in the conundrum that we are now in, back then. I don’t even recall the master plan drawn up around the time calling for dense nodes outside of the city centre. In fact, “slum clearance” seemed to be set on de-densifying these areas for mostly health reasons but also in some misguided idea of improving quality of life through this.
Hammonds Plains was never considered an overly desirable place to live, TBH. Smaller lots probably wouldn’t have sold so much there 30-50 years ago, so developers did what they always do, sold it as an oasis away from the hustle and bustle of the city. The bigger problem is that the city and province never considered it important to upgrade the infrastructure to accommodate the building, which is why that area has had traffic problems for decades that have become virtually untenable in recent years (population increase, blah blah blah).
So while 20/20 hindsight makes it easy to create an argument, it doesn’t necessarily make for a realistic argument.
Also, duplexes, triplexes, and townhouses did exist in Halifax back then, but were always considered less desirable for obvious reasons, and thus tended to be a low-budget option or a stepping stone to a SFH, rather than a ‘forever home’. Apartments would have been thought that way as well up until the ‘luxury condo’ movement took hold. Standards have changed since then, to the point that those in charge have allowed a world to happen where we all feel lucky just to have a place to live, and those at the bottom are left to suffer and fight over the scraps left behind by the rich.
Times change.
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