Quote:
Originally Posted by someone123
I'm not sure people in general in Halifax understand how the city is conspicuously behind in some areas (even though it is still a nice place to live). There is a lot of negativity around affording nice things and a never-ending weird siege mentality but I doubt NB is radically more able to afford a museum than NS.
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I find it interesting in that the quality of life is generally very high, and the city is honestly one of the nicest and most vibrant in the country, which is contrary to the "backwater" assumptions that are so common here. In that way, it is not at all "behind" in the way so many people commonly imagine. (I just spent the past two hours this evening biking around from Dartmouth to Halifax and all around downtown and the North End, and found yet again my suspicions confirmed that this is simply an exceptionally nice place. I have a hard time thinking of many places in the country that I would rather live.)
But I also think Someone123 is correct in describing this other way of being "behind," and I think most locals would not really even realize that as a province we are parsimonious to a fault in this way. The cancellation of the new AGNS site was really a big cultural and architectural loss. Museums are a case in point; pretty much all the provincial museums are worn-around-the-edges. The Natural History Museum is fun for kids but it's otherwise downright embarassing; there's no reason it's so sad. Even the Central Library, now that some of the fixtures and signage are showing their age, is getting slapdash repairs to things like furniture and signage, eroding its architectural merit. Canada overall is utilitarian to a fault, and NS is especially so.
I do think this is gradually changing. After all, the AGNS was planned approved, until the Houston government kiboshed it, and the city has become more willing to spend money on streetscaping and aesthetics, even little things like the parkette that replaced the slip lane at Brunswick and Sackville. But it's a slow change.
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