Canadian Institute of Planners Conference - Halifax. Visits to Lunenburg and Chester, June 26 to July 2, 2023

I am just returning from a week in Halifax where I attended the CIP National Conference. The last time I was here was in 2011 to speak at a Canadian Bar Association Conference on new housing forms, including fee-simple row houses. I remember the trip since I decided to stay on for an extra week thinking I could travel around the entire coast of Nova Scotia. In fact, I barely made to the Yarmouth in the southern tip before heading back through the Annapolis Valley, which was surprisingly beautiful. In fact, much of the province is very beautiful and very different than what many expect to find.

This trip provided an opportunity to eat a lot of lobsters and drink a few Nova Scotia wines. Who knew there were NS wines? I didn't. The conference itself was disappointing, especially the closing night seaside celebration, held in a windowless convention centre ballroom. What were they thinking?

My attendance was motivated in part by a desire to meet up with other members of the College of Fellows and that was worthwhile. Walking around the city was also worthwhile, although it would have been nice if the sun had come out at least once during the week I was here. 

In addition to exploring Halifax, I also had an opportunity to spend a bit of time in Lunenburg and Chester on Canada Day. Lunenburg is exceptionally beautiful, often ranked as one of the nicest small towns in Canada. It deserves its UNESCO World Heritage Site designation. But do you think I could find a book on Lunenburg buildings? 

Chester is also very special, but unfortunately the fog never lifted enough to allow me to experience the beauty so many Americans have discovered over the years, especially those wealthy families who have been vacationing there for over a century.

Since pictures often speak louder than words, here are a few dozen photos taken during my stay. More to come later.

I stayed at the Homewood Suites, which was well located near the local sports arena. When I first arrived, I wondered why any hockey team would be called the Mooseheads. However, I subsequently learned it might have something to do with the fact the team is owned by Moosehead Breweries!

One thing that has changed since my last visit is the waterfront area. When I worked for CMHC and Ministry of State for Urban Affairs, I was briefly involved with the Halifax Waterfront Corporation and Historic Properties preservations. Today the waterfront area has expanded considerably with the addition of the Pier 21 Immigration Museum and a variety of other attractions, and new developments.

Although the downtown is full of awful 1970s and 80s buildings, badly juxtaposed with heritage properties, much more effort is now being devoted to conserving heritage buildings, like this former press newspaper building. I look forward to seeing it completed on a future visit.

There is no doubt that the old buildings are generally much more attractive than the new buildings.

I was constantly fascinated by the multi-coloured street oriented rowhouses and

 detached homes. Unfortunately, it was usually too wet to go outside and photograph them! These shots were taken from the hop-on, hop-off bus, which was priced for cruise ship passengers, but not most others. One reason for the $80/day +/- price is that the guides are live. Most other cities have multi-lingual taped recordings. I'm curious why this isn't done, especially since there were a lot of non-English speaking people on my tours.

Perhaps if the tour were more reasonably priced there would have been more people aboard.

When Le Corbusier planned Chandigarh, he decreed that there should not be any statues of people. I disagree with this, and was pleased to discover this statue of a well-known figure who visited Halifax many decades ago.