In the 1970s I spent a lot of time wandering in downtown Halifax and the old South End, observing and pondering the choices people had made about the design and construction of their homes and businesses. One peculiarity, that you may well have noticed too, is that many of the oldest masonry homes in Halifax… Read More

Does this weather get you thinking about sunnier places and warmer times? I've been remembering a big summer house we visited regularly in the 1990s, that relaxed comfortably in a mature landscape on the Atlantic coast near Chester, Nova Scotia. Our friend Joanne was a friend of the owner's family, and would rent the house… Read More

Recently the design for the redevelopment of the old World Trade and Convention Centre was presented to the city's Design Review Committee. My attention was attracted by the proposed changes to the facade facing Duke Street, because interesting designs for steep east/west streets in downtown Halifax have long been a challenge to architects. Pedestrians are often trudging… Read More

Today, a post about some businesses that created stories, bad and mostly good, that I like to tell. VW lied to us Buying a new car is not our favourite activity but last time, in 2015, Sheila was clear that a nimble, VW Golf, with their new, clean, diesel engine was it. As an ad… Read More

It's distressing to see all the destruction in Paris during the serial demonstrations and associated riots. We visited in October and walked streets now carpeted with shattered glass and illuminated by burning cars. As a respite from all this anger, here are is a little collection of photos we took on our rambles in Paris. Before… Read More

On the Twitter and Instagram, I've been noticing photos and memories of the old Acadian Bus Lines terminal on Almon Street, that has been knocked flat to make way for more new housing. Here is a Instagram image from urbanrenewable (Kerry Lynch) from December 3. I was late to the party, but for the last… Read More

We were listening to the news about the turmoil at Canada Post and Sheila said, You must have some photos of mailboxes. And I thought, yes I believe I do. Here is the style of mailbox I used as a child. They were scattered through neighbourhoods, attached to utility poles; one was at the corner… Read More

In the morning paper a few weeks ago, I was excited to read that many levels of government were putting a little money into keeping Nova Scotia's tiniest drawbridge in tip top condition. It was particularly interesting to see that the new Develop Nova Scotia (the old Waterfront Development Corporation with an expanded mandate) was… Read More

Recently I was at an event in town and someone I don't know well introduced me to his friend. He thought for a moment about how to describe me, and then brightened and said "Stephen appears to be the only person Tim Bousquet actually likes." This was clearly not true, because all month Tim has… Read More