Spring Garden Road : rubberneck, dine , shop

Year around, but particularly during the windy wintry months of the years, Halifax folk prefer to meet along its sheltered "main street" , that portion of Spring Garden Road between The Public Gardens and the historical St Mary's Basilica / Old Burying Grounds district.

Yes , Haligonians (as Halifax residents are called) buy things at suburban malls , just like the rest of us.

But they much prefer to shop (and dine, stroll, dance, meet and gossip) on a street that retains much of the feel of an old fashioned small town main street and yet is located in the busy heart of a regional metropolis.

That main street is those few blocks of Spring Garden Road and the half dozen short streets that run perpendicular to it.

That the Public Gardens at its head and the Basilica and Old Burying Grounds at its feet are must sees for tourists makes visiting 'Spring Garden' a no-brainer.

Halifax Citadel Army Museum

Four hundred years of army history associated with Nova Scotia brought to life by 70,00 historical artifacts and many life-like tableau.

No bullets fly and no one dies in this museum centred around Nova Scotia role in many past wars.

However, as but one example , something of the dank , dark , claustrophobic feel of life in WWI trenches one hundred years ago is really brought home to every visitor , whatever their knowledge before hand about the Western Front.

Wanderers Grounds

Today this fenced-in field mostly sees amateur teams compete in games of softball and hardball (baseball) under the lights, but typical of early Halifax's British character, it once was home to rugby, cricket and lawn-bowling.

It still features games of Gaelic or Irish football , a not-for-the-faint-hearted sport that combines the more physical aspects of American football, rugby and soccer....

The Commons area : the WALKABLE part of Halifax

A walk through the green and historic Commons is a foot-friendly alternative to the steep slopes of Halifax's waterfront areas :

As any tourist with tired legs can quickly tell you , it is far far easier to walk the long length of peninsular Halifax than it is to walk the seemingly shorter width.

The waterfront of the peninsula of Halifax rises (or plunges - depends on your point of view !) precipitously to the water on all four sides.

The view from these slopes are wonderful , but going up and down those slopes is hard on the legs.

However the very top of long and narrow peninsular Halifax is nice and level and this is why Halifax's public space - its Commons area - is laid out long and narrow across that top.

The Commons area itself is only about half a square mile in size (two city blocks by twelve city blocks)  but the land to the immediate south of it ( the famous Point Pleasant Park) and to the immediate north of it (the historic Hydrostone District) are both within easy (level) walking distance ....

What is physically as big a part of peninsula Halifax as Central Park is of Manhattan - but much less visible ?

If you answered The Halifax Commons correctly you're probably a member of The Friends Of The Commons !

Both take up about 5% of the land space but the Central Park is much much more visible , because it is outlined by fences and is vivid park greenery surrounded by dull grey concrete buildings.

By contrast, only a relatively small portion of the Halifax Commons remains a flat piece of short cropped conventional 'parkland'.

But almost all of the original Commons, in the wider and truer sense of that word , is still here, still acting as a common space for all citizens of Halifax.

It runs from Cunard Street in the north to South Street in the south and between between Robie Street to the north and the street extension of  North Park, Ahern, Bell Road and South Park to the east  --- roughly 250 acres of out of the 4500 acres of peninsula Halifax.

Today when some ideology-driven government leaders propose that if something is not private property that it does not exist or should not exist, it is good to know that earlier governments didn't feel that way at all.

More than 250 years ago , the Commons was a public 'wild' space where all were able to search for firewood or water, or herd their animals.

Today it still remains home to public - common - activities of a more modern sort.

Among them :  hospitals, museums, schools, universities , libraries , cemeteries , military bases and parade squares, a site for public hangings, public gardens , sports and concert grounds, music halls , skating ovals, children's playgrounds and yes plum-ordinary grassed parkland.

When Haligonians gather en masse, either to hear the Stones and a Beatle or to protest nuclear arms , The Commons is still where they gather.

This blog is dedicated to letting you know more about upcoming events in and around this lively central core at the heart of Halifax.