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Downtown Halifax

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Downtown Halifax as seen from the Dartmouth waterfront.

Downtown Halifax is a district in Halifax, Nova Scotia on the eastern edge of the Halifax Peninsula. It is a major business and tourism centre. Located next to Halifax Harbour, many of the high-rises and restaurants offer spectacular views of harbour activity.

Attractions

The area is known for its nightlife, being home to many bars, clubs, restaurants, and a casino. It is also home to many small, independent shops as well as a few larger malls.

Many of the Halifax region's hotels are located in the downtown area, with many major hotel chains maintaining a location here.

Bars on Argyle Street.

Transportation

Sea

The waterfront area is home to a Metro Transit ferry terminal, which takes commuters across Halifax Harbour to terminals at Alderney Landing and Woodside in Dartmouth. These trips usually take around 12 minutes, and cost $2 for adults and $1.40 for seniors or children. Additional routes are being planned, and in mid-2005 a high-speed ferry route between the downtown terminal and a new Bedford terminal was demonstrated. The results were generally positive.

There are also many tour boats available at the waterfront, ranging from spacious paddleboats, to mid-sized hovercrafts (currently only one), to amphibious vehicles, such as the locally famous Harbour Hopper.

Road

The streets in the downtown area are set in a grid pattern, the way the city officials originally planned in the 18th century. Some of these streets have been altered in recent years due to large developments, such as the Halifax Metro Centre, which split Market Street into two sections when it was constructed. The Scotia Square development eliminated Buckingham Street, which ran parallel to Duke Street, to the North of it.

The downtown streets sometimes suffer from traffic problems, so to combat this city planners in the 1960's developed a controversial plan for a six-lane elevated freeway called Harbour Drive. This project was cancelled due to protesters, angry at the proposed destruction of many historic buildings. All that remains of the project today is the Cogswell Interchange, a massive concrete mass that some consider a barrier between the North End and the downtown area. It's demolition or replacement with a less sprawling and wider-laned structure is currently being considered. Traffic problems are currently avoided through the use of one-way streets, and mass transit.

Many bus routes also pass through the downtown vicinity, with major terminals at Scotia Square and on Lower Water Street (adjacent to the ferry terminal). Barrington Street is the primary bus route through the area.

Air

A heliport operated by the Waterfront Development Corporation Limited at the South Battery Plaza (near Bishop's Landing) serves the downtown region, used by VIPs and others.

See also


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