East Coast By Choice

Bring Barrington Back

Earlier this week, my guest addressed the renewed concern about the decline in business on Barrington Street here in Halifax. When Cokebaby and I moved here over ten years ago, the street was facing similar hard times but was able to turn it around with some interesting shops. My feeling is that with the new incentives for building owners the street will turn it around again.

In the meantime, I thought it would be fun to have a little contest. Write your love letter to Barrington Street in the comments section below or tweet using the #ECBC hashtag (short for East Coast By Choice). Tell me what you love (or loved) about Barrington Street. You don’t even have to live here. If you have a fond memory or if you still enjoy what the street has to offer, I want to hear about it.

Up for grabs: some pewter tags of historic downtown Halifax properties that I picked up while working at the Downtown Halifax Business Commission. I have one of the old fire station that is now McKelvie’s on my keychain.

One entry per person per day. The contest runs until midnight on Sunday. Winners will be randomly selected to receive one pewter ornament each. Please be sure that you sign-in to leave a blog comment so I can e-mail you or follow me on Twitter (@AliasGrace) so I can DM you.

[My regularly scheduled blog post has been preempted for a special guest. There's been a good deal of discussion on Twitter lately about the lack of development on the once thriving Barrington Street here in downtown Halifax. I had the opportunity to work two co-op terms in communications for the Downtown Halifax Business Commission (DHBC) and asked the executive director (a.k.a. @downtownpaul) for his thoughts on the matter.]

Photo credit: Matthew Stones

By Paul MacKinnon

Barrington Street. The traditional main street of the city of Halifax; the finest collection of commercial heritage buildings in English Canada; Spring Garden Road’s less-travelled sister, sits in disarray and uncertainty. Since its heyday in the 1950s and ‘60s, there has been collective and specific efforts to bring back Barrington.

Barrington Street became HRM’s first heritage conservation district, this past October. The district, first presented to Council with much fanfare in January 2006, became wrapped up as the heritage centerpiece of HRM by Design. It was approved by Council in the spring of 2009, and then by the province in the fall. Banners proclaiming the district appeared on the lamp poles, and several landlords made applications to take advantage of the grant and tax incentive offerings by the City.

But on the street, things seemed gloomy. The primary purpose of the district designation was to actually revitalize the street as a retail destination, using its best asset—the historic buildings—as a starting point. But the long delay in the district actually made landlords not want to reinvest in the facades—after all, why pay for it now, when one could wait and get 50 per cent cost-sharing? News of the closings of franchise juggernaut Tim Hortons and independent darling Peepshow Girly Boutique blared across the media before Christmas. This past week, the owners of Carsand Mosher and CD Plus have put their buildings on the market. Even in the most booming economy, retailers come and go, but the measure of an area’s vitality is how fast replacements come in. The increasing number of papered-over windows certainly seems like an indication of a depressed area.

However, is Barrington in decline, or is it, actually in the midst of a glorious turnaround? The media and the common observer would say the former. However, those in the business of commercial real estate and planning see the street on an upswing, as evidenced by market activity. In the past five years, at least eight buildings have been purchased, for good prices.

Yes, investors actually want to put their money into Barrington Street. The first of these makeovers was The Colwell Building. It is now fully occupied—home to longtime restaurants Certainly Cinnamon and Momoya on the ground floor, the innovative The Hub and the high-end Jay Wells Salon on the upper floors. A similar fate awaits the opulent Freemasons building, which is putting their finishing touches on their restoration.

The iconic Sam The Recordman and Ginger’s Tavern buildings had their plans revealed in December to great acclaim. The Roy Building and Discovery Centre, grandfathered under the old development rules, have rather more ambitious and controversial redevelopment plans. But it shows their owners’ faith in the street as well.

All indications are that the sales of CD Plus and Carsand Mosher are the result of landlords wanting to maximize the return on their long-term assets. These two properties, as well as the Green Lantern building and NFB façade were four of the key properties noted for redevelopment potential under the Historic District plan. The latter are applying for tax incentives and will see residential conversion, bringing more 24-hour life to the street.

Meanwhile, one block from Barrington Street, the new convention centre may begin construction as soon as this summer. This will have a transformative impact on Barrington. Change is coming to Barrington—of this we can be sure.

These questions remain:

• Will Barrington truly become downtown’s secondary retail district, linked to Spring Garden with contiguous retail?
• Will these new investors make redevelopment of their Barrington properties a priority?
• Will HRM Council show their commitment with public realm improvements for the street, and enhance its pedestrian-priority status?
• Will the over $1 Billion in approved surrounding development actually happen, bringing thousands of new office workers and residents to Barrington’s doorstep?

The reports of Barrington’s death may have been greatly exaggerated.

Paul MacKinnon has been the Executive Director at the DHBC since August 2002. Having earned an MBA from Dalhousie University, he now works as an advocate for urban revitalization speaking to and acting upon issues that affect citizens of the Downtown.

[With PodCamp Halifax 2010 taking place this past weekend, I had the opportunity to schmooze with some pretty cool web geeks. My next guest is a young up-and-comer in the sphere of online marketing & social media and he's here to talk about one of my favourite sites. If you're not on Twitter yet, jump in! The water's warm and with the help of these recommended people you'll get the hang of it in no time. Remember, I'm still looking for your East Coast stories and opinions. Got something to say? Drop me a line at kimberly.aliasgrace [at] gmail [dot] com or DM me on Twitter @AliasGrace.]

Image credit: Paul Snelling from Flickr

By Ross Simmonds

I’m a big fan of acronyms and thought it would be only fitting to spend the last hour trying to figure out what words could represent the letters; C-O-O-L. To my surprise, it didn’t come out half bad. Find below some of the most creative and obviously outstanding lads/ladies tweeting in Atlantic Canada! This list doesn’t include every C-O-O-L tweep in Halifax, If you want to find them you could probably find them here or here and here…did I mention here?

3 Creative & Obviously Outstanding Ladies

Bessy Nikolaou

Bessy is a marketing gal with a sweet tooth for all things digital. This Haligonians tweets range from cool links about marketing to hilarious links about porn parodies. Those are the reasons why she is creative; now why is she outstanding? Well this is simple. No one in Halifax has a palate like Bessy. If you are looking for a solid place to grab a bite to eat, she is the person to go to for that recommendation.

Nicola Hancock

Seeing that her twitter handle is @NicolaCourtney we came to the conclusion that her birth certificate would read something like “Nicola Courtney Hancock.” Nicola is a 20 something tweeter who is known to make her followers smirk with a one word tweet. She doesn’t tweet in only one place though—she is also known to drop a tweet during her 9-5 over @RemedySpa.

Lauren Oostveen

She graduated with PR from Mount Saint Vincent University and has taken the twitterverse by storm ever sense. She tweets under two different accounts, @NS_Archives and @LaurenOostveen. On both accounts you can find informative tweets and most importantly a solid look at Haligonian history. Lauren is a must follow, I mean seriously—she isn’t called Halifax’s best twitterer for nothing! Gail Lethbridge said it best “Lauren is bringing old Halifax, to new Halifax!”

3 Creative & Obviously Outstanding Lads

Darrin J. Searancke

Not often can you follow someone in Halifax with a knife the size of Crocodile Dundee. Just don’t confuse this New Zealand native with an Australian or you might get to see that knife up close and personal. Darrin is a jack of all trades with 10 years of experience in both communication and web/print design. He is also a blogger over at New Punishment where he shares information on a variety of different topics.

Duane Jones

Duane runs his own design company and runs a blog focused around his personal life and hip hop. Originally from Bermuda, Duane is grabbing twitter by the balls and sharing his passions towards design and hip hop with all those he interacts with. Ranging from giving tweeps a chance at winning tickets to hot local concerts to interesting links about graphic and web design—you’re sure to benefit from following Glitterati_D!

Kenny Norton

There aren’t many young guns on twitter who are actually using it to engage with local tweeps and not just follow Brody Jenner and Kim Kardashian. Kenny is a GenY kid who really gets social media and has ambition to succeed in the world of business. If you are looking for someone who will not only take you back to your youth but also provide you with some interesting links and tweets this is one GenY you should be following.

This is a blog post from Ross Simmonds—a local digital marketing enthusiast who tweets about whatever he feels like under the alias @TheCoolestCool.

Podcamp Halifax: Alderney Gate Library, Dartmouth – January 24, 2010

This weekend, I attended the second annual PodCamp in Halifax. Last year, I had missed the event because I was sipping on pastis at some café in the south of France. I know, it’s a rough life.

For anyone who’s wondering, PodCamp is an “unconference” where social media and web enthusiasts from all across the province converged on Alderney Gate Library in Dartmouth to discuss, engage, learn and have fun. For a group of people who spend a good deal of their time immersed in the online world, the event was highly interactive and had a huge social component.

For the benefit of people new to this blog or who still wonder what it is that I do for a living, here’s a re-cap of my presentation. Even though this was my first PodCamp and unconference, I volunteered to lead a session on the “bunny slope” called Intro to Social Media (secretly I wanted to call it Social Media for Bunnies).

In any case, one of the points I was hoping to drive home is that this big, wide online world is about trying new things and being able to move with the current of change. What’s big this year could be replaced next year or simply be upgraded in some way. Regardless, social media is about being prepared for whatever comes next and being ready to embrace it.

For a group of new learners, I was really impressed by the fact that people weren’t afraid to ask questions. The truth is, it’s not rocket science and there’s no magic formula for success. All I could rightfully offer were guide posts and best practices to lead them in the right direction.

I take social media from the perspective of public relations in that it’s about building mutually beneficial relationships through two-way communications. Social media platforms are all about the dialogue and conversation, not simply broadcasting of messages. Web 2.0 allows for interactive information sharing and collaboration with a focus on user-centred design (e.g. social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, blogs, video sharing). The goal is to allow users to interact with other users and change the content of a site.

Some of the points I made are ones that I’ve talked about on other sites. Check out my guest posts about building online communities through social media and Twitter 101 for more.

A key concern that emerged from the discussion was managing it all. This isn’t a concern just for new learners. There’s a lot of information and tools out there. It can be overwhelming. A good idea is to have a strategic communications plan in place that includes the flexibility to change and one that is updated regularly. For individuals, this translates into setting goals for yourself and re-evaluating those goals after certain short-term periods of time have elapsed. Like everything in life, practice allows you to use the tools more easily. Web developers are beginning to allow integration of social networking sites as well, making the use of multiple platforms somewhat easier to manage.

One of the most talked about points coming out of PodCamp this year (besides speculation about Apple’s iPad tablet) was that the largest growing demographic of Facebook users in Atlantic Canada is essentially the Baby Boomers. Interesting, considering whom this technology didn’t exist for them as children and young adults. This stat is a testament to how times are indeed changing and how the social sphere is moving online.

To anyone who attended the session, or anyone who’s interested in learning more, my offer stands to continue to answer questions about social media. Simply leave a comment here or join Twitter and ask me there by following @AliasGrace.

[Here in Halifax and on the East Coast we're in the thick of winter with snow that's here to stay for a while. Next up is a blogger who's no stranger to this site. He interviewed me on Haligonia last year and has the distinction of writing the first East Coast Guest Post a year ago. He's back to talk about a powerful muse here in Nova Scotia. If you have a story to tell about living in the East Coast, drop me a line at kimberly.aliasgrace [at] gmail [dot] com for submission guidelines.]

By Giles Crouch

There’s something about living in a place that juts out into the most notoriously unevenly tempered ocean on our planet. Particularly when you’re not too far north for bitter cold, or too far south for gentle warmth.

We hover somewhere in between. Living on the turbulent edge of seasons and natures fell moods makes for one of those sublime perks that is Nova Scotia—the seasonal symphony of sounds one’s ear can attune to.

Photo credit: Janesdead from Flickr

In winter it is the quick crack of water and syrup freezing under the bark of trees as the temperature plunges downward. The woods snap and pop in a cacophony of chill, a gentle breeze tossing an undercurrent swoosh. When the snow has laid it’s canopy over the land and the air is brittle as you walk, that distinctive crunch underfoot wakes you up carrying you hurriedly forward. At times, when the snow is heavy and falling hard, caught between freezing rain and ice pellets, the sound against the trees is mesmerizing

When spring descends upon the land like a warm face-towel at the end of a long red-eye flight through the night, it awakens you so suddenly. As if the harsh scrubbing of winter had left the land clear to breathe and start anew. Spring rains hypnotize you to sleep, the uncurling leaves bring a sweet undercurrent of happiness in their song. Falling maple seeds spin and if you listen close, they sound of laughter. Different birds take up their songs and familiar tunes are sung of new birth and delights of the rising early worms.

As spring fades and brightens into summer, the lap of the waves on the seashores around the province calm the soul, as if the sea were laying down it’s angry concerto of the winter and spring months. The tempests and squalls will be but interludes to the pervading calm.

Summer rests hot and humid over the land as August gently rolls in. The blanketing of a fog just the soft timpani of a muted drum over the land. Drops of moisture hang like soft bells across the land. Ones heart is restful then, yet chuckling inside.

As autumn rolls in, the colours of the land turn into brilliant cascades of light. Accompanying this Monet’s canvass is the gentle rustle and fall of leaves. In the quiet of a sun-dappled glade as one sits, the falling leaves are gentle in their sound and a sigh escapes them, promising they will return with the turn of the seasons.

Where else in the world is one surrounded by such an ever changing symphony of sounds to inspire and ignite so many emotions? No wonder so many musicians, artists and authors have found such inspiration in this province…

Giles is an ex-pat Brit turned Canadian living in Halifax, Nova Scotia. A serial entrepreneur and passionate marketer, he is partner in Social Intelligence firm MediaBadger.

At 12:15 p.m. Atlantic, tune to CBC Maritime Noon’s call-in show where I’ll be joining in on a conversation about, you guessed it, East Coast By Choice (Note: you can listen to the live audio streaming online at CBC Radio). Have a story to share about living here?

UPDATE: You can listen the full show on the CBC Maritime Noon website or here:

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[I've been talking a lot about writing here lately. So, rather fittingly, this next guest extends the conversation in the ongoing East Coast Guest Posts series.  If you're interested in telling your East Coast By Choice story, e-mail me at kimberly.aliasgrace [at] gmail [dot] com for submission guidelines.]

By Eric Rountree

Photo credit: StarbuckGuy from Flickr

As we roll on into 2010, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking, planning, and reflecting. I feel that this is going to be a significant year for me, and despite all the setbacks and challenges I’ve had over the last few years, I’m glad that I’m going to be doing what I’m doing here in Halifax, the place where I was born, and the place I enjoy living.

Like many Atlantic Canadians, I moved away for a while. I moved to Kingston, Ontario in 1996, and I moved back to Halifax in 2002. In those six-and-a-half years, I tried self-employment, worked for the Kingston hospital, worked at Queen’s University, bought a townhouse, left a long-term relationship, and got married. I also took some writing courses at St. Lawrence College (where I found my mentor) and had a short story published in a science fiction magazine run out of Sudbury. The writing was never far from my mind.

I think I manage to just slide onto the edge of the category called “Published Author”. I did get that one paying gig, and I’ve also written for and edited newsletters (the Dalhousie IT newsletter when I worked there, my own Star Trek club newsletter, The Kingston Area Home Business Association newsletter, and the Theatre Arts Guild newsletter here in Halifax after moving back). And now I have my blog. And (chuckle) I even had one of my tweets from Twitter published in a free Vancouver newspaper a few days ago. I’d love to know the chain of retweets that made that happen.

The writing, as I said, has always been there, and I’ve always gone back to it, no matter the length of time away. The ideas come fast and furious, but the motivation to follow through has sadly been lacking a lot of the time. I won’t get into my personal demons here, but suffice it to say that I have three half-finished novels and a bunch of short stories sitting on my hard drive collecting virtual dust. I’m great at starting things, but not so much the finishing.

But late in 2009, something changed. I signed up for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), and over the course of November, I managed to write a 66,000-word first draft of a new novel and actually bring the story to complete and mostly-satisfying conclusion. Some motivation crept in from somewhere, and I rode its wave. It was nothing short of exhilarating.

So at last I am the proud papa of a complete first-draft manuscript. I’m now in the editing process, and I’m actually pleased with what I’ve written so far. It’s flowing better than I thought it would, and I think that, with a few structural changes, it’s going to turn out pretty well.

I’ve set my novel in Halifax, which, in and of itself, is not an unusual thing, because there are lots of novels set in Halifax. But what I think is different about this situation is that mine is a science fiction/fantasy novel, and I think I’d be hard pressed to find many of those set in Halifax. Even better, part of the story takes place in an alternate Halifax, where some things are familiar, and others are not.

Halifax is a beautiful city, rich in history and culture. It’s big without being huge, friendly without being corny, and cosmopolitan without being snobby. The drivers are getting testier and more impatient, and city council is run like a county fair, but otherwise I find few things to complain about. It’s a great place to be, and it’s a great place to come back to.

It’s even a great place to set a story. Any kind of story.

2010 is going to be a good year. I’m going to get this novel into publishable form and get it out there. I’m going to keep working on my blog, and develop some strategies for increasing readership. It’s not about self-aggrandizement. It’s about saying what’s important to me and getting the words out there. And it’s about being happy where I am. And I mean that mentally, emotionally, and geographically.

And those demons I mentioned? Well, they’re quietly packing their bags and casting furtive glares at me as they shuffle out that little door in the side of my head.

Eric Rountree (@faltarego on Twitter) is a forty-something creative cynic with a taste for twisted humour, alternate realities, and really great cheesecake. A former computer systems admin, Eric is now whacking away at creative projects while working in a bookstore to pay the bills. He is married to a lovely and talented singer who also runs an office and teaches voice and piano. He thanks Kimberly for the opportunity to express himself on her blog.

Photo credit: alcomm from Flickr

As I wrote in an earlier post, I’ll be spending the remainder of this year completing a novel that I was trying to plug away at in 2009. It turns out, I’m actually a lot further along in my first draft than I had thought and have reached the over 50,000 word mark. (Note to self: do word counts every once in a while.)

Every so often I get a message from a stranger asking me for writing advice. It takes me by surprise every time. And I’m not sure why. I’m very passionate about what I do and committed to making a career as a writer. In fact, I’ve known since I was in grade three—writing plays about zoo cats and touring classes at my elementary school with the production—that this was the path I was going to take. I suppose I don’t consider myself fully there yet because I don’t have that “published” piece out there. You know, the one that pays me the big bucks.

In any case, I don’t think I can give any more (or better) tips than what’s already out there. That said, my area of writing “expertise” at the moment is in the online world so here are my thoughts about being a better writer in this space:

1. Be a voracious reader. The best way of knowing how to write content for online, is to read content from online. A lot of it. Fill your RSS reader with the crème de la crème. But also check out the really awful stuff to remind you of what doesn’t work and to think about why.
2. Be a part of meaningful conversations. The best way to learn about any industry is to connect with the people who are in it. There’s a huge writing and publishing community online who are using tools like Twitter and Facebook. On Twitter, check out the hashtag #amwriting.
3. Take feedback with a grain of salt. On the one hand, you don’t want to have such an ego about your writing that you can’t hear constructive criticism for what it is. On the other hand, you want to have enough of an ego to not be crushed by the critics.
4. Write. A lot. Obviously. Your own blog is great practice. Decide on a schedule that is reasonable for you to follow. Stick to it. Contribute elsewhere, comment on other blogs. Eventually, you’ll find your voice.
5. Repeat all of the above. After all, practice makes perfect.

Maybe it all seems straightforward but I really don’t think there’s any magic to being a decent online writer. The most important thing about your online presence as a writer is to be authentic.

Do you have any writing tips for online or other forms?

[It's a new year and a new format for the blog. I'll be posting here once a week and getting folks who are East Coast By Choice to share this space, like this next lovely guest who tells a familiar tale of moving away for reasons beyond one's control. If you're interested in being a guest just drop me a line at kimberly.aliasgrace [at] gmail [dot] com and I’ll fill you in on the details.]

By Kimberley Mosher

When I was in high school, the only place anyone wanted to be was anywhere but here. Here being rural Nova Scotia, that is. Everyone talked about getting out—getting away. People had big dreams that didn’t always have a lot of thought behind them, but no matter; they were going to get the hell out.

I was one of the rare kids who didn’t share that dream. I was happy in NS. In fact, my high school dream was to get a degree, and someday grow and foster business on the East Coast.

Grade 12 came along and it was time to apply to schools and for many reasons, including seeking the best educational experience, I wound up applying to, and getting accepted to, Queen’s University.

Queen’s is not located in the Maritimes.

So I moved. My heart thudded in my chest the day we packed my dad’s vehicle and trekked to Ontario. I was leaving the only home I knew in the only town I knew for, “bigger and better opportunities”, I told myself.

And there were bigger and better opportunities. Not because I wasn’t in NS or because I was in ON, but because I found a place that let me become someone I had always wanted to be. For four years, you couldn’t pull me away from campus because I never wanted to leave. Homesick? Forget about it.

Photo credit: luke1946 from Flickr

In 2008 I graduated University and my dream of being on the East Coast had long been forgotten. I was perplexed about the next step in my life, and I really didn’t know where to go or what to do, so I did was seemed to be the right choice. I listened to the majority and moved to the Big Smoke for a job.

It was the longest year of my life. I wasn’t in a close knit community like home or like university anymore. I didn’t move at the pace that Torontonians move at and I sure as hell didn’t want to adapt to a stressful lifestyle that was demanded by the job I had taken. Worst of all, family was at least a plane ride away.

After 10 months—a long time when you’re not happy with your situation, but short in retrospect—I knew I had to follow my heart and return to a place that is always welcoming, close to those that I care about and offered the balance in life that I knew I craved.

Some people might see my short stint in Toronto as a failure. I see it as a fast learning curve in finding out what truly matters to me. Five years away has taught me some valuable lessons, brought me a wealth of experience and knowledge and broadened my perspective. And, with only one year in Toronto, I’ve left lots of future years to be had down east.

I’m on the East Coast by choice and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Kimberley Mosher (@kmosher on Twitter) is a young millennial who is fascinated with current trends and all things gen-y. Since moving back to the East Coast, Kimberley has found employment in the advertising world. When she’s not at her day job, Kimberley spends as much time as possible exploring NS. She truly believes in following your heart, and thinks you should, too.

We’re a few days into 2010 already but I thought I’d post about some of the highlights of 2009 in my online world.

It was a pretty busy year.

Cokebaby and I travelled to the South of France for our 10 year wedding anniversary (today marks year 11)! We took a trip with his family in the summer to London and Ireland and got in touch with their roots. And we were treated to an overnight stay in the Peggy’s Cove Area in the fall.

Tofu dog turned two years old.

I was interviewed on Haligonia, did a reading for Seen Reading, wrote guest posts for Geek Girl Camp and Lindsay Olson, recommended a book on Advent Books. And I got to defend werewolves at (un)deathmatch where I’m continuing in Round 3.

Whew! A busy year indeed.

Top posts of 2009

The best kept secret of Halifax sushi restaurants
Bust A Move: Halifax Chicks edition
Tassimo
Pickled think: Beets
The origin of Alias Grace OR Me > Frankenstein’s creature
Cokebaby, the husband
Durty Nelly’s
Hamachi House
No boys allowed
SnauBar Lebanese Cuisine

Top East Coast Guest Posts of 2009
Hello Halifax: You can never go home by Gail Lethbridge
Chef Adam Todd by himself
Green Christmas by Charlene Boyce
Growing up Greek in Nova Scotia by Bessy Nikolaou
Racquel does fashion by Áine (a.k.a. “Racquel Valencia“)
Smart Bites: A little gal’s guide to staying that way over the holidays by Kristen Pickett
Joel Kelly’s guide to dressing sensibly in an office environment by Joel Kelly
Building an eco house? Start saving now by Jeff White
The culinary perspective of an olive thief by Suzie Ridler
Welcome to my ‘hood by Suzanne Hickey

Remember, I’m shaking things up on the blog this year and looking for more of your stories. Interested? E-mail me at kimberly.aliasgrace [at] gmail [dot] com and let’s talk.