Longtime readers of this blog will know that East Coast By Choice is mostly about sharing positive stories. I save most of my whining for other channels both offline and online. That said, I’m breaking from that trend because the thing that hurts me the most in this city is breaking me. Maybe it’s just this time of year. Maybe I’ve got Seasonal Affective Disorder. But I’m certain I’m not alone. What’s the big deal, you might ask? It’s the city of Halifax’s lack of regard for pedestrians.
(Photo credit: Walmink from Flickr)
Yesterday, I left the house to happily head to the second day of my new job. Here’s the thing: I have to walk about 10 minutes from my drop-off point to get into work. None of the sidewalks were even remotely safe due to ice. Not a lick of salt or sand to be seen. The truth of the matter is, on a winter’s day, my regular bus stop is a treacherous icy slope threatening to glide me into oncoming traffic as I brace myself (unsheltered) against the wind. Thanks to the combination of all these conditions and the fact that I basically had to look like I was heading into work at the Ministry of Silly Walks, I made it into the office late. On my second day of the new job.
If only my story stopped there. Trying to get home has been another story altogether. Although there’s one bus stop in front of the office, the bus route doesn’t take me anywhere near home. So I have at least a 5-10 minute walk to get to one that does. However, that stop only services one bus that if I miss means I have to wait an additional 30 minutes. Foolishly following the advice of Google Maps on my iPhone (a service that has not failed me before) I decided to walk to another stop seemingly slightly further.
Twenty minutes later…
I finally could cross the road to a spot with an actual sidewalk. Of course, as fortune would have it, the bus flew by me before the light could change and I almost missed another bus that I had to transfer off of to finally get home. And I did eventually make it home. Ironically, although I left work slightly earlier than I did when working downtown at the CBC, I got home at the same time I used to.
The truth of the matter is that I’ve specifically not applied to certain jobs based solely on their locations within the city. Dartmouth? Forget about it. As someone who relies on public transit it is completely unrealistic for me to make that kind of commute. I might as well be still living in Toronto. This little conundrum I’ve found myself in is unexpected but I’m certain I’ll be able to work it out with some good timing and patience.
This is all to say that I hate public transit in this city. And I hate how the city gets away with not adequately servicing their public spaces like bus stops and sidewalks yet fines homeowners for failing to do the same.
But I love my new job.
(Thanks to @BlueShoes55, @giftedtypist, @FakeDSearancke, @houseofpickles, @rockitdev, @bloomingwriter, @rickconrad, @tinacapalbo, @KimHumes, @porcelainduck, @jeffmacarthur, @NailaJ for indulging my whining about this on Twitter.)
Kimberly Walsh is a publishing label executive at Fierce Ink Press. You can follow her on Twitter @AliasGrace.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I HEAR YOU!!! Loud and clear and wholeheartedly agree. If you think it is bad downtown, OMG, the outlying areas? A nightmare. Takes me almost two hours to get downtown. I have no sidewalks where I live either so I can’t go out in the winter without cars brushing up against me as I try not to fall into snowbanks or get run over. My heart goes out to you, it really does. I am sure after that horrendous ice storm your new employers understood. Still, it blows. Hugs.
It is the homeowners responsibility to clear the sidewalks in front of their homes.
“If the work is not done, the city will send someone to do it and bill the owner – as much as $225.21 for repeat offenders.
Bylaw enforcement co-ordinator Jeff Rogers says they’ve issued 343 orders so far this winter, giving owners 24 hours to comply.
Rogers’ staff normally issue the warnings by leaving notices on the property.
They usually wait until 12 hours after a snowfall, or six hours after sunrise in the case of an overnight snow, before starting to issue the clearance orders.”
-Global News
Hmmm, that system is sure not working! You take your life into your own hands when trying to navigate the ice and snow around here. Why doesn’t the city get some bobcats to clear the sidewalks instead of leaving it up to home owners. Buses? I know.
I totally agree with your statements on the city and public transportation. It is sad that HRM does not practice what they preach. I am forced to park some 5 to 15 minutes from where I work with my car at Victoria General site. After finally getting a place to park as I pass 1000.’s of feet of NO PARKING signs on many low traffic roads for no apparent reason other than to give tickets to motorists. I have endured many mornings and evenings walking around mountains of snow, ice, water and more.
Sadly I would love to commute via bus service from home in Timblerlea unfortunate it is again well over an hour ride each way. HRM does offer fast service if I wish to drive to Tantallon some 10 minutes away where I can park my car and then endure a 45 min commute to Scotia Square. I will then have a 20 minute walk to work.
Ps; I also pay HRM taxes on snow clearing of sidewalks to which I have none and HRM is pathetic in doing.
Cheers
GIrl I could write a novel about the above, but I won’t lol. I will say, as follow up to Shelagh’s comment that the system of homeowners clearing their own sidewalks certainly is NOT working. Because some ppl (like my landlords, thankfully) are great about clearing right away, but many are (excuse my french but it’s the best word to use) assholes and don’t clear at all, so you get sporadic sidewalk conditions. Really you never know what you’re going to get when you’re walking along. I love Halifax but I gotta say the city needs to get better at getting services completed in a timely manner – things tend to take forever to get done (if they get done at all) and I don’t really understand why.