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Old Posted Apr 12, 2012, 9:50 PM
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Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Vancouver
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Interesting point. These buildings have an extra setback on Clyde to accommodate a larger sidewalk (a great idea), but they don't seem to have that on Queen and it wouldn't help much anyway because of the existing lots and buildings to the north. Trees along Queen are not important because a park is planned for the space behind the library, right across the street.

I think it's better to have a mix of treed and bare streetscapes, and a mix of different types of public spaces. I don't agree with the "green space everywhere" crowd and, actually, I think that having too much greenspace or too many trees can detract from their appeal. That's also a good way to stretch the city's budget and ensure that there are lots of poorly-used, poorly-maintained spaces. Halifax already has an abundance of public space that could be managed more efficiently and could support a large number of people. In Halifax I'd also argue that there's less of an advantage to having shade trees than in a lot of other cities. In the Southern US or California they are great because otherwise people have to contend with lots of sun and hot temperatures. Excess sun isn't really an issue in Halifax. The biggest climactic problems are wind and rain. Trees help a little with wind. To deal with rain the city should encourage more covered areas outside of new buildings. The Clyde Street buildings appear to have those.

The size and shape of the trees depend on the species that they choose and there are probably lots of varieties that would work. Vancouver has many cherry trees that look great, bloom early in the year, and don't seem to get too big. Hakodate, Halifax's sister city, has tons of them and a very similar climate to Halifax.
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