ANNUAL REPORT // PDC 2014-2015
Board of Directors
Our Mission
Frank Palermo
The Planning and Design Centre exists to connect planning to people and people to planning.
Heather Ternoway Beth Lewis Neil Lovitt Peter Macnab Kyle Shaw Lisa Roberts Ali Shaver Andrew Reid Leonard Preyra Sam Austin Tony Gillis Alexis Miller
The Centre is based on the proposition that people should know what is happening in their community and have a hand in shaping their own future. Planning and design matter. Tomorrow is not a simple projection of our yesterdays. The future is only limited by the reach of our imagination. Creating plans that move us forward and projects, programs and public spaces that inspire us, requires new commitment and fresh ideas and working together across traditional divides. In this context, the PDC serves as a community forum, a laboratory, a think-tank and an advocate for creative change. It’s dedicated to making planning and design more accessible, collaborative and effective. It will affect how we plan, but more importantly the Plans that we make and the Community we build. Its purpose is to empower citizens, inform policy and through demonstration projects, allow us to imagine new possibilities within our collective reach.
Delaine Tiniakos
Planning & Design Centre 5257 Morris Street Halifax, Nova Scotia B3J 1B6 902 494 8494
pdcentre.ca pdcentre.ca/construction-site/ switchhfx.ca @planningdesign @switchhfx
Message from the Board The PDC continues to make a difference. There is a growing sentiment that planning is not technical, or the purview of a privileged group, or the sandbox of politicians; but, more of an open, public, creative and collaborative enterprise that enables us to see where we want to go and determine how to get there. Planning and Design touch everyone: where we live, how we get to work, public spaces, how we gather, daily rituals and the structures that inspire or shadow. The PDC is making progress in demystifying planning. We are making it more accessible because that is what will make it better and stronger. Initiatives like Seek and the Construction Site, Cities Alive podcasts and the speaker series (Better Blocks) are “connecting people to planning”. On going efforts and success with Switch, It’s More Than Buses, the Argyle Plan and Wyse Road are also connecting “planning to people”. They suggest how planning and design need to change to more completely and creatively include the community. This has been a year of transition and relationship building. The transition will make us stronger and the relationship building holds promise. We are delighted to welcome Sarah Ravlic as the new PDC Director of Operations. She is poised to build on the solid foundation built by Ross Soward. The Cities Alive podcasts have now truly become national with contributors (including Ross) and supports in B.C., Ontario and Nova Scotia. We have initiated discussions with HRM to find ways of collaborating and partnering with various initiatives including Seek and the Construction Site. HRM is also considering how they may be able to support Switch in an on-going sustainable way. A pilot project to transform one block of Argyle as a shared street has been approved. The PDC stands prepared and eager to work on making it happen on the ground. Members of the Board and numerous volunteers continue to be fully committed to make sure that Switch is constantly improved, extended and becomes permanent. This is a moment of renewal and great promise. That promise, as ever, is dependent on the hard work and commitment of our Board and our many volunteers and the continued support of many organizations and agencies. There is still much to do in “connecting planning to people and people to planning”. I invite you to join us in this collective enterprise. -- Frank Palermo, PDC Chair
Wyse Decisions holds BBQ with community
Second Dartmouth Switch Event
Switch: Open Street Sundays on Agricola Street
FEBRUARY
SEPTEMBER
AUGUST
J U LY
JUNE Switch: Open Street Sundays in Dartmouth
Speaker Jason Roberts hosted by PDC and HCC for Winter Bike Week
2014
Cities Alive Podcast launched at CIP Conference
The 8th Edition of SEEK Newsletter is released
Argyle Street Animation Project construction complete
MARCH
OCTOBER
JUNE
AUGUST
2015
Argyle Street Pilot Project is approved by council
Project Highlights 2014-15
Cities Alive Podcast
The third episode of our Cities Alive podcast, Agri-culturing the City, was launched at the Canadian Institute of Planners National Conference, which was held in Fredericton this past June. This was a great opportunity to share the podcast with a national audience of professionals. The session was well attended and generated a good amount of interest from those outside of the province. Many shared how they saw the resource as being useful to their everyday work and looked forward to hearing more episodes.
SEEK Newsletter
The eighth edition of Seek was released in August. The issue was titled “Agri-culturing the City�, which served as a complement to the Cities Alive Podcast that was launched with the same theme last summer. Approximately 1500 copies were distributed throughout Nova Scotia.
Open Street Staff Report In January 2015, the Standing Committee on Community Planning and Economic Development asked for a staff report on a new support model for Switch Open Streets in order to promote healthy communities, active transportation, local business and neighbourhood pride in communities throughout Halifax. A jurisdictional scan is to be a part of this analysis, which will come back to Regional Council for consideration in the coming months.
PDC Construction Site
The Construction Site has been continually updated over the past year, with generous support from the Halifax Downtown Business Commission. The website details upcoming developments within the Regional Centre.
PDC Construction Site, June 2015
Awareness
Better Blocks
Speaker Jason Roberts + Panel
Jason Roberts, of the Better Blocks project, joined us in February to share his organization’s success with revisioning and redesigning public spaces. The event was organized in collaboration with Halifax Cycling Coalition as part of their Winter Bike Week and gave us the opportunity to host one of the first events in the Paul O’Regan Hall at Halifax Central Library. Jason spoke about how the Better Blocks project organized teams of advocates to revive blighted, vacant blocks of pre-war buildings into livable, sustainable developments complete with temporary businesses, landscaping, bike lanes, and outdoor cafe seating. The methods described were quick and cheap ways of conducting urban interventions and creating engaging public spaces. While here, he also conducted a fullday workshop with Halifax staff and local business districts, providing ideas for easy projects to do in their respective areas.
It’s More Than Buses It’s More Than Buses
Input from Wyse Decisions BBQ
It’s More Than Buses (IMTB) has been very active this year, continuing to advocate for better transit in Halifax in a big way. The group has been working for four years to build support for a transportation network that supports the principles that were laid out in the Moving Forward strategy; frequency, reliability, efficiency. The Planning & Design Centre supports a high-quality transit network that serves high numbers of riders simply and efficiently and contributes to achieving the vision for the Halifax region described in HRM’s Regional Plan. We will continue to work with IMTB to encourage Halifax Transit to develop their transit plan in a way that meets these criteria.
Wyse Decisions BBQ
Wyse Decisions invited neighbours to Howe Street Park to join in on a delicious BBQ lunch, sunshine, and some good discussion. This was the group’s first community action project and it was a great success! Approximately 20 community members attended the event. Residents told personal stories about the neighbourhood’s past and expressed their hopes and visions for the future of the space. Wyse Decisions was joined by Dartmouth North MLA Joanne Bernard, who engaged everyone in a lively discussion about how the future of the park corresponds to her ongoing commitment to the whole community. Introducing the community to the group was a valuable step towards strengthening the dialogue about the future of Wyse Road. The information gathered during this activity will help shape their next community engagement session. The group would like to thank Chater Meat Market, the Planning & Design Centre, Sobeys, No Frills, and the Parker Street Food & Furniture Bank for their loans and donations that made this event possible. The Wyse Society has also secured funding through the HRM Placemaking program, which they will be using next year. Stay tuned to hear more about this!
Collaboration
Road Closure Policy
In keeping with the aim of increasing the frequency of Switch events, the PDC worked with Regional Council to amend the Road Closure Policy. The amendments to the policy will help to facilitate the planning of Switch events by removing some of the barriers that have faced past events, such as obtaining signatures from all abutting residents. A higher frequency of Switch events has the potential to positively affect communities by promoting active and healthy lifestyles and local economic and social initiatives.
Argyle Pilot Project
On March 11th 2015, council approved a pilot demonstration project as part of the Argyle Streetscape Redesign. The pilot will include the implementation of a pedestrianonly lane on Argyle Street between Blowers and Sackville Street. The PDC is part of the Argyle stakeholders group headed by the Downtown Business Commission and Halifax Planning & Development department. Together we will design and implement a pilot project over the summer months of 2015.
#ToArgyleWithLove
Construction of the Argyle Street Animation Project (ASAP) was completed on the 1600 block of Argyle between Prince and Sackville Street in October. ASAP created a physical separation between the construction zone at the Nova Centre and businesses through the use of colourful scaffolding structures to minimize the effects on local businesses. It creates a beautifying element and a draw to the area, emphasizing the pedestrianpriority nature of Argyle Street.The hashtag #ToArgyleWithLove was developed to send the message that during construction, downtown is still open for business. During the construction of the Nova Centre, the Argyle Entertainment District must remain a vibrant and an attractive destination. Maintaining the character of the street is crucial to ensuring that aim is met. Support was drawn from the Downtown Halifax Businsess Commission, Nova Scotia Department of Communities, Culture and Heritage, Nova Scotia Department of Economic and Rural Development and Tourism, and Councillor Waye Mason. The larger idea is to use active and functional scaffolding as temporary structures that transfrom empty downtown sites. These structures help to animate and complete streets and create live public spaces.
Argyle Street Animation Project
Rendering of Argyle Street Pilot Project
Innovation
Projects for 2015-16 The Planning & Design Centre is looking forward to the 2015-16 year and the opportunities and challenges it will bring! Summer 2015 will see the design and implementation of the Argyle Streetscape Pilot Project. Planning and designing the pilot street portion between will be a collaborative effort between the Planning & Design Centre, Argyle Street stakeholders such as the Downtown Halifax Business Commission, and the surrounding community. A panel discussion on transportation modes within Halifax will take place in Summer 2015. Through the discussion, we will explore the current state for alternative transportation modes in Halifax and what the future networks will look like. It’s More Than Buses, Halifax Cycling Coalition, and Walk N Roll Halifax will participate. The summer Switch season will kick off on June 7th with the Dartmouth event on Portland Street and Prince Albert Road. The Halifax event will take place in September. The route will be extended from last year’s and will connect with Spring Garden Road and Barrington Street. Efforts will continue throughout the 2015-16 year with It’s More Than Buses and Wyse Decisions in order to connect people to planning issues within the city.
Next Steps
2014-15 Finances
2014-15 Impacts
Starting balance
$40,481.11
INCOME Co-op Support (provincial & federal) Project-specific funding (Switch) Project-specific funding (Cities Alive) Other project funding (Jason Roberts, IMTB, SoP module) CRA payroll rebate Total Income
$6,349.00 $37,857.50 $2,900.00 $5,680.00 $914.41 $53,700.91
EXPENDITURES Education & training (SoP module, CIP) Insurance (liability - Switch) Professional fees/web hosting Salaries (director of operations / interns) Mandatory benefits (CPP/EI/taxes) Bank fees Project expenses (Switch) Project expenses (Cities Alive) Other project expenses (Jason Roberts, IMTB, Deacon Street) Printing costs & misc. expenses (supplies, AGM) Total Expenditures
$1,079.69 $788.00 $306.63 $28,008.28 $8,233.47 $94.12 $27,805.16 $150.00 $6,098.03 $49.40 $72,612.78
Net surplus (or deficit) Surplus (or deficit), beginning of year Surplus (or deficit), end of year
-$18,911.87 $40,481.11 $21,569.24
PDC Followers Facebook Twitter
262 918
Switch Followers Facebook Twitter
1444 1620
Cities Alive Followers Facebook
343
It’s More Than Buses Followers Facebook
578
Switch # of community partners # of volunteers # of people in attendance
70 90 6000
Big thanks to our key partners who helped to make 2014-15 such a huge success! Halifax Regional Municipality
Fusion Halifax
Councillor Waye Mason
Union of Nova Scotia Municipalities Doctors Nova Scotia
Councillor Jennifer Watts Downtown Halifax Business Commission Downtown Dartmouth Business Commission Hydrostone Business Commission North End Business Association Spring Garden Road Business Association Dalhousie School of Planning Halfax Regional Police Multicultural Assocation of Nova Scotia Halifax Bike Week Halifax Cycling Coalition
Nova Scotia Department of Health and Wellness Nova Scotia Department of Energy Nova Scotia Economic and Rural Development & Tourism Canada Summer Jobs Capital District Health Authority Service Nova Scotia Canadian Institute of Planning Atlantic Planners Institute Ontario Professional Planners Institute Licensed Professional Planners Association of Nova Scotia
Key Partners