March 16, 2022 at 11:55 am
During last week’s CBRM council meeting for March, a “non-profit” called the Urban Neighborhood Development Association presented preliminary plans for an amazing, mixed-income housing development on the site of the former Tartan Downs harness racing track in Sydney. Don’t worry, I haven’t lost all critical perspective here, but I haveRead More
December 1, 2021 at 1:16 pm
Here’s an item from last week’s CBRM council session on affordable housing that I really wanted to follow up on: Deputy Mayor (and District 2 Councilor) Earlene MacMullin proposed the municipality look into the possibility of turning the Northside General Hospital, scheduled for closure and demolition, into affordable housing —Read More
November 24, 2021 at 12:50 pm
Monday’s special CBRM council session on affordable housing was so full of information that I find myself forced to choose one part to write about today, for fear of overwhelming you with facts and figures. It started with a presentation by Paul LaFleche, the deputy minister of Municipal Affairs andRead More
September 15, 2021 at 12:08 pm
There was a wonderfully wonky — yet important — item on the agenda of last night’s CBRM council meeting, and I am not talking about the CBRM declaring Paul’s Pizza Burgers the official food of the municipality for 2021. I am talking about an item that pleased me personally first,Read More
August 11, 2021 at 1:07 pm
Wikipedia informs me that in 1933, “the district of Cape Breton was divided into five electoral districts, one of which was named Cape Breton East. In 2001, the district name was changed to Glace Bay. In 2003, the district lost a small area at its southern tip to Cape BretonRead More
June 25, 2021 at 11:30 am
Tax Sales If the list of 104 properties — including 38 buildings — up for tax sale in the CBRM has you wondering why CBRM doesn’t look into sourcing government funding for affordable housing and refurbishing some of them, you are not alone. I have long wondered about this too.Read More
June 23, 2021 at 12:17 pm
Last week I wrote about the Nova Scotia Affordable Housing Commission’s report, “Charting a new course for affordable housing in Nova Scotia,” sounding an alarm about its tendency to look to the private sector for solutions to the housing crisis. Days later, the federal government announced a $115.5-million, low-cost loanRead More
June 18, 2021 at 11:15 am
Mary Makes a Meme How it started: How it’s going: On the bright side, having let it it sit empty for two years (and catch fire once), the entrepreneurs who bought the building for $225,000 are hoping to sell it for $399,000. Mary Makes Another MemeRead More