FAQs
- a range of housing types for all ages, incomes and abilities
- places to work, learn, and shop
- access to nature, green space and recreation
- frequent, convenient and accessible transit
- active transportation, trails and roads
- amenities and services such as healthcare, childcare and emergency services
- The Young District is generally centered around the Young Street corridor and is bordered by Almon Street (south), Windsor Street (west), Columbus Street (north) and Robie Street/Massachusetts Avenue (east). This area captures neighborhoods with the highest potential for change in the future. Recommendations for new infrastructure or upgrades to existing infrastructure will be limited to this area only.
The Analysis Area includes the Young District and surrounding neighbourhoods. The area is generally bordered by Almon Street (south), Oxford Street (west), Columbus Street (north) and Gottingen Street/Novalea Drive (east). Existing conditions, infrastructure demand, and future needs of the Young District cannot be understood in isolation from the wider context. Therefore, any analysis completed as part of this project will include surrounding neighborhoods.
- Understand the future demand for transportation, water, wastewater, stormwater, power, and communication infrastructure
- Establish a vision and design principles for the Young District and harness the area’s potential to transform into a complete transit-oriented community, where people can live, work and play within a reasonable walking distance
- Inform the requirements and location of future enhanced BRT stations and a potential transit terminal
- Understand the impacts of proposed changes on property acquisition requirements, developability of land, multimodal operations, utilities and the environment
Understand the social and community benefit, as well as the return on investment of proposed infrastructure changes
- Inform the requirements and location of future enhanced BRT stations and a potential transit terminal
- Guide the phasing and implementation of infrastructure improvements to achieve the intended vision for the Young District and leverage upcoming public and private investments in the area
- Develop and strengthen coordination of efforts and relationships between the municipality and external stakeholders
- Understand the range of possible solutions and guide decision-making for public and private infrastructure investments over the short (1-5 years), medium (5-10 years) and long-term (10-30+ years). Proposed solutions may include new infrastructure or upgrades to existing or planned infrastructure, policy changes and strategic initiatives, among others. The proposed solutions shall include:
- Transportation network upgrades such as new streets, roadway realignments, street extensions, car-free streets, pedestrian-only streets, service/access roads, transit priority corridors and ‘AAA’ bicycle routes, among others.
- Streetscaping Design Guidelines, including a palette of surface materials, landscaping and street furniture, among others
- Local and area water, wastewater, stormwater infrastructure upgrades
- Strategy for undergrounding power and communication infrastructure
Where is the Young District located?
The Young District is located in the North End of the Halifax Peninsula. It contains several large, vacant or underutilized lots with significant redevelopment potential. It also includes the Halifax Forum site, a historic and important recreational facility and is within a 10-minute walking distance of the Hydrostone District, a National Historic Site.
How large is the Young District?
The Young District is approximately 52 hectares in size.
What is the difference between the Young District and the Young Street Lands Future Growth Node (FGN)?
The Young District is a large area of land that contains several parcels that extend beyond the boundaries of the Young Street Lands FGN. The district includes the Young Street Lands FGN, Kempt Road Lands FGN, Halifax Forum, the Superstore site, Young Kempt Centre and other parcels located north of Young Street.
What is a ‘Complete Community’?
Complete Communities are neighbourhoods that provide:
What’s the Study Area for the Infrastructure Plan?
The study area for this project consists of two geographic areas: the Young District and the Analysis Area.
What are the objectives of the Infrastructure Plan?
Key project objectives include:
How will the Infrastructure Plan be coordinated with the comprehensive neighbourhood planning process?
The Infrastructure Plan will help inform how the Young Street Lands FGN gets redeveloped by providing key information, such as development capacity and street-grid design and act as an important guide throughout the planning process. The project teams assigned to the Infrastructure Plan and the Young Street Lands FGN will work closely with each other to coordinate the phasing of future development and proposed infrastructure investments within the Young District. In addition, public engagement sessions will include staff involved in both projects to provide clarifications to the attending public.
What is a Future Growth Node (FGN)?
Future Growth Nodes (FGN) under the Regional Centre Plan are large areas of land which can accommodate significant development and require a comprehensive neighborhood planning approach before development can take place. This allows for public feedback, the planning of
How long will the Young Street Lands FGN planning process take?
Completion of the comprehensive neighborhood planning process is expected to take approximately 18 months.
How can the public participate in the comprehensive planning process?
Regional Council approved a public participation program as part of the comprehensive planning process. While the public participation program will consist of two specific public engagement sessions the public will nonetheless be able to provide their concerns and feedback throughout the comprehensive planning process. There will also be a survey provided on this site for the public to respond to and provide their feedback. More details on the public engagement sessions and the survey will be provided on this site as the project progresses. For more information on the public participation program, please see the Initiation report that was approved by Regional Council on November 28, 2023.