Thank you for your continued interest in the Halifax Regional Municipality’s Suburban Plan!

This issue of the newsletter providesabrief summaryofwhatwe’ve learned so far from our various engagement opportunities and provides an update on upcoming engagement opportunities. Events and activities for this first phase of public engagement will be running until Fall 2026.

Phase 1 Engagement So Far

Preliminary Survey Responses Are In!

Our introductory survey asks participants questions to learn more about their community and interest in the Suburban Plan, including how complete they think their community is. While the survey has been extended to June 30, preliminary results say that some participants from suburban communities feel that their communities are quite complete, while other residents feel their communities lack some of the services and amenities they would like to access locally.

The table below provides a snapshot of feedback received so far through the open-ended question in the survey related to complete communities. An in-depth analysis of all survey data received will come after Phase 1 of engagement is complete.

Complete Communities Questions: Sentiments from Written Responses
Most common sentiments	Count	Percent of Respondents	Community differences*
Improve transit services	138	21%	Greatest proportional demand from Fairview, Armdale, Lakeside, Bedford, Eastern Passage, and Lower Sackville.
Traffic and congestion concerns	93	14%	Significantly high percentage in Beaver Bank (expressed by 30% of respondents vs. average of 9.7% across all other communities).
Need more commercial services	84	13%	Greatest proportional demand from Eastern Passage and Lakeside.
Improve pedestrian experience	74	11%	Significantly higher demand from Timberlea, and somewhat higher demand from Lower Sackville, Beaver Bank, Armdale, Lakeside, and Spryfield.
Want more recreation facilities	71	11%	Significantly higher demand from Eastern Passage, Fairview, Herring Cove, Middle Sackville, and Timberlea.
Improve AT infrastructure	67	10%	Greatest proportional demand in Armdale and Middle Sackville.
Concerned about infrastructure	49	7%	This sentiment was proportionately higher in Timberlea.
*Significantly higher percentages of the sentiment were noted when compared to the average across all communities.

Kickoff Open Houses

Our February and March newsletter included event specific summaries of each kickoff open house. To read those newsletters, please visit our project page. From over 2,500 commentsprovided at our seven kickoff open houses;these were the most common topics:

1. Parks and conservation areas :226 mentions
2. Public transportation: 222 mentions
3. Pedestrian realm: 203 mentions
4. Active transportation: 141 mentions
5. Traffic congestion: 128 mentions

Main Street Workshops

Our April newsletter included a summary of our Main Street workshops that we hosted in March and April. To read our last newsletter please visit project page. Several themes areemerging from our Main Street workshops, including:

• A desire for more community spaces for residents to connect and host events;

• A safer experience for pedestrians accessing businesses and walking along streets;

• Celebrating community identity through art, beautification elements, and supporting local businesses;

• Openness to mixed-use buildings at varying scales;

• Encouraging space for outdoor patios, seating, landscaping, and shade outside of businesses;

• Recognizing the competing transportation, commercial and community functions of main streets;

• Ensuring main streets are accessible, inclusive, and welcoming; and

• Encouraging housing that meets a variety of needs.

A complete report on the main street engagementworkshops will be available in the fall.

Since January, the Suburban Plan team has hosted several in-person engagement sessions across our suburban communities. We’ve learned from residents from all corners of our suburban communities what makes their communities great places to live, what their future visions are, and challenges they are facing. Working on a new community plan would not be possible without the time, effort, and enthusiasm our suburban communities have shown us. Thank you!

Online Survey Reminder

So far, we have had over 700 survey responses, thank you to everyone who has taken the time to participate! This survey is the first of many during the suburban planning process. This survey will close on June 30^th so we have time to analyze the feedback we’ve received in preparation for our Fall engagement events. More surveys and online engagement opportunities will be available in the future. To find the survey, please visit our project page.

Analysis of all feedback underway

So far, we have engaged more than 2,000 community members through in-person and online engagement opportunities. Staff are continuing to analyze all the feedback, ideas, and concerns received so far. This information will be summarized into a What We Heard Report, which will be published after this phase of engagement is completed this Fall. Stay tuned!

Upcoming In-Person Engagement Opportunities

Herring Cove Suburban Plan Open House

Date: June 17th

Time: 6 - 8 p.m.

Location: Herring Cove Community Centre, 30 Latter Pond Lane

Suburban Plan staff are hosting an open house to learn more about Herring Cove. We want to learn what’s important about your community, what challenges your community is facing and what you hope to see in the future for Herring Cove. The open house is also an opportunity for residents to learn more about what the Suburban Plan is and ask staff questions. An introductory presentation on the Suburban Plan will begin at 6:30, but feel free to drop-in at any time.

Fall Engagement Opportunities

We are planning a series of open houses and pop-upsto complete Phase 1 of engagement in the Fall, so stay tuned for information on those. Events will take place across the suburban area. Once these engagements wrap up, we plan to use everything we’ve learned from the public, studies, and research to create a draft Suburban Plan and Land Use By-law, which will be released to the public for review. Phase 2 of engagement will include opportunities to provide feedback on the draft plan and land use by-law.

How can you stay in touch with us?

While in-person engagements will slow down over the summer months as we focus on summarizing engagement data and researching topics for the Suburban Plan, we’re always available by email or phone to share your thoughts and ideas!

Email: suburbanplan@halifax.ca

Phone: (902) 499-0607

Website: www.engagehalifax.ca/suburban-plan

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