Switch: Open Street Sundays is coming to Dartmouth!

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The Planning & Design Centre is excited to announce that Switch: Open Street Sundays is returning to Dartmouth! On Sunday, June 7th from 12p.m. – 4p.m., join us on Portland Street and Prince Albert Road, where the streets will be closed to car traffic and opened up for walkers, rollers, cyclists, dancers, and more!

Local businesses and organizations like Dartmouth Makers, Oldschool Donuts, Halifax Art Bikers, Dartmouth Sportsplex, and Walk Halifax will be there to help us activate the route. If have any ideas for contributing to the success of Switch or if you interested in facilitating an activity, setting up a booth or table, or being a vendor along the route, please contact us at switchopenstreetsundays@gmail.com or (902) 494 8494. We would love to have you with us for this very exciting event!

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Switch Halifax September 21st Schedule

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The Planning and Design Centre is excited for the final Switch Open Street Sunday of 2014. This Sunday September 21st from 12-4 Agricola will be transformed into a paved parkway with all sorts of music, entertainment, and activities on the street and at the Hydrostone. Below is a Schedule of programming and performances for Sunday . See you on the street Halifax. It is free to participate. We will have four main areas of programming and activity for Switch Halifax and two key info areas at both ends of the route.

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Switch Halifax September 21

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The Planning & Design Centre (PDC) is gearing up for year 3 of Switch Open Street Sundays on September 21st from 12-4. Due to construction on North Park the route will be slightly different this year (see map below) running on Agricola Street from Cunard to Young.

The Switch team is excited to be back on the Halifax side and is already well underway in its efforts terms to attract community partners and local businesses to activate the route. If you would like to volunteer for Switch on September 21st please sign up here or if you would like to sign-up your group or organization to have a booth or run an activity email us at Switchopenstreetsundays(@) gmail.com or call 494.8494. Please respond by September 12 to be included in our promotions. If you have an idea reach out and help make this Switch Halifax a success. See you on the streets.

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One Week Until Switch Dartmouth!

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Switch Dartmouth is just over a week away! Once again, we are thrilled with the level of community support for this event. Many community partners, route activators and volunteers have come together to create what we are sure will be a fun and safe day. We have an awesome line-up of events scheduled along the route including face painting, a musical stage, Halifax mobile skate park and St. George’s mini tennis court, just to name a few! As well, Blind Sports Nova Scotia will be providing tandem bike rides. Along Prince Albert Rd. you will find yoga and sports classes. 


Here are just some of the planned activities:

Sunrise Yoga Class

Core Essentials Fitness Classes 

Salsa & Latin Dance Group

Old School Donuts

Clean Nova Scotia Bike Valet

Halifax Smart Trip

Bernie Hart Walking Tours

and many many many others…..

See you on the street,
The Switch Team

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Community Partners & Volunteers Needed!

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The second Switch Dartmouth of the season is fast approaching us on Sunday August 24th from noon – 4pm. We are currently looking for volunteers and interested community partners to activate the Switch route. Once again the street will be opened up along Portland St and Prince Albert Rd to pedestrians, cyclists, dancers, exercise classes, runners, in-line skaters, as well as physical activity and active transportation of every description!

If you would like to be involved either as a community partner or day-of volunteer, please e-mail us at switchopenstreetsundays@gmail.com

See you on the streets August 24th from noon – 4pm! 

 

Thank you Dartmouth

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We would like to say a giant thank you to all of the community partners, volunteers and participants who helped make yesterdays Switch Dartmouth a success! Special thanks to the Downtown Dartmouth Business Commission, Halifax Bike Week and Multifest for all of your hard work and support. Despite the ominous morning weather, we saw no rain for the event and were so thrilled to see so many smiling faces on the street. We are already starting to plan the next Switch Dartmouth for August 24th 2014. If you have any questions or want to know how to get involved, please e-mail us at switchopenstreetsundays@gmail.com, otherwise we hope to see you all there!
If you would like to know more about the Planning & Design Centre (PDC) please consider attending our AGM happening June 23rd from 6:30pm – 8:30pm at the NSCAD Port Campus. Come out to wrap up the fiscal year and get a sneak peak of upcoming PDC events. There will be a discussion panel on the Argyle Street scape plan and light refreshments will be served. We hope that you can make it.
Lastly, GPI Atlantic is hosting a public lecture with Todd Litman of the Victoria Transport Policy Institute tonight, Monday June 16th, at 7pm at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia. The lecture is entitled “Win-Win Transportation Solutions for Equitable and Affordable Communities” and is sure to be an interesting and educational evening. For more information please visit http://www.gpiatlantic.org/events/events.html
Thank you,
The Switch Team
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Schedule for Switch Dartmouth June 15th

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Alright all you Switch Fans, its finally time for a peak at the Switch Dartmouth schedule!! There are only a few days left until the street is opened this Sunday June 15th and we have lots of fun activities taking place along the route. This year the Multicultural Festival will be holding a street party along Portland St. and are bringing with them a pig roast, music, and dancers! Continuing along Prince Albert Dr. you can enjoy a fitness class, mini tennis match, or take in local fair from a selection of food trucks. Check out the map to see more!DartmouthSwitch_ActivityNodes2014

2 weeks until Switch: Open Street Sundays Dartmouth!

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Only two week to go until Dartmouth Switch, happening June 15th noon – 4pm. This is the 1st of two Dartmouth Switch Open Street Sundays planned for summer 2014. The Planning and Design Centre and Dartmouth Business Commission have been busily working away to make this the best Switch yet! This years Switch Dartmouth is also a signature event of HRM Bike Week.  We have many exciting route activators including Moksha Yoga, the Dartmouth Sportsplex and the Halifax Cycling Coalition. A full map of activities and line-up of events will be available soon, so check back here!  The Nova Scotia Multicultural Festival will also be kicking of their 30th anniversary celebration with a street party on Portland St. Enjoy a variety of cultural music and activities while you stroll, walk or run by! June 15th Switch

Switch: Open Streets Dartmouth 2014 – Upcoming Dates

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The dates for the two upcoming Switch: Open Streets Dartmouth 2014 have been selected! Come out from 12:00pm – 4:00pm on Sunday, June 15th and Sunday, August 24th, 2014 to celebrate Downtown Dartmouth!

To make this event successful, we are proposing to close the street to vehicle traffic from Portland and Alderney Drive up to Prince Albert St. and Cottage Hill Dr. To facilitate this, HRM is restricting on-street parking along the Switch route for the duration of the event and would encourage you to park on a side street the night before. There will be no access for local traffic to businesses and residential driveways on the proposed route during the event. In case of emergencies or special circumstances there will be police and route marshals to assist you in accessing your personal property, driveway or business.

See you on the streets!

Building the Case for 2014

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The Planning and Design Centre is getting excited thinking about the potential for Switch in 2014 with three Switch Open Street Sundays in 2013 there is a lot of momentum.

But in order to build the case for Switch it is helpful for us to understand people’s experience in Switch Open Street Sundays in 2013 in Halifax and Dartmouth. More specifically, how do Open Streets help to build community or change the way people think about our public spaces (streets)?

Below is the link to a short survey.
Please help us share this link around so we can make a stronger case for more Switch Open Street Sundays in 2014. Also stay tuned for exciting volunteer appreciation event in early November.
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