Pedestrians in Halifax South End
A large part of Halifax's South End is made up of large blocks of land not broken up by through streets, or "superblocks". They break up the prevailing grid system of streets and can block through traffic, whether vehicular or on foot. They are the result of the original, huge "Halifax Common" being divided up and developed over the years for institutional uses such as hospitals, churches and convents, and universities. Recent developments have even resulted in the closing of sections of existing streets, such as Tower Road between South and University.
Pedestrinas have to walk "the long way around" if there are no pedestrian linkages through these superblocks. A number of walkways through the blocks have been developed, some formally and some informally by usage over time. This mapping exercise shows the pedestrian walkways and crossings in the South End located away from streets and intersections with stop signs.
How the Mapping was Prepared
MapInfo Professional software was used to create the map. The satellite imagery was grabbed from the display window in maps.google.com in a number of sections. Each section was registered against the base map of the network of city streets. The locations of wakways and crossings were digitized in by hand using a mouse.
Because the satellite imagery is high resolution, the viewing software, described below, enables the user to enlarge sections of the map.
Shortcomings of the Mapping
Each satellite image had to be registered separately. The many errors which can crop in with repeated and overlapping registrations results in a poor matching with the underlying base mapping. This is evident upon enlargement.
The streets layer is not up to date. New streets may not be shown, and some now-vanished streets may still be displayed. Street names may not be correct in all cases.
The walkways and crossings locations and alignments are approximate and from memory, and are meant as guides only. The crossings were not complete as of May 18th, 2005.
Downloading and Viewing the Mapping
If you do not have MapInfo Professional software, you must download the free MapInfo ProViewer:
Download MapInfo ProViewer 7.8
Once you have downloaded and installed the map viewer software, you must download and unzip the map files to a new directory that you create:
Download pedestrian map files
Open the map in ProViewer using "File > Open Tables or Workspaces" and moving to the directory you created, Highlight the file "pedestrian_south_end.wor" and "Open".
If the map does not fill the entire window, you can resize it with the menu item "Layout > View Entire Layout". Print and enlarge with the magnifying glass (+) if desired.
To remove layers from the map, go to menu item "Window" and select "1. crossings,streets,...,hospitals Map". Once in new window showing the map without the legend, use meni item "File > Close Table" to remove a map layer. "superblocks" is the cross-hatched rectangles; "streets" is the streets layer in yellow, etc. Print and enlarge as desired.
Return to "Window > Layout" to make a formatted printout of the map without the layers you have closed.
