A Living and Learning Community

Like it or leave it, Halifax is a student city. It's not just a city with half-a-dozen universities dropped in the middle of it, rather it is a city with multiple campuses that are both communities of their own, and are intricately and awkwardly woven into a much larger community. This creates challenges for our municipal officials when tackling difficult issues like public safety, public transportation and urban design.

Believe it or not, student's pump over $300 Million into the HRM economy each year, benefiting not only the universities that are busy inhaling our tuition fees but also our local businesses and entrepreneurs. While most don't pay property tax directly, we rent from landlords or universities who do, and many live at home with parents who pay property tax.

Proactive planning for a student friendly city isn't going to be easy. The problems our city students face aren't going to be solved simply by adopting new policies and putting money in new projects. A grassroots, multistakeholder approach is what is needed. Student unions and student associations need to be involved, university administrations need to be involved, the HRM obviously needs to be involved, and community members need to be involved.

In order to solve the problems our city faces, we need to begin to break down the campus-community divide. Student's on campus all too often live and think in a bubble, nescient to the neighbouring environment. Neigbourhoods can often make students feel isolated when they move into their first apartment; treating them as a problem first and a neighbour second. I'd say a real solution would require cooperation from both sides, but the reality is that any affable agreement is fundamentally going to require students be viewed as members of their community, and likewise accepting the responsibilities of being such.

There are several things we can do to start encouraging this kind of movement. Universities can begin offering credit for applied learning initiatives that challenge students to put their learned skills to help our community, as Don Clairmont suggests. Student associations like the DSU can (and do) work with existing community associations to help solve some of the problems our neighbourhoods are facing. The municipality can take a leadership role, and ensure consultation with students is a priority.

Earlier this year Dalhousie, Saint Mary's and NSCC students joined together to fund the Halifax Student Alliance (HSA), a municipal advocacy group that works on behalf of students to make our city a safer, more affordable, more youth friendly place to live. This year will be the first year the HSA will be fully operational, and we're working to achieve our goals by doing many of the things I've already mentioned, and many more. If you're interested in getting involved, learning more about our issues or speaking to your campus HSA rep, drop me a line at dsuvped (at) Dal (dot) ca .

- Mark