2014 in Review

As I have noticed in the past, I am less inclined to write when I am in some kind of routine, as I have been in the year (!) since my last post. I also find academic life doesn’t make for great blog material. But that’s a feeble excuse for my failure to post for the past year, as I have also been involved in plenty of fun and non-academic activities that are well worth reporting. 

After an overwhelming first semester of graduate school, my classmates and I settled in to a slightly gentler routine in January. Perhaps the greatest highlight of the semester was a field trip to Detroit. An international field trip is an annual course in my program, organized and paid for by students. Detroit in February would not be everyone’s cup of tea, but our group of 15 or so loved it. The fact that urban planning is our field of study probably didn't hurt; when the customs official learned the focus of our trip, he said “that’s what we need here.”

Plenty of bad things could be – and have been – said about Detroit, but as it always does, actually being there shows a more nuanced picture. Of all the one-industry rust belt cities, Detroit rose the highest and continues to fall the furthest. There is ample evidence of its collapse in the form of derelict housing, vacant industrial buildings, and cars that move as if awoken from death. That’s all been in the news. What seem to have been ignored in stories about the Motor City have been the scattered signs of revival. Midtown and downtown in particular have seen a boost in their fortunes; real estate in Detroit is one of the more affordable investments a person can make, and many people have. Thus is it possible to drive through unplowed blocks of collapsing housing on the way to a brand new Whole Foods.  

Michigan Central Station

Part of the Heidelberg Project

The abandoned Packard Plant (or part of it)

The Motown Museum

Part of my program is a co-op position, typically taking place after the first year. Throughout my first year, I had been working as a research assistant with the Cities & Environment Unit (CEU), which is associated with Dalhousie. I was lucky enough to be hired on for the summer as well. That work placement had the advantage of allowing me to remain in Halifax and actually shortened my already miniscule walking commute from about 5 minutes to 2 minutes. The work I did was similar to what I had done during the year, although I was able to become more involved in each project as I was now working full-time. Much of the CEU’s work involves planning in First Nations communities, but I was involved in some local projects as well.

During the school year, I had been invited to a friend’s wedding in Rhode Island in May. Getting from Nova Scotia to New England is surprisingly challenging, but I had resolved to make it happen. When driving presented itself as the best option, I thought of other things I could incorporate into a weekend trip with plenty of driving – a visit to Boston, a visit to Northampton – and quickly realized that this trip would be much better with company. I thought the long drive would be a hard sell, but ultimately a group of five of us rented a van and made the trek. All told, it was fantastic. I was able to show off my hometown, meet up with old friends, go to a Red Sox game for the first time in years, and avoid driving all the way from Halifax to Rhode Island and back on my own.

The view from the wedding reception in Narragansett, RI

Our little gang after the Sox game (thanks for the photo, Nathan)

After the trip to Rhode Island (Rhode trip), I stayed put in Halifax for most of the summer. I kept busy with work, played softball once a week and enjoyed a brief visit from my parents in June. It was not until mid-August that I left Halifax again, and this time it was for a hectic three weeks. One of my cousins was getting married in Ucluelet, British Columbia, a great reason for my first visit to Canada’s west coast in ten years. A long day of flying took me from the Atlantic to the Pacific. My parents and I spent several days in Victoria before driving up Vancouver Island to Ucluelet, where we enjoyed a sizable family reunion and celebration. After two this summer, I think I can say I rather like weddings; I’m running out of unmarried cousins, however. I made a brief stopover in Vancouver before flying back to Ontario, where I spent a few days enjoying the last of summer. My parents and I paid a visit to Manitoulin Island and I made sure to kayak on Lake Nipissing before flying back to Halifax to start the term. 

Playing "Martha, My Dear" to the Pacific Ocean (in Victoria)

Out for a stroll in Ucluelet

Spanish Banks, Vancouver

My last post discussed the start-of-term field trip that I took to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia and the surrounding area. This year’s trip went to Prince Edward Island, and I went along as a paid administrative assistant. The term hadn't really started yet and I was able to meet many of the incoming class in a relatively casual setting. I also managed to check one more province off my list of places visited.

Our group refreshing themselves on PEI

The focus of the semester I have just completed was my independent project, a major chunk of credits and therefore, a hefty investment of time and energy. Some classmates and I also “invented” a course that got us in the news, although I managed to be absent every time a news crew came around (see here and here). My final semester begins in January. A major team project will be the focus of my time, but I will also manage to plan this year’s international field trip to Boston and New York and captain the intramural basketball team. Many of my classmates are thinking about what will become of us once we graduate; I will hopefully have too many commitments to spend time worrying about such things.

For all that talk at the beginning about being “in a routine” and not having much to write about, it has been quite a busy year. But all of what I've done pales in significance to the year's most important news - I became an uncle! My brother and his wife welcomed a son in July, I welcomed a nephew (via Skype), and my parents are now grandparents. I’m looking forward to meeting the newest member of our family over this Christmas break.

And possibly writing more often in 2015. Best wishes to everyone. 

P.S. There was also a quick trip to Cape Breton in April and a quick visit to North Bay in November when my Mom was ordained a deacon in the Anglican church. But one can only write so much in one sitting.