Just read in this week's Coast that HRM's intention with the new jaywalking fine of ca. $700 is "to level the playing field." Are you kidding me? There's a HUGE power imbalance between wealthier car owners and pedestrians, in favour of those wielding automobiles. This disgusting fine punishes health-conscious, non-polluting, can't-afford-to-own-a-car nondrivers, and is obviously created by people who don't actually walk. As a lifelong nondriver, I jaywalk where I do because it is traffic-free in both directions and therefore safer. I find 4-way-stop intersections ambiguous (whose turn is it?) and terrifying, full of bad-tempered, impatient commuters. I've lost count of the times I've nearly been killed in 4-way-top intersections. Jaywalking is safer!! It shouldn't be, but the fact is--it IS safer. —Cites are for people, not cars

What a shock coming back to Halifax on the 30th after Christmas holidays to find the city yet again awash in slush, slop, and snow, still not cleaned up DAYS after a storm. Again streets "plowed" 3 feet out from the curb, instead of tight into the curb. Again sewer catchbasins buried so that meltwater can't drain, but floods and freezes causing a hazard. Again mountains of Bobcat-plowed snow dumped on street corners, trapping runoff so that street corners are obstructed and flooded for pedestrians and those using wheelchairs or walkers or strollers. Again snowbanks are shoved up against the rear exits of buses, making those back exits unusable. Has HRM learned NOTHING from last winter?! —I do a better, faster job shovelling it myself

It's that time of year again; the time of year when pedestrians encroach by necessity into spaces motorists deem to be theirs alone. Uncleared sidewalks, inaccessible curb cuts, out of reach walk buttons all contribute to pedestrians getting in your way even more than usual. So I would like to ask the drivers of Halifax for advice on one particular issue. Imagine, if you will, a busy street with a sidewalk on only one side. Now imagine a pedestrian whose destination is on the side of the street without a sidewalk, in the middle of the block and some distance from a legal crosswalk. While the young and nimble may be able to prance like Legolas atop the ice and snow, the rest of us have two options: cross at the nearest crosswalk and walk in the roadway until our destination becomes accessible, or remain on the sidewalk until we are directly across from our destination and then jaywalk. In low traffic areas, jaywalking is clearly the safer option. Main Avenue, however, is one of the main traffic arteries in Fairview and has a sidewalk on only one side for its entire length. On the Bedford Highway, where the flow of traffic is literally continuous, there are only a few short segments with sidewalks on both sides of the street, and there is not a single crosswalk between Kearny Lake Rd and Larry Uteck. These are just two examples of areas in the city where there is simply no safe way for a person to walk from A to B. So I look to our mighty vehicular overlords for guidance; what must we unhappy pedestrians do to avoid incurring your wrath? Besides just stay the hell home, I mean. —Roadkill

I am not your punching bag, door mat, toilet, or escape. I am only trying to do my job. Please do not assume I can solve all your problems as I am very busy and if you want or need someone to hold your hand, please call your mother. Do not curse, scream and or threaten me with harm if you are offended by the truth. It is time to grow up, put on some responsibility panties and get out of my way. I have just as much right to be here as you do. Do not go out of your way to make my day even more thankless than it already is please. If you only knew what it is you are doing and how many people it does harm. Well, some of you do. But you don't care. And you do it regularly. You know who you are. All of you have some kind of clout in a way because this town does not care about anyone or anything but the status quo. It has always been under my thumb for this town against us, at every turn. We are damned if we do and damned if we don't. We are vilified by everyone and their dog, and the guilty until proven innocent is always the way it goes. We are spied upon, eavesdropped on, denied benefits and privileges, assaulted in a multitude of ways. We are terminated often without just cause, and left penniless without concern of our well being. We are denied time that is owed us and made to suffer because of it. We are at the mercy of all, and often fear for our lives. God help us. —sighhh!

A week ago a close friend tried to take her own life. I did my best to nurse her back to stable mental health and hopefully succeeded a bit. I was then disgusted to learn that prior to this event, and even AFTER this event, her father-in-law has been sexually harassing her—claiming his love and attraction to her, how he wants her after her mother dies and so on. What is wrong with this piece of shit? And I must ask, what is wrong with a mother who KNOWS this is happening and still allows this asshole to stay under the same roof with her, and just yards away from her daughter's apartment? Someone needs a head pounding. —Devoted Friend

Does your landlord claim to be looking into the mold that perpetually grows across your window ledges, in your toilet, on the walls and furniture and on your clothing but then decides it’s not his problem? Does your landlord ignore your complaints of cockroaches in the building and then when you push for something to happen, blame you for their presence? Do you repeatedly ask for a copy of the lease to no avail, until you try and break the lease due to unfit living conditions, and then it materializes? Do you find that when you finally leave the landlord has not only left all the probelms running amok, but has actually raised the rent on the piece of garbage and will be keeping your damage deposit, kthxbiii? Do you reside in Halifax? If you answered yes to one or all of these questions, your landlord is probably a soulless vampire sucking you and your community dry. Get help. Smash private property systems and the ideologies that sustain them. —Boo

I'm so tired of not having a place to meet new people. Yes, being a student, there are many great places; like the library, in class and in meal hall. But those options don't apply to all of us. In particular, when you live off-campus, or are no longer a student, it can be incredibly hard to meet new people. I wish there was a place where people were open and forward about what their intentions were; like a coffee shop SPECIFICALLY tabbed as a place where you are open to having someone randomly come up to you and start a conversation. —Frustrated Potential Friend

I see you, with your first-world stainless steel coffee mug. You think you are better and safer than people with Tim cups. You think you have the right to drink coffee when less-fortunate commuters can not. There ought to be a fancy schmancy coffee mug tax on your bus pass. —Walmart Greeter

Away for a stressful holiday to visit my ageing parents out West and while away two major snow storms happen. I hadn't arranged any snow shovelling before leaving. I live alone. Although I live surrounded by neighbours with snow blowers I arrived home in the middle of the night to a blocked drive way and side-walk. I have no groceries and cannot get my car out. I spend hours shovelling what would have taken minutes for one of the neighbours using their machines... I think it is time for Halifax to give up the sanctimonious, self-congratulatory back-patting about how friendly this place is. Admit it Halifax - you're not that nice... no, you're not nice at all. —Wishing I could say Farewell to Nova Scotia

Ok, I get it. If you can spread the term 'Cisgender' around until it is the politically correct term, then you can imply that Cisgender vs transgender is a choice that everyone makes. This is good for transgender people because it implies that their decision is something every does and not just the transgender crowd. Well, you are wrong. I am part of a group that disagrees with your overly simplistic binary view of gender identification —a feminist at heart