In this paper I examine the case of Uniacke Square, in the context of the forces currently shaping downtown Halifax and other urban centres, the experience of inner-city public housing projects elsewhere in North America, and the conditions leading to gentrification in neighbourhoods close to central business districts. I argue that these forces are at work in North End Halifax, and are placing Uniacke Square and its tenants at risk. And I consider the alternative, which is public investment in the form of neighbourhood revitalization that is built on the strengths of, and undertaken with and in the interests of, low-income tenants. This community-led, communitybuilding approach, I argue, is preferable for low-income people in an era when affordable, good quality, low-income rental housing is in perilously short supply.
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