Don Connolly's Halifax 1985 (Nova Scotia) CBHT - CBC Halifax

[@BetamaxKing]

This tape was actually in terrible condition but this is the first copy of this that I've ever come across so I fought with it for an hour. The damage is the worst for around the first 3 to 4 minutes and then it gets better for the rest of the video. Please give it a watch, it's worth it, and enjoy this grainy look at Halifax Nova Scotia through the eyes of local CBC personality Don Connolly. Don retired in 2018 after 42 years in the business.

[@barryrhyno3190]

Do you have a website? I have lots of 80s vhs from hfx that need to be transferred to digital

[@BetamaxKing]

@@barryrhyno3190 email me [e-mail]

[@michaelrmurphy2734]

@truebrowncanadian "Trudeau's Canada"?! Knock it off, old man!

[@UltrafineDeluxe]

Cool to see 1801 Hollis & Purdy's Wharf under construction.

[@BetamaxKing]

Agreed

[@noteveryoneiscutout]

I think shit like this is extremely important to preserve. Thanks for the efforts.

[@BetamaxKing]

I agree completely. I save as much as one man can, the hours I invest in this archive are staggering but I believe in it. You're welcome!

[@HooberTube]

Thins is incredible - so much hasn't changed at all!

[@candanceutube]

This was wonderful!

[@BetamaxKing]

A fun little adventure isn't it?

[@learrus]

I miss this Halifax. It's like a post apocalyptic version now.

[@LANGI902]

It's a totally different city now. Even when I moved here in 2006, it has changed so much. This video is a trip!

[@KyleReese-vt8bo]

Halifax lost it's soul about 2007

[@mistermystery1999]

40 years ago is only half of a lifetime but the city has changed so much in that time

[@KyleReese-vt8bo]

Halifax lost it's soul.

[@darksidetize5183]

Yup… and not for the better, unfortunately.

[@KyleReese-vt8bo]

@@darksidetize5183 Halifax lost its soul in 2006. Its just Apartmentown now.

[@adamwarnell4612]

….and not for the good….

[@travisv6408]

Wow it was so much nicer looking then!

[@HooberTube]

Shot of Don Connolly's place at 12:24! close to corner of South Park / Young Ave. and Inglis.

[@10angrytigers]

I miss this Halifax. Thanks for posting!!

[@BetamaxKing]

You're welcome! Hang around, I'll keep it coming as I find it.

[@lindawilliams6909]

I do too. I moved to Halifax from Truro in 1979. Lots and lots of changes since then!

[@renlessard]

lol a kick seeing my old boss Rob McKelvie make a cameo at the end. Fun video. Brings back a lot of memories for this expat Bluenoser.

[@ricosuave8123]

Seeing the old clubs downtown brings back memories. The Palace, Misty Moon, Secretary’s … good times. The Crazy Horse over in Dartmouth. 👍

[@briangirard4365]

My father worked at The Crazy Horse and The Misty Moon

[@jennifermarlow.]

Ginger's! Ah, those were the days. Thank you so much for salvaging this, and posting.

[@BetamaxKing]

@@jennifermarlow. You're welcome 🤗

[@MrPaul1872]

This is an extreme treat! Some years ago (probably mid-2000s?), I remember seeing part of this footage integrated into a retrospective/then-and-now look at Halifax by modern-day Don Connolly.

[@BetamaxKing]

Wow. I'd love to see that!

[@Nohandle2500]

It’s crazy to hear the metro population was less than 300,000 in 1985. With the population now approaching half a million, that small to mid city feel is quickly leaving. I’ve lived in Dartmouth all my life - up to 10 years ago, you could go just about anywhere in the city in 15/20 minutes. I now can get to Truro from Mic Mac Mall in less time than I can get to Bayern Lake.

[@costcoexecutivemember]

Idk what way you’re going but you’re doing it wrong if it’s taking you that long. unless you mean rush hour

[@hrh-xj4fh]

Hes not wrong ..a direct drive to truro is less time then buzy traffic to bsyers lake

[@herbjergens6350]

I 100%agree!!

[@joelo3527]

Thanks for this, and thank you beautiful Nova Scotia

[@ninjaa54]

Back when Halifax was still recognizable.

[@garyfrancis6193]

I’m from BC. I never knew what it looked like. I thought it was like the fishing village where Popeye lived when he was ashore to see Olive.

[@Habsolutely]

lived in Halifax from 2007-08. Monastary Lane off Quinpool road. Good times.

[@astroblast2325]

Moved out of Monestary in '07, maybe you took over the apartment, lol! Quinpool always brings back a lot of nostalgia despite it being so different, now.

[@Habsolutely]

@@astroblast2325 I feel like everyone I talk to who has lived in Halifax has lined in those apartment buildings on Monastery. Yes I can't believe Video Difference is gone. Is Friedman's still there?

[@KyleReese-vt8bo]

@@Habsolutely No. Also halifax lost its soul.

[@RatchetSly]

It's really weird to see the downtown from 40ish years ago. I walked past a lot of the locations in this on Saturday.

[@darcieturner5423]

Gorgeous model! xo

[@censored297]

Oh thats so cool, you can see purdy’s tower under construction in the background

[@bb6640]

Still paying for those bridges.

[@ricosuave8123]

My grandfather was a member of the Dartmouth Police Force for 31 years, before the HRM amalgamation. He retired in 1979 as an Inspector.

[@Reptiliomorph]

This was fun to watch!

[@seksehfox]

Thank you so much! ❤

[@BetamaxKing]

You're so welcome 😁

[@williamharris8367]

I grew-up in Halifax. Like many other young people, I moved to Alberta (in 1998) mostly for economic reasons. I visited Halifax for the first time in five years a few weeks ago. I hardly recognized the city! There has been so much new development, most especially in Fairview. There are too many people. It is no longer home for me, and I have no desire to visit there again.

[@Del-Canada]

Many of my videos are me documenting the current growth of Fairview. Traffic is insanity now. Cranes everywhere. I remember staggering around this Halifax years ago. lol

[@RandyGrover]

This was great. I really enjoyed that.

[@BetamaxKing]

Thanks. I'm glad

[@Nohandle2500]

I worked security at the Fairview container pier when this video was made. Let me tell you, If you ingested some Peruvian party powder in Ontario, Quebec or Atlantic Canada in the 80’s, it came directly from Buenaventura, Colombia - 98% pure. If you wondered how Halifax could attract some big name returning acts ( Alice Cooper, Iron Maiden, Metallica etc) for a relatively small city back then, you’re welcome 😅.

[@Mars-zgblbl]

15:30 L-R Dave Connolly, Gerard MacDonnell, Steve Munden. 15:54 Dave Mills? 15:58 Wayne Moug

[@ConsuMediaEmpire]

I'm still fairly new to living in Halifax, and it is very cool to see how much has changed! Thank you for this

[@BetamaxKing]

You're welcome!! The real treat are some of the little things that haven't changed or changed much. You'd still be able to find many of the places in this video and visit them in their current incarnations. Welcome to the channel! if you're new here too. But welcome to Halifax! 😊

[@hrh-xj4fh]

Youll never no how cool and fun halifax was...walking down spring garden on a friday night to the smell of ck 1...all the coffee shopps..street entertainers...walk down to the vjbrant bars....no u got scuzzy macdonalds..pan handlers..and alot of boarded up bars....cant go downtown whwn halifax has no rent control and 65% of your pay goes on rent😊

[@grandevizier]

When I was a baby.

[@buckodonnghaile4309]

No cell phones, no backing tracks, no half nekked dancers, just true talent. Sorry, i see that comment on every 70s/ 80s/90s video video.

[@BetamaxKing]

Too right!... On both points 😉

[@MsJeffreyF]

An then 30 years we stagnated and now 40 years later we're unable to handle any amount of growth

[@Nohandle2500]

100%.

[@jeil5676]

Betamax rules!! I probably have some old vid cassettes around somewhere.

[@trinomial-nomenclature]

All I have is audio, but if I slide the little red dot up and down the red bar, I can see the video, but the minute I stop, it's just a black screen with audio playing.

[@BetamaxKing]

Strange. Likely your browser or the app. The video is fine.

[@BrendanRiley]

The highrises ruined the city back then and even worse now.

[@Nohandle2500]

It’s this kind of thinking that has retarded it’s progress till now. Halifax is on a peninsula-the only place to expand is up.

[@Tinkering902]

Nice to see something thats not "This is called a DoNaIr!!!!"

[@tim_the_traveler]

Some brain rot part of me almost thought this was going to be Analog Horror of some kind. but no, it's literally a good ol' clip of a time period I never existed in. Fascinating in all honesty.

[@BetamaxKing]

What brought you here? Where was it posted or did you just stumble upon it on KZbin

[@tim_the_traveler]

@@BetamaxKing oh just stumbled upon it lol.

[@calumryan6328]

I can relate, I hate most seafood except for fish and chips

[@stevebornais1055]

Two Aces!

[@joemacdonald3946]

They are destroying our very way of life….so sad…😢😢..love Halifax, my first city …

[@Nohandle2500]

I’ve lived in my apartment in high field park for just 4 years now. My floor of 25 apartments, there was 19 whites, 4 black & 2 natives. Today, it’s 6 whites, 3 black & the other other 16 apartments are new immigrants - mainly Indian & East African. You hold a door or elevator for them - nothing. Say hi to them- nothing. Their kids are loud, rarely supervised & rude. The super tells me their rents are heavily subsidized by the government. Ive worked , volunteered coached, for 33 years in this city & qualify for zero subsidization. Makes me sick.

[@thestonecanoe3159]

I didn't see any tent cities in this video either.

[@PhilosoFeed]

Agree. Living in Halifax has been spoiled by immigrants. I love immigrants, love Indian people especially.. but jeeeeeesus dude it's way, way, waaaaay too much. Like 100x too much.

[@PP-po6gu]

ok no one asked

[@SLDimarco]

Uh huh, yea sure, it's bigots like you who are ruining this country. It are so insanely ignorant.

[@Slam-]

There’s way to many foreigners in Halifax now, they’re extremely rude and love bringing trouble

[@TheReviewRanger]

I was 4 when this video was aired and I am happy to see so much progress in the city. For decades, Halifax stood still as other cities grew up. Now we are seeing the boom for better or worse, this city is leaving behind the stigma of a dead city. Sure, many people don't like the change or the locations picked for the new towers being built, but in another 50 years, those people will be dead and a new city will be in its place. Why complain about progress?

[@JasonD7726]

And here I thought my hometown of Saint John New Brunswick what's the founding city of Canada where it all started... oh wait yes it is... I do live in Halifax but my hometown is great and has a lot of history but people tend to ignore it because it's not big like Toronto the thing is we don't tear down trees we don't tear down historic properties we don't tear down anything to put new things there of course we tore down the old hospital because that was decaying over the years and a lot has been built up but nothing is taken away the history is still there when you look at Halifax today compared to the video shown here it's making it look like the history of Halifax is hidden with glorified touch ups it's all right for today but if you wanted to see the history of the city you have to go a couple streets away from the Waterfront and the boardwalk and find the historic properties you can't even see Citadel Hill from the water anymore that's how pathetic things have gotten for Halifax where you can't see one of the landmarks in my hometown you see pretty much every landmark and of course just like Halifax in the Halifax back in the day with the Halifax Explosion my hometown went to the same thing with the great Saint John fire in the downtown area a lot was gone but well restored but of course the Waterfront now is being decorated with today's what they say is needed outdoor atmosphere and what they should have kept was the volleyball court and the Coast Guard base because now they have nothing to direct the traffic coming in and out of the harbor on ship but I think the ships know how to say all these days with today's technology but the history is still there and again I'm not saying how fast is a bad place just hides a lot of the history with new construction and demolition of a lot of old property

[@JasonD7726]

He's wrong about one thing the Halifax Harbour is not guarded by mcnabb's island or Georges Island at the opening of the Harbor there is Devil's Island and I don't know why people don't put that on the map it is a haunted island and very few investigated but the ones that I find that say they investigated Devil's Island they were not on the actual Island they were on mcnabs Island and they described the island with mcnabb's Island history and Georges Island history all-in-one which has no history at all with Devil's Island so anybody investigating Devil's Island do your research first before coming to Halifax

[@BillFromHalifax]

It's little india now.

[@moogfooger]

It's not a city anymore. It is some kind of horrible amalgamation of all the worst qualities. Too bad that no one even notices now. Too bad for the residents. It had a lot of promise in 1985, Then it was sold out by greedy politicians and business people. Someone made a lot of money and the taxpayers are still paying the price!

[@CocosIslandicEmpire6677]

As someone who lives in Halifax (not the city part) I honestly understand what your thinking about. There are multiple things Halifax can improve on.

[@moogfooger]

@@CocosIslandicEmpire6677 They call it a city still but it is not, They killed any autonomy that the citizens once had. no representation and less for all.

[@BetamaxKing]

Carefully though. "We can improve on that" is how we ruined a few things in this city.

[@moogfooger]

@@BetamaxKing It's not a city anymore. Neither is Dartmouth, Or Bedford. Remember them? They all used to be proud cities with proud citizens until the 1996 takeover!

[@BetamaxKing]

The biggest issue I find in the wake of amalgamation is distribution of resources. Each community was number one to itself, they had identity. I miss that.

[@ivorypoacherplays]

the good old days before all the homelessness and drugs

[@SLDimarco]

Right, the 80s a time of double digits unemployment in the province (almost twice as high as it is today). Can't see much through the rose tinted glasses eh.

[@Slam-]

@@SLDimarcoyea it’s much better now with tent cities and crack heads everywhere

[@zeemotionalsloth]

Checks notes: Oh yes I see drugs and homelessness were invented after 1985.....

[@hrh-xj4fh]

Halifax...the fun ..the vibrancey died around 2007....it was soooo fun...i moved here in 95!! God thiz city was vibrant and fun...mardi gras...bath houses...gay bars ..tons of straight bars...tons of coffee shopz...crusing areas for gay and straight...reasonable rent...and now in 2024?? ..no coffee shops ..no gay bars..boring night clubs..no saunas...beyond xpensive rent...and i dont mean to sound bitter because in 2024 im just as vibrant xciting and alive as 1995...but halifax isnt........

[@Mme.Swisstella]

2024 halifax is now kind of a contrived, fake city -and has been for several years. I first encountered halifax in 1991 and i preferred it over its current state.

[@binedstudiostotalgame787]

a time before trudeau man what a differant time

[@Trigger200284]

1985, a time after Trudeau as well...

[@jordil6152]

A time before poutines too.

[@binedstudiostotalgame787]

​@@Trigger200284 at least Justin father was at least 1% less authoritarian

[@SLDimarco]

The 80s? Brother the 80s was when Reagan, Thatcher and Mulroney sold out the middle class and privatized state assets. Loom at income inequality and you'll notice a fun trend accelerating at this time. It's nostalgia. NS, and a lot of the Maritimes had awful unemployment and folks left in droves for the west.

[@Trigger200284]

@@binedstudiostotalgame787 if you think Justin Trudeau is authoritarian, you have been wildly misinformed lol. I think it’s funny that conservatives get their panties in a bunch because he’s been in office for 9 years (or less depending on when the argument came up) but Steven Harper had control for 10… 10 years where he embarrassed us in NATO and the UN with braindead policies that lost us seats and a voice on the world stage and complete lack of communication between G20 and G7 nations because he was too good for liberal countries in Europe. He made smoking pot or carrying it a mandatory 2 years in prison under the law… I wonder who sounds more authoritarian? Hmmm…

[@Otis_symbol]

Halifax is boooo now.

[@ev304]

needs more India/Pakistan people that would make this place better and cause no issues in the future lol what a shit ole this place became sad tbh

[@nothanks5846]

Oh, what? You don’t like Delhifax?? 😢

[@xentrix89]

our poor cites looked like they had so much to them i know there were still homeless and such but look at the cites now we have barbarians running around!

[@RascalKyng]

The demographics look like they need more diversity...

[@BetamaxKing]

There's all kinds of diversity here.

[@RascalKyng]

@@BetamaxKing Yeah, all European Canadian...

[@BetamaxKing]

@@RascalKyng Indeed the population is predominantly of English, Scottish, Irish, and French decent, as well as German, Scandinavian, Dutch and Ukranian. While the culture tends to present more with the Scottish and Irish aspects, the blend of these dominant cultures make for a great people, truthfully, some of the nicest you'll ever meet and I'm not just being biased because I'm from here haha. It also makes for a true culinary adventure! Halifax is home to indigenous peoples of the area and also has a small Chinese community and well established Black and Lebanese communities. And you'll find little bits and pieces of just about everything else if you look around.

[@twinsonic]

Diversity is the downfall of every civilization

[@brando3342]

@@RascalKyng Diversity is not our strength, bud. It's our destruction. Unity is a strength, not isolation. If everyone has different culture, tradition, language etc. You get isolation, not unity. Try walking down the streets today and hearing everyone speaking in languages you don't understand. It makes you feel utterly alone, despite being around lots of people.

[@cjones3093]

Bathurst N.B.'s finest - Don Connolly!

[@Hanakowasright]

pretty cool guy

[@donnie8917]

This is so lame and boring.