Wolfville growth and transportation plan
Happy Cities is working with the Town of Wolfville, Nova Scotia to help enable more housing, streamline the development approvals process, and address transportation challenges—guiding the way for gentle density and economic revitalization in the town centre.
Conceptual sketch for Central Avenue, creating a pedestrian street that connects to the Wolfville dykes and waterfront. (Happy Cities)
How can small towns grow while maintaining a sense of community?
Wolfville is a small, rural college town in Nova Scotia with a strong historic main street. Like many municipalities across Canada, Wolfville is experiencing a large gap in housing supply, with 1,705 homes needed in the area by 2032. In 2024, the Town of Wolfville received funding from the Government of Canada’s Housing Accelerator Fund to support non-market housing and increased density in the area, while reducing barriers to housing construction.
The Town of Wolfville engaged Happy Cities to lead planning and engagement for the Housing Accelerator Action Plan, which focuses on the following key areas:
Enable downtown growth while maintaining its heritage and character
Allow for “gentle density” in neighbourhoods, such as basement suites and townhomes
Encourage growth near Acadia University campus, in partnership with the university
Build non-market affordable housing with non-profit housing providers
Happy Cities collaborated with Fathom Studio to identify strategic solutions to meet the Town’s housing needs by enabling more density, streamlining development policies, and bringing life and vibrancy to the downtown core. Throughout the project, Happy Cities played a central role in developing and illustrating redesign concepts for Wolfville’s downtown, engaging the community to hear their priorities for the area, and facilitating discussions to align town priorities.
Transportation Iimprovements
Wolfville also engaged Happy Cities and RVA (an engineering firm) to identify solutions to transportation challenges on Main Street:
Heavy pedestrian traffic can cause car traffic to back up considerably during busy times of year.
On-street parking is poorly utilized, in part because it is free. Some people park all-day long, reducing the number of spots available to customers.
There is a lack of free public parking.
Some intersections feel dangerous.
Wolfville seeks to enable smoother traffic flow and parking while also enhancing Main Street as a beautiful, safe place to walk and spend time. To achieve this, we are working on the following solutions:
Sidewalk bumpouts at key intersections to reduce the time pedestrians spend in the street, which will both help make them safer, and reduce the conflict between pedestrians and cars
Enhanced street lighting at some intersections so that pedestrians are more visible
Traffic lights at three potential intersections to separate pedestrian and car movements
Paid parking on Main Street to encourage more parking turn-over, and to provide funds for potential placemaking improvements
Expanded free public parking lots near Main Street, so that people who want free parking have a good option, without undermining the visual integrity of Main Street
We are currently working on detailed designs for bumpouts, parking lot expansions, and enhanced pedestrian connections.
