The Quinpool district usually refers to the commercial section of Quinpool Road, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, as well as a few streets to the north and south of it. A fairly eclectic variety of local businesses line the street, including some of the city's best Chinese and Greek restaurants. The art-deco Oxford Theatre, playing mostly independent and underground films, can also be found on this street. The street terminates in the "Willow Tree", an awkward five-way intersection, so named because public hangings apparently took place at a nearby willow tree on the Halifax Commons.
While the street is an important commercial district in Halifax, it also forms an unfortunate barrier between the city's North End and South End, both physically and socially. The area is also home to two rival high schools, St. Patrick's High and Queen Elizabeth High.
Quinpool Road is also Halifax's fast-food stretch, with McDonalds, Wendy's, KFC, Subway, and a dozen family-run eateries serving pizza, hamburgers and Nova Scotia's popular donair.
Quinpool Road is known for its bright neon lights that come alive after dark, turning the street into an entertainment district, for dining out or eating on the run, for taking in a movie at the fabulous "Art Deco" Oxford Theatre or grabbing a video and heading home.
Quinpool Road, with a variety of beauty parlours and hair stylists, is also the place to be pampered or to finish off the day with a bunch of flowers and an old-fashioned bag of candy.
However, some areas of the city are seen as problem neighbourhoods, notably Spryfield in the city's Mainland South district, the Gottingen Street area in the North End and parts of Dartmouth.
Although there is debate as to whether these perceptions are valid, these areas tend to have higher rates of drug-related and violent crime than the rest of the city.
A proposal in 2003-04 to widen Robie Street north of the commons met with vocal local protests, leading to a compromised, smaller expansion of the road.
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