Hey Halifax! I’m leaving. After 10 years of trying to make a go of it here I got tired of; being paid $20,000 less than I would receive for the same job in Ottawa, more expensive taxes than most anywhere else, costs of living (RENT) higher than Chicago, and in general your anti-intellectualism and mistrust of innovation. You’ve got smart and caring people here trying to build momentum around efficient and creative economic and social development policy change, but the people and intuitions that form the dominant culture don’t see what’s in it for them—so there you have it. I can’t wait to check out the coast line of British Columbia. I hear their ocean is beautiful too. Maybe I’ll bike to get there. I hear they have great bike lanes and public transit. Good luck! —Notaquitter
This article appears in Feb 19-25, 2015.
Welcome to the Club! In one month’s time you will be asking yourself why you didnt do it sooner.
Intuitions forming the dominate culture? Maybe intuition is more abundant on the West Coast. Buh_bye.
Bike Lanes and Pubic Transit
http://storage.torontosun.com/v1/dynamic_r…
FUCK YEAH!
You will love Vancouver.
Why Vancouver? Why not a place like Montreal with a little soul?
This is what you are in for:
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/04/13/real-hipsters-of-vancouver-audition-tapes_n_3064475.html
THE CORPORATE PLUTOCRACY
“You’ve got smart and caring people here trying to build momentum around efficient and creative economic and social development policy change , but the people and intuition (sic) that form the dominant culture don’t see what’s in it for them – and there you have it.” Notaquitter
Your thoughts mirror those of Noah Chomsky in his “Understanding Power” which posits, in the US and its cultural/economic colonies, that there exists an interlocking corporate elite – a controlling business power clique whose tentacles extend to the political Brahman class, the media moguls and the entertainment barons – whose aim is to safeguard their position, perks and power. The rest are just expendable “human resources” to be kept passive and quiescent watching sports and soap operas while obediently serving their interests. You might want to have a look.
A pleasure as always,
Cheerio!
*Noam*
look, I believe there is a city/place for everyone. if op is young, loves outdoor hiking or beach bumming and is willing to get that in exchange for living in a closet and commuting to work crammed into public transit…go for it!
an additional 20k a year will not get you the west coast lifestyle that bc advertises. you have to be RICH. its difficult to live there op. the scenery is gorgeous, the weather is easier for sure. it does get grim in winter with so much rain, although in past years its been easing up. (may lose that rainforest flora however as their climate dries out – oh wait, the developer invaders already cut most of the fucking big trees down already)
there is much to do for free living there. hike, picnic in the parks, wander beaches, but if you want to ski, snow board, club, dine out, shop, gaze at the mountains from your view apt, date, drive you are going to have to earn lots of money. def over 6 figures.
Vancouver and bc do have lots going for them, depending on what kind of life you prefer. however it sounds to me like you have unrealistic expectations. I still think people should travel when possible, live and work in different cites, countries, so you should do this. but be careful on those bike lanes. some drivers there truly hate cyclists and many believe you are vermin if not ‘able’ to drive a status car, ergo you are fair game. the bike lanes are there to give them easy targets.
I heard yesterday , that they are already starting their gardens in Kelowna BC…..
That would be sweet for NS , right about now.
For anyone who has found the winter a bit dreary and depressing, an interesting treatment for Seasonal Affective Disorder:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/sad-no-longer-brilliant-light-cure-for-seasonal-disorder-1.2962056
Fuck man, I’m leaving after only nine months! This place fuckin’ sucks, period. Nobody’s ‘ordinary'(whatever the fuck that means!). On every corner its a gender identity crisis, an eating disorder, an obscure Brazilian drummer and every bloody identity in the toy-box.
What can’t they just Be? Wanting to ‘be something’ secretly tells you that they feel like nobody’s and, therefore, by default, must see everybody exactly the same as they see themselves.
Typical human dysfunction. Someone call ORKIN lol
Fox, I don’t quite share your dystopian view of Halifax (and maybe humanity) but I did get a chuckle out of your “Someone call Orkin!”. I hope you don’t mind if I use that line from time to time when I encounter the n’er-do-wells of the world. 🙂
Eggy: “For anyone who has found the winter a bit dreary and depressing, an interesting treatment for Seasonal Affective Disorder:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/sad-no-longer-brilliant-light-cure-for-seasonal-disorder-1.2962056“
WTF? What are you a psychologist?
But, but we’re just about to fix the transit, the ice will melt eventually, and there’s talk again about commuter rail! I also heard some more rumblings about a football stadium!
Um. Can I get a lift?
B.C really wasn’t that expensive where we lived, My parents had a 4 bedroom house with a double car garage and an inlaw suite, My dad was a carpenter and my mom was a stay at home mom, Combine that with lower taxes, cheaper groceries, No car inspection rip offs, and cars last longer there too for your average person. We didn’t live in a high dollar area though, Our town was beautiful and on the ocean though! We were nothing close to rich and we had a great time, that was the 1990’s though but I checked out the town, still cheaper then here!
I used to think, “Good riddance” when I’d hear or read things like this. I’m getting older now and more in touch with how things really are. I hear you, OB, and I wish you all the best. We can only hope there are steps made to ensure future generations of Nova Scotians are able to make a decent living in their home province without having to go out west.
‘towns’ are usually cheaper than the major city ( except chester or mahone bay of course) but I think op means Vancouver, not parksville or similar, calico. also always harder to land the proper job in a town rather than a city.
even Burnaby, surrey, coquitlam just don’t ‘count’ as Vancouver. east side, fraserview, south side aren’t ‘the’ vancouver. west end counts. downtown. kits. kerrisdale. point grey.
no car inspection? they had aircare inspections for 20 years til 2012. and icy-bicky insurance. govt, not private. so no deals and no discount for being female or older.
this seems pretty accurate. http://www.livingin-canada.com/living-in-v…
Vancouver’s Negatives
Expensive house prices: the highest in Canada (Renting is more affordable)
The highest cost of living of any city in North America
Higher crime rates than Toronto (about 30 percent higher) or Calgary (about 70 percent higher)
Wet, overcast winters
Rapid population growth
Vancouver’s Positives
Lower than average obesity rates
Lowest smoking rates in Canada
Best health and longest lived people in Canada
One in six people walk or bike to work – much higher than typical for Canada
A growing film industry
A strong economy with a wide range of industries and opportunities
A very moderate climate, rarely any snowfall
Moderately warm, dry, sunny summers
Spectacularly beautiful land and seascape that permits a huge range of year round recreation options
An extensive transit system that is primarily electric
Very clean air quality
Consistently ranks in the world’s top three most livable cities
How’s the corporate plutocracy doing out there?
You’ll be back! We all come back home again, so don’t burn any bridges!
Young people – you got to love them! Bye!
Good point Hing Frogg.
Don’t go around spouting off to your friends about how terrible it is here, OB, because you may have to eat crow further down the road. The grass may not be greener for you on the other side and you haven’t actually lived on the other side yet.
Nothing wrong with trying out other cities, though. I highly encourage it when you are young and have no big commitments. It’ll be a good adventure at the very least.
BTW OB, based on your blurb, I suspect you are a Master of Public Administration grad ….hoping to work in Victoria perhaps?
I wish you luck in your venture.
Come to BC. Hasn’t snowed in Victoria since November and hasn’t been below 0 since then either. No donairs though, that sucks…
It rains Everyday during the winter in Victoria.But spring comes early and the cherry blossoms are beautiful.
It sucks everywhere OP, you’ll soon find that out. Except for the beautiful Annapolis Valley of course.
It’s not the place that sucks,it’s the people who live there that make the place unbearable to live in.
“It sucks everywhere OP…except for the beautiful Annapolis Valley, of course.”
Crispy. Unemployment and availability of jobs in the ‘beautiful Annapolis Valley’ is RIDICULOUS. Here in Halifax, retail/grocery/other min wage jobs are handing out part time jobs to anyone who walks in off the street… in the Valley, I often see people going looooong stretches without being able to get a PT min wage job and people jumping for joy when they DO manage to get one.
Halifax is a wasteland as far as jobs and opportunities are concerned, and the Valley is WAYYYY worse.
You’ll find something to hate wherever you live by the sounds of it. We don’t need your negativity.
The only thing you’ll miss will be the donairs, OB. Halifax is an excellent place to go to school, but unless you’re from here and have the connections to get a good job, it’s just not a great place to live – and things are getting worse.
I hope your last job didn’t involve writing, cuz yo sentences are incomplete!!
Having toured around Halifax in the past, I was actually excited about coming here to start a new life. I was utterly disappointed. As if the high tax and high cost of living weren’t enough, it seems every service I got in touch with had to come with a flaw in some way. Most people I see downtown are either disabled, begging, or depressed. Having stayed here for eight months, I’ve come to notice the amazing contrast between summer and winter, but even the vibe of the summer could not make up for the many issues that Halifax has. I envy you. Hopefully I could move away to Vancouver soon too.
Couldn’t agree more as a small business owner struggling in this gentrified “local business” movement it’s not feasible, thinking of heading that way my self. Halifax has changed a lot especially for artist and innovative businesses as you mentioned. I can’t make a living and have a pretty good business idea, people prefer to spend money on less important things however.