Ah, the Maritimes—friendly folk, lobster, sea breeze and pale ale. And Halifax! Represented by the most articulate woman in Parliament, Megan Leslie. Home to a prestigious university, an affluent school with a cool name. It’s all so charming, right?
NOPE.
Halifax is just coffee chains, graveyards, churches. Rude old people. Dirty, rat-infested infrastructure.
Sure, Halifax was an ideal settlement during the colonial era, since it was the port city in between America and Europe, but its moment has passed. Halifax is a sad, rejected, ugly, conservative city with no good shopping, no rapid transit and uptight liquor laws. (Most bars per capita? Lies.)
Without the university, it would be completely obsolete. Sorry not sorry. #Migration to Montreal 2013 —lshepz
This article appears in Nov 1-7, 2012.
Tell us something we don’t already know, Sherlock.
Are you seriously expecting Montreal not to be full of all of those, because lo fucking l.
bye bye!
i like graveyards
That’s why I live in Hillbilly Hollow, OP – at least we have three-legged lobster races and some fine salty dulse to chew. The Halifax City I knew is now a festering pustule of malignant ooze, belching out booze, bad food and bums by the ton.
Safe trip … take care OB.
lovely descriptive writing madame
yeah, and we got a new mayor and he raises their salaries already. it’s gonna be another 4 long fucking years.
you wouldn’t be happy anywhere… Whiny first-world fuckers like you never are.
You’ll be singing a different tune when Kay-beck decides to leave the Dominion and you’re forced back to the “colonial era” to survive after the ensuing chaos. That arts degree that you came all the way to NS to get should come in real handy then, non?
“Halifax is just coffee chains, graveyards, churches.”
Compared to Montreal?? lol Coffee chains – well, we COULD have went with a strip club on every corner but none of you students would have a place to tap on your laptop keyboard or have part time jobs. (Well, MOST of you anyway).
Graveyards – What? They don’t bury their dead in Montreal? Oh THAT’S right…they put a stick in their hands, a jersey on their backs and call them a hockey team! Ah death in Quebec….the ultimate separatist movement.
Churches – You’ve obviously never driven through the Eastern Townships or the Charlevoix region. At least we actually curse when we’re pissed off, instead of just reciting objects found in a Catholic mass.
ok, admitting my love for halifax right off the bat. the second i saw it i fell in love. it’s vancouver before it got nasty.
but sure it’s not for everyone. we’re not cookie cutter people, we have different desires, preferences, activities. the poster’s is for shopping, getting places in a hurry and drinking. ok then. go find your bliss.
anyway, most people should travel. i think it’s kind of wierd to stay in one place all your life, but hey, that’s just me.
one thing i would like changed about halifax? keep the darn gardens open all year.
Montreal is actually kinda nice.
Montreal’s great but a way bigger city. Plus you’re in Quebec, so while they aren’t as lazy as us, they are less polite/friendly. And we have the ocean, which come July/August crushes anything Quebec or Ontario have to offer. Quebec has better food, Ontario worse (but cheaper). We have pretty miserable winters and they have easy access to the US. Surfing/sailing here are great and good luck getting out of Toronto or Montreal at rush hour on a Friday. Can’t say too much for our public education or our universities as teachers unions make it difficult to compare. Anyway, too bad you didn’t enjoy it but it’s vey different here as an adult? than as a student.
you like Montreal so much OB? lol, you better be able to speak french well & learn what snotty whiny people are, cause it full of them!!
or better yet go farther, to Toronto, thats where you’ll learn the real meaning of snobbery & self-indulgent pricks, cause its full of them!!
I moved here from Ontario, 4 months ago, LOVE IT!!
bye whiny little OB! dont let the door hit your whiny butt on the way out!!!
Born and raised in montreal. I ‘m very proud to say I’m from Montreal. I have lived in Nova Scotia for the last 22 year. I have a sister that still lives in montreal. I have went home twice since moving here. I do have to agree with op there are way to many graveyards in Nova scotia The cost of living in Nova Scotia is higher then it is in Montreal. The food in Montreal is like no other they know how to cook. There is lots to see and do there as well. The last time I was in Montreal I could not believe how much it’s changed and not for the better let me add. The subways are disgusting the smell of urine cigaret butts everywhere. I couldn’t belive how rude the people were if you didn’t speake French they were ruder. The pollution in the air the bridges that are falling apart and the drivers are crazy. When walking on the sidewalk at Atwater market a lady hit me with her car and then had the nerve to yell at me i was the one on the sidewalk. Everyone is in such a rush. In Nova scotia the air is cleaner the people are nicer and the province itself is breath taken. Living in both provinces I can say that Nova Scotia is the place I want to be for everything Montreal has the one thing it doesn’t have are the people this province has. People in Nova Scotia are so friendly.
I lived in Montreal when I was younger for the better part of a year, would love to go back.
It’s tough to get started here, a lot of people leave to get themselves established, many don’t come back. The only thing Halifax really has going for it in my mind is how easy it is to get around. IF you have a car. We don’t get the crazy traffic and super long commutes that other cities suffer through.
If you want to live downtown and go out on weekends, Montreal is the place for you, but if you’re interested in settling in the burbs and raising a family, unless you can shell out upwards of a million dollars for a home you should be here.
Montreal’s a big party. Everyone always talks about how friendly Nova Scotians are, I don’t know. I don’t really buy it, but more importantly I guess I just don’t give a shit. I’d rather have a bustling downtown with lots of cool stuff to do and a pro sports franchise than friendly people. I could give a damn how friendly people are. I got enough friends. The low wages and high taxes certainly outweigh some damn friendliness.
Montreal’s pretty crazy lately though, I’ve been reading The Gazette. Multiple firebombings, stabbings, shootings, the city hall being raided amidst widespread corruption investigations, cops running around pepper spraying peaceful protestors, the head of the Mafia back on the street after 10 years… AND there may be no Habs this year. You might want to play it safe for a little while down here till things blow over!
In regards to the Ocean, yeah, it’s great for those two months out of the year if we’re lucky. One could always live in Quebec or Ontario and vacation/retire here. I know a few people who do it.
I have a french name and speak fluent french though, it can be hard to be english with and english name for certain career paths in Quebec, but there are people of all cultures and backgrounds who are successful in Montreal, that shouldn’t stop you.
Just because it is shit for you doesnt mean it is for everyone. I love it here and when I visit my sister in Montreal and my cousins in Toronto I am always relieved to be back here. I don’t like fast-paced places and if anything, I look forward to moving further out of the city someday.
secretagent … I used to live in Halifax, spent several years on the move, Montreal, Toronto & then moved back to NS …Sackville first then into Dartmouth & have been back here for 20+ years . I moved out of Halifax to the boonies ( out past Elmsdale near Dutch Settlement) 11 years ago & I love it out here.
If I had to make a complaint ….it is too many people lately have been getting the same Idea I had & moving out this way. IF it keeps up, I’m going to move deeper into woods ,so if yer serious about moving , look out this way, we still got lots of room ~:)
I have travelled the world and I still rank Halifax as being one of the best cities to live in. Sure our climate can be shitty at times, but we can’t complain.
the climate is ‘bracing’ hahaha ( i used to be a weather girl) i have lived in bermuda, and in the yukon. this is just right.
to each his own. find the kind of city that suits you. don’t expect the city you currently live in to stand on it’s head and change completely just to suit you. move.
that’s not to say if the city you generally love has stuff that needs fixing, improving you should avoid criticism.
but really, to say that halifax should morph into a megalopolis because you want to shop? doh!
and don’t discount the value of friendly population. it affects EVERYTHING. if people are discontented, stressed out, afraid and pushed in their day-to-day life, they are going to be closed to human kindness to strangers.
i think it has to do with density.
I tell ya, I’m not stopping so close when I bolt the fuck outta here.
*fingers crossed*
Au revoir mes amis.
tf??? you not moving away, are you?
When you get to Montreal, look up smeagol (I’m sure you two wil hit it off just fine).
You’ll find him at the “Campus” Bar, searching for Amanda Love.
Recently moved to Montreal from Halifax, can’t say it’s much better here!
If you don’t speak French and are not already an established professional, be prepared to be working at the back of the house doing dishes or cooking. Concerning rude people, well they come from all age groups here and I have had the most rude experience of my life here when walking my flat tired bike home and a women shouldered me on purpose while yelling about “Velos”! There is a great transit system here and lots of choice for food, but with a big population comes lots of people to support bad restaurants, really bad sushi, and no food near as good as Halifax. So the grass isn’t alway greener on the other side. Stick with just visiting! BTW, Montreal has the largest graveyard in North America so lot of dead bodies here too:)
Grass isn’t always greener!