I dont understand the crazy rents of downtown. I dont know who made these rat holes and labeled them apartments. You’re telling me somebody naming him/herself an architect has DESIGNED these holes? Dont even think about the bachelor. The 1 bdr? Put a partition in the bachelor and there you go, oh, and 200$ more. You dont like the filthy carpets? 100$ more for hwd floors. And dont forget, its a yearly lease, and after that, god knows how much the rent is increasing. I can’t find a single reason why the HRM doesnt run a bulldozer over these stinking buildings, made probably before WW2. I dont know why they dont arrest the landlords. I dont know who made these one-way tenant/landlord laws. I dont know why they care to publish these laws and hand them in pamphlets to me with a smile, come one brother, tell me the essence in a sentence: all tenants are to bend over for the landlords to fuck them over and over, oh, and dont forget the smile. BTW, I dont live in downtown to be near “everything Halifax has to offer”, I live here because Dal is here.
—International student with serious language and cultural barriers
This article appears in Feb 19-25, 2009.
You’re pathetic.
If you’re at Dal, and an international student, move into Fenwick. Man, they’ve got the top two floors dedicated to international students. Same shitty apartments, but hey, at least you’re support the school. Mind you, you kinda sound like the rich, self-important international student that tends to populate Dal. Why don’t you ask daddy for money and get a condo?
If they think rents here are bad maybe they should try Toronto, Vancouver, or New York City. LOL
Why do you think they’re here in Halifax?
Funny, NSCAD’s in Halifax and I spent 4 years with a short short bus ride and a slamming house rental on the dark side. Mmm trees and lawn.
So did you shop around at all?
As a former lolifax resident I can empathize with this bitch. Having lived in many other cities across Canada and the US, it is my observation that the rental environment in lolifax is utterly craptastic. Over-priced and overrated.
@Bastard Fish: Kudos on spelling “you’re” correct. Your icon and user name scream pathetic though. Perhaps you should work on your social skills and find a picture of something less desperate as your icon. Just saying….
I love how you pay approximately $200+ a month more if the apt has a balcony than an apt that is exactly the same but without a balcony.
Obviously the OP hasn’t lived in a city like Toronto. The same $1100 I pay in rent for a three bedroom/5 appliance/new concrete construction/hardwood floor/two bathroom apartment will get you at most a very VERY shitty shitty one bedroom in Toronto.
You think you’ve seen rat holes in Halifax? Fuck.
Dr Fever’s right: get daddy to buy you a condo.
What does the rent in Toronto have to do with the rent in Halifax; Nothing at all? Why not make comparisons to the rent in Tokyo or Kathmandu? I have lived in east Africa and I can tell you that rent is dirt cheap there; however it is proportionate to the income you earn.
The point of the bitch was that the Op was frustrated with the rental property situation in Halifax. There is inflation on the peninsula that is not in proportion to the rest of the market. A house or rental unit on the peninsula is almost double proportionately to other areas of the city. Moving to Dartmouth would insure you a cheaper rent and possibly a nicer place for what you pay, however for non motorists with busy schedules (single mothers, people with two jobs) it is not really a viable option because of the poor performance of our transit system.
If “poor” transit performance is the issue, then they can move to the fairview/clayton park area. Last time I counted there is one bus route that goes to Dal, and two to both SMU and MSVU directly. Sure, you’re not 5 minutes away, but rent is reasonable and you’re less than an hour away from the universities on the bus. I honestly think that the OP has an issue with commitment. The only reason why students want to live close to the university/downtown is to party. 9 times out of 10 that’s the reason for people living in that area. Don’t like high rent in the area? Live in residence. You get to focus on your studies more, and rent isn’t an issue, you paid everything up front. It’s either that, or the students in Halifax have unrealistic expectations of what is considered “student” accommodations. Grow up and be realistic kids.
To Dr. Fever,
Thanks for the attention. Some points:
1- How do you get from my post -moaning about rents- that I am rich or have a rich daddy?! FYI, up to now i have managed avoiding overseas daddy-money. Have in mind the mind blowing tuitions of Dal and tickets to Iran.
2- your second comment is completely illogical; in all universities student residents are nearby the campus. I’ve been a student for 8 years now; I dont think a REASONABLE (quality and price) resident nearby the university for a grad student is “Unrealistic Expectations”.
3- Why are you trying to psycho analyze me through a 200 word bitch?!
4- Cheers
I really don’t know why people continue to bitch about rental prices and the state of rentals in the downtown core, when, as Dr Fever said: you could just move to Clayton Park (or even fairview)? Cheaper rent and in Clayton Park West, nicer apartments. And transit to major universities is pretty decent as there are three direct busses from Lacewood to SMU/DAL and many other routes that aren’t direct but don’t take that much time depending on what time of day you’re traveling.
Also, nn, it’s pretty common for rents to be inflated near a university campus. Doesn’t really matter where you go to school. Rents in Wolfville, for example are heinous compared to the outlying areas (even more of a rip off than Halifax, trust me) because Acadia’s occupancy in Wolfville drives the prices up. There’s no reliable public transit in Wolfville either, so you’re pretty much stuck in Wolfville if you don’t have a car. MT is very decent in comparison.
Try getting a decent apartment around any university for a decent price. Likely not going to happen.
That’s just life in Canada, my friend. Universities drive up the prices of rent and property values. Doesn’t mean it doesn’t suck, but ’tis life.
Then you’d better leave the city, NN. Sorry buddy, unless you’re in residence (and even then, not so much), there is no such thing as cheap rent around the universities in the HRM. People have made fortunes from the students in that area, and they’re not gonna stop anytime soon. I went to Dal too– I’m more than well aware of how expensive that school is. Here’s the thing. IT IS a unreasonable expectation for reasonable rent in that area, the property values don’t allow for cheap rent. I’ll boil it down even further for you, just in case that Masters you’re taking isn’t in Economics/Finance. High demand + Low supply= High prices. The reason why it’s so unreasonable is that you’re expecting a tiny area of land to have decent rent in the most expensive area of the city! I don’t know where you were a student before Dal, but most of the people I know who went to this area’s universities did not live on or near campus. Look, I’m just saying that regardless of your situation (rich or not, although if you’re an international student, you don’t have any government funding, the university is most likely robbing you blind, the money’s gotta come from somewhere) you’re going to leave the centre of the city to find cheap rent, or make some significant sacrifices and live poor like 90% of all other university students in this city.
In light of the current economy crisis, I think you will see a lot of these overpriced shitholes plummeting in price otherwise they are going to be fucking empty. These cocksucker landlords’ luck is finally going to run out as the economy continues to tank and there are serious job losses in this region. Unfortunately, that does not help you now. As suggested, Clayton Park is a very good option, stay away from downtown. Good luck.
Yeah, Rafiki? I had a single mom working full time and dependent on getting out of Cole Harbour by bus, and I went to school+worked full time out of Dartmouth. It’s plenty “viable” using MT. They really don’t suck THAT bad(this was driven home so hard when I had to use transit in Moncton. Eeeeygh).
Swamp Donkey.. Maybe you were lucky. But for most the transit system here is not cutting it. There are transit systems in place in cities like Ottawa, Toronto; London England, and New York that can accommodate large percentages of the population; making it possible to live outside of the city core, but to reach it in a half hour or less. Have you ever taken the 80 to Halifax? It can take up to an hour and a half during rush hour. Have you ever been somewhere inside the city and found yourself off of the bus route with no other option but to walk? Try getting from Waverly to Halifax. And have you considered, after midnight? Buses in Ottawa run all night. In Halifax they stop at 1230. So If I have a night Job, How do I get home from work? Guess I may have to live downtown and Pay that Rent.
Rafiki– What job would force you to work downtown overnight, that doesn’t end before 5 am? If so, is the job worth all that trouble?
The 80 might take an hour during rush hour, but there are other options, like, say the 84. When I used to take the 84 I’d get downtown from Glendale in 20 minutes.
As for Ottawa, I lived there, and yes the transit system is better than halifax, but, they also have MANY more busses, MANY more riders and their fares are more expensive. They have more $$$ and a higher income demographic to support such a large/frequent fleet. You can’t really compare a city like Halifax to a city like Ottawa and ESPECIALLY a city like Toronto. The amount of people riding the subway at any given time is MASSIVE compared to ridership in Halifax.
And an interesting note about Toronto: the subway only starts running AFTER 9am on Sundays. MT’s up and running for a couple of hours at least by then.
ALSO: it would regularly take me an hour to get from the experimental farm on carling to the rideau centre, on the bus during rush hour in ottawa. And that’s a MUCH shorter distance compared to Sackville-Halifax. Just sayin’
While not fantastic, I think “not cutting it for most” is a gross generalization. I’m pretty sure it’s working fine for the hundreds of people ditting around on it daily.
How do you get home from work? You can pay the rent, live with roommates, have a carpool arrangement, own a beater car/scooter, bicycle home. If you have a night job, you probably would already know about the hours before accepting it, and would plan accordingly.
And yes, I’ve had to walk quite a few times, usually from Duke to Alderney. Oddly enough, sometimes I walked because I enjoyed it more than the bus.
And seriously, itty Halifax does not compare to TO, NY or London. Compare to cities with a similar population if you want to, not major global metropolitan areas.
OP:
you clearly dont have language barriers, your english is better than that of 80% of other bitchers on here, who are probably native speakers.
culture barriers – youve been here (i assume in Canada) 8 years. thats as much as me. and to claim that after this time, and 8 years in a university you still have culture barriers, is kind of bizarre.
i am in a situation very similar to yours – a Dal student, foreign-born, no sugar-daddy. yet i have no problem living in fairview, and spending 30 minutes during rush hour to get to class, and paying reasonable rent.
if you want to live 5 minutes away from campus, and pay reasonable rent, try fredericton, sydney, or even charlottetown.
Pretty kitty, the amount of people riding the bus increases as the transit system becomes more effective. The amount of busses running in Ottawa is proportionate to the number of buses and routes available to the public. More drivers would park their cars if the buses could effectively carry them to and from work with certainty. Why not compare Halifax to a city with an effective transit system. I could use a smaller city but the idea is the same, our transit system does not cater to every area and time. If it works for you then you are lucky. Oh and I can’t take the 84. For me it is either the 80 from Sackville, the 82 which only runs at rush hour and is standing only just like the 80.
Swamp donkey. I get home from work just fine. I knew the hours up front before I accepted the job. I take a taxi home or sometimes drive. However If I had the option I would take the bus. I do not have the option of taking the bus. That seems unacceptable. Perhaps the transit system could be improved. Do you agree?
How often do you see crowded buses with Ten to Twenty people standing for the duration of the ride? There are more riders than seats and you people think our transit system is effective? I have never heard anyone defend metro transit like this. You people must either work for metro transit or be willing to accept mediocrity.
Dr Fever. Jobs that may require night shifts include working as a police officer, a Security guard, a Night cleaner, a Night auditor, and a casino dealer. I go to work at 3 pm and get off at 1230, which is way too late to run for the bus. Personally I wish I could ride the bus home rather than spend 31.00 on a cab.
I’ve already said the transit system isn’t perfect in my previous post. When the 61 was rerouted my 2 minute walk became a 20 minute walk to the nearest bus stop. I don’t work for metro transit, I just accept that the system won’t please everyone, or me, all the time.
If there was a buttload of people aside from drunks and the minimal employees after 12:30 they’d probably run some extra buses. They might run them anyway, if someone wrote some letters or campaigned or what have you. As is, that’s the price you pay for having weirdass hours and living that far out of the city.
More drivers are clamoring to park their cars and ride, actually, the LINK has been a runaway success and there’s not enough room for people to park for it currently.
Uh, Rafiki, you mustn’t’ve ever taken a bus in ottawa if you think 10-20 people standing on a bus is unreasonable.
A large majority of the busses in ottawa are artic busses (double the size of MT’s ALF busses!!) and it’s not uncommon to have to wait for another bus during rush hour because those busses are SLAMMED with people. I’ve spent many a bus journey holding on for dear life while on the transitway lemmie tell ya. I also remember having to wait on a pretty regular basis for two or even three busses to pass by of the route I needed to get on because they were so full. With ridership such as that, it’s no wonder OC Transpo can afford to increase its fleet and services (don’t forget it’s WAY more expensive to ride the bus in ottawa than halifax).
And it’s not just during rush hour that the busses in ottawa are slammed with people. I lived in the Glebe and when i’d take the 1 or 7 just to the rideau centre it would be jam packed at any given time of the day by the time it got there.
Metro Transit isn’t perfect, but I’d say it’s the best public transport system in canada east of montreal, easily. Maybe you should go live in a rural area like wolfville or hantsport or windsor and see if your appreciation for metro transit doesn’t increase. If you don’t have a car in those towns you’re usually screwed (nothing like a nice 6 hour walk from windsor to new minas for a bit of shoppin’!)
Most of those jobs require a driver’s license. Drive to and from, and if you can’t necessarily drive because you can’t afford a vehicle, get a ride with someone in your workplace. I did it from downtown when I worked from 5 pm to 1 am for 5 months, when I didn’t have a car. If that’s not an option, you don’t need to take those jobs (I know myself, I’d never take an overnight job). You could also cycle; it’s extremely dead at 4 am in this city, put a decent light on your bike and make sure you lit up like a bleedin’ firefly, and there ya go. It is not feasible for MT to have overnight service, it’s been mulled over for years. Speaking from experience, Montreal’s transit overnight is spotty at best, and good luck if you rely on the Metro, because it stops running after 1130 pm. Most Montrealers pay the 40 bucks for a cab to get off the island proper.
The problem with bitching about the bus service is that they’re never goign to be able to pelase everyone. Night busses? Either they have the busses run a bit later, on their regular routes, which would solve your immediate problem, but the people who had to work later than you would still complain; or they have some of the main routes run hourly all night, which would make others happy, like the nightly bar folk, but then you’d complain that you have to wait an hour for your bus at night (and how would they decide which routes were more deserving of late night service?). The only way to make everyone happy would be to have the same service in the night as the day, which will not happen because they’d need double the man power, and it’d be too expensive considering how many people would actually be riding.
Some very good points were made.
Pretty kitty. How long ago did you live in Ottawa? I lived on Carling five years ago. I took a bus to Kanata. All I had to do was walk out side and wait. Every twenty-five minutes a bus would come by. That’s a far cry better than Halifax and the every hour after 9 pm thing we have going here. The size of the buses and the frequency of the buses make a huge deal in the effectiveness of a transit operation. I understand we don’t have as much money in Halifax. However investing money in more efficient transit would pay dividends by decreasing the amount cars on the road and therefore the repair bill.
Also, saying we have the best something east of Montréal is kind of silly. Most of Canada is located to the west of Montreal.. Edmonton has recently increased there transit system to a 24 hour operation. Halifax may not be large enough for such an operation, but they could at least offer a 2am service and a 4 am service to those in need of transportation at night.
To the Dr: As for riding a bike at night, I did that for years. It’s a prime way to get killed by a drunk driver. I choose to live far from the city core. I pay taxes just like people in the city center. Why should I not use the transit system, I help pay for. Oh the joys of amalgamation. I have a car, but that is not the point here. The point of this dialog – which by the way has gone off topic from the OP’s bitch – was to discuss whether or not the transit system could be improved upon.
I have actually been forced to ride one of the world’s busiest transit systems, in Dar es Salaam. That system is private. It is over crowded to the point where Twenty five people and a goat will be riding in a little cube the size of a minivan. The System in place there offers no safety measures and is unreliable; However it manages to move over 2 million people around everyday all day.
Privatizing our transit system is unlikely and probably would not work; however having some competition might improve some service in the Greater Halifax area.
I lived in Ottawa in 2006. I worked on Carling (experimental farm) and regularly commuted to the rideau centre from the experimental farm during rush hour and back to billings bridge via transit way. If you were traveling from Carling to Kanata for work I’d say you don’t really have much of an appreciation or concept of what it’s really like during rush hour in downtown Ottawa. Did I ever have to look up a schedule on my regular routes? No, I could just step outside my door, walk down the road and wait MAYBE 10 minutes at the most for a bus, but there were also times where I was stuck at the Mac King terminal for 30 minutes or more because 3 busses in succession were too full to let people on. And those were artic busses! When have you ever seen THAT happen on MT on a regular basis? That right there should give you an indication of the scale disparity between the two systems. And like I’ve mentioned: fares in ottawa are more expensive. With the population riding the bus up there and the fare prices can you imagine how much more capital OC transpo has to work with?
You can’t really compare halifax to any city large west of montreal (or montreal itself) because the scale is just too uneven. For a fair comparison you have to measure it against other cities in the region: st john’s for example has a public transit system inferior to Halifax. That would be a fair comparison, not Halifax to Ottawa. Halifax has basically only 1/4th or MAYBE 1/3rd of the population of Ottawa. The income level in Ottawa is WAY higher than Halifax too, given the amount of inflated government salaries.
Given its geographic size, population and income level, Halifax has a very decent public transport system. It’s not perfect, but it’s the best in the region. Room for improvement? sure, but in all fairness no one can really claim it’s inadequate.
Move to Dartmouth. It’s only a short bus or ferry ride away. I pay $1000 for a 4 bedroom house, 2 blocks from the ferry. I go to Dal and leave 45 minutes before my 1st class. I even have enough time to get a coffee before class!
Dartmouth is where it’s at for reasonably-priced rents, assuming you do your homework first. Say what you will about the buses, but I’ve yet to see ferries in a traffic jam.