Dear Haligonians, let’s stop being so complacent and change our city. We bitch enough about it, it’s time to step-up and change the unsettling reality that an incompetent council and mayor has chosen for us. I moved back to my native province from Ottawa two years ago and am stunned by the lack of governance in this city and how expensive it is to live here. I was shocked when looking for a place to rent. In Ottawa I paid $1075 a month (utilities included) for a really nice 4 bed-room townhouse. That is unheard of here. This is a pirate city where landlords get away with robbing tenants and it’s time students and young professionals and families voice their outrage. Halifax pays some of the highest taxes and yet we get nothing in return for it. Landlords and real estate developers own all of us. Most of us are paying $300 – $400 more in rent than we should be for a city this size and with one of the highest crime rates. The housing market here is the same as renting, we’re paying more than we should be. Groceries are also higher and so is gas. That’s what happens when you have poor decision-makers elected. We also don’t have an NHL/MLB team or major entertainment like other major cities have. Let’s be realistic and humble about who we are and recognize that if we ever want this city to grow in a positive way (one that is realistically affordable for what we’re getting) that we have to stand-up again the very few who are making unsound and unjust decisions with our money. So, next election let’s get rid of this arrogant and incompetent mayor and council. In the meantime, let’s form an anti-Kelly coalition to better this city. We have potential, let’s realize it! —Pirate City Hostage
This article appears in Feb 2-8, 2012.
Your big idea for change is an anti Kelly Campaign? Why don’t you try changing things instead of bashing. The more you think negatively, the more negativity will be around you.
“You must be the change you wish to see in the world”
And of course you have citations to back up your claims, OB?
I mean, as a ‘young professional’ you surely know the importance of actually having facts to back up your claims and not just pulling random claims out of your arsehole, right?
No matter who runs in my area, I will not vote for anyone who is presently in office.
So give me some fresh blood & even if
i think they will be not good for us….I’ll still vote for them, because I already know for sure who is in office in the HRM, ARE A FUCKING WASTE OF FOOD !
hearing some or all of them died in a horrific council meeting is probably the best news I can think of for them as a group. Dishonest ,incompetent mayor who is a fucking joke…hires a new city CEO at TWICE THE PAY & what has he done for us ???? given us a bus strike, great job Asshole you should be proud , almost 400 grand a year & that’s the best you can do ?!? DTMFA please…any new comer want my vote…say you’re going to fire him & his overpaid negotiation team if you get elected & I will take time off work so I can work for your election effort fulltime.
PK: http://lifewise.canoe.ca/Microgalleries/Wo…
it’s true, more’s the pity.
joeblow I attended Mr. Savage’s launch, are you sure we were at the same event? He was introduced by both Nancy Reagan and Alexa McDonough, there were also plenty of “movers and shakers” in attendance and I thought his speech covered all the right issues. If I were Kelly (shudder) I’d be buying a box and seeing how long it will take to clear out my desk in October.
Oh, and this will piss some off – God Save the Queen as she celebrates her 60th Anniversary on the throne.
Xeno…
and you weren’t skeptical of an article that actually lists this:
“Job: Senior online editor (at least for years experience). “
???
just wow.
Pirate City Hostage –
I’m a landlord. I own three homes on peninsular Halifax – I live in one, and rent the other two. I realize I’m incredibly fortunate to be able to own property in the city, and it’s a large part of my retirement plan.
But if you think that all landlords are making a killing off the backs of you poor renters, you’re sadly mistaken.
The reason it costs so much to rent a place in Halifax is simple – that’s what it costs to maintain a home in the city.
The rent I charge barely covers my expenses. Obviously I pay the mortgage on the property. But I also have to pay property tax, which keeps going up. I also have to provide water, which has increased almost 40% the last few years. I also have to carry a lot of insurance on the property – more than a regular homeowner.
So after it’s all said and done, my profit is less than $15 per month per property. It’s not exactly keeping me in diamonds and furs!
Are there landlords who are making tons of money off their tenants? Sure. But most of the people I know in the rental game in this city are just like me – they’re barely covering their expenses.
HH…nice to see someone else not afraid to wear fur (or leather, suede, feathers etc.)
I’ve got friends & family who rent properties in the city. All of them are saying exactly what you are…also I personally know Chris Reardon
http://thechronicleherald.ca/business/5376…
He is really geting the shaft & its hurting his ability to stay in business…I’m also friends with 2 other business property owners & I know are looking to get out of the HRM (city)…they really don’t want to, but they see no other way to stay in business. One who just got his new assessment, if he can’t get it reduced…will be paying higher property taxes per month than the mortgage ! ! !
I believe that should be added into the dictionary, to the meaning of insanity.
Although in talking to family at a supper get together this past Sunday everyone is planning on fighting their assessments this year. Be the first time everyone I know has decided enough is enough. Hopefully a large majority of HRM property owners can tie up the system & in numbers see some sense made out of a very unfair tax system.
HH- IF what you you say is true, then HRM is fucked and has no future, which is pretty easy to believe with the way NS is governed. When I lived in Vancouver, 3 years ago, the rent was the same, there was always something to do regardless of season (summers here rule) everything else was cheaper (yes except a mortgage, not like I can afford one here either) but the kicker was that out west I lived in a new house not some run down old farm house left over from the early 1900s, as aesthetically appealing they are, they’re uninsulated, drafty , crumbling money pits.
We can’t even afford to give bus drivers a raise, how do we figure we can afford a 60 million dollar stadium? The only person that is going to make any money from a convention centre (which has been proven the convention business has been on the decline for the last 10 years) is good old Joe R, leaving the taxpayers on the line for the losses. This mayor and council is like watching an entire classroom of ADHD kids on a sugar high, blurting out whatever comes to mind and how much we need it. If something isn’t done soon, all the tax dollars from the ship building contract will be pre-spent and we’ll owe interest on most of it.
HH, you should kick your renters to the curb, sell the houses, and become a silent investor in a Tim Hortons. You would make more money than $30 per month.
But these renters are paying his mortgage GV. Not that your idea is bad or anything, but he’s not in it for his $30 bucks a month. He can sell those houses once they’re paid off.
Let me ask this. Should property tax be factored into the rent? Why should we pay taxes on your asset? Is that a fair question?
OP, it sounds like you need to be realistic. This isn’t a major city. It is a college town/tourist destination. Our residents are mostly blue collar workers or government employees. The private sector here is very small. An NHL team? Laughable, a baseball team downright delusional. You know they make most of their money on stadiums from luxury boxes and season ticket sales right? Who do you know that’s going to be eager to drop that kind of money on a live sporting event.
Don’t get me wrong I would absolutely love to have a pro sports team here, even if it was hockey or baseball, the two major sports that interest me the least, but it would not be profitable, I guarantee it. There’s just not enough money here. I’m not sure what’s going to happen when the ship yards start getting busy, I suggest you all invest in property now.