That’s right, I said it. I’m from a beautiful land of palm trees and warm weather year round. I am here for a few years and can’t wait to leave asap. I don’t know why people would want to live here? This place is fucking dreadful. Your harbour and city are dirty and ugly, which is why all of you have to vacation constantly. I’ve never been to a more boring, bad weather, bland food, even your Summers are chilly and there is fuck all to do. Buskers, really? One big concert a year at the Commons, big deal! I hate this place so much even the sound of your Maritimer accent gets under my skin. Halifax and all of Nova Scotia are lacking so much. Would’ve been better just left as nature. I’m so glad this is just temporary for me. I can’t live in such a grey and dreary hellhole. —Proud non-Nova Scotian
This article appears in Feb 17-23, 2011.
And a big “Forget You” to you as well, Premier Dexter.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSXq30D2LF8
Well, you can’t argue with that.
I agree with this bitch for the most part. I might be a bluenoser born and raised, but god damn do I hate this province.
I will never hate our accent though.
“glad this is just temporary” – funny, I feel the same, the sooner you’re gone, the better.
So….where is this wonderful, superior in every way, place that you’re from?
Why didn’t you go to school there? Let me guess, a sub-standard education system?
The term, “hypocritical leech” comes to mind.
Nova Scotia and I have a love-hate relationship. While I love the heritage and the old buildings full of personalities, I hate how anti-development this place is. While I love that we do get the nice fluffy snow, I hate that it melts on contact with the sidewalk and creates an enormous mess.
But now, it seems that I’m starting to lean towards the hate side more, I hate how poorly planned the streets are, how the buses are late and that we will never get a LRT. I also hate how there are so many unemployed people here that employers can offer shit wages and people jump on them. And more so, I hate that I’m going to have to move to see any changes because they will never happen here due to various reasons such as politics, the economy and last but certainly not least, that damn heritage trust committee!
Good riddance to you, OP.
The weather does suck here. I really miss Southern Ontario for the heat.
Hosni Mubarak is that you?
I’m a come from away, lived here almost 30 years, and do get frustrated by some of the quirky things that go on here, but once the weather changes and spring/summer arrives I defy you to find a more beautiful place to live.
OP sorry that you have such a poor opinion of this place and the people, but you can always go fuck yourself?
OP accents take time to get used to….can’t say i’ve heard any “I hate”
But I agree with you about the weather & it certainly blows (pun intended even if its true)
THis is a cold ,wet climate which while hard enough has to be IMO factored into being taxed near into poverty if you are a working Nova Scotian. So even Hell is probably a nicer place 99% of the time.
I noticed you failed to mention ‘Where You are from’ which is very telling , because I have frequented many Caribbean Islands, Mexico, I’ve been to the South Seas.
While beautiful, I personally wouldn’t want to live in say, The Alcapulco area at this time…beautiful or not ! Columbia, San Salvador, or at least not without my own commando group & bullet proof undies .
I’m not sure what you mean by nothing to do. Halifax and NS has 100’s of concerts a year. The local bands are usually better than the big commercialized bands. Buskers, tall ships, winery tours, scenery, beaches, farmers market, parks, sports (although not professional), museums, galleries, shops, Golfing, etc. There is a lot to do here you just have to get off your ass to do it.
Good point informant…We went to Halisux for brunch & then we went visited Sue on Sunday ~:)
she is really impressive !
Sue was way cool. I enjoyed it. My friends from NB are coming up soon, I hope, with their little boys to check her out. 🙂
I love it here. I’m a maritimer, but from a small town, so the small city feel of Halifax is so wonderful. I’m busy all the time with things on the go, and we’re not far from all kinds of other wonderful, outdoorsy-ness.
Poor OP, you must be a real loser to be bored with Halifax. Or maybe your poor fragile self needs to suck-it-the-fuck-up. You’re bound to hate it with an attitude like that.
Listen OP, I think it’s fine for you to hate NS, but don’t ruin it for the rest of us. There are positives and negatives wherever you go. Maybe not everyone likes big concerts on the commons – some of us prefer small bands playing live where you can actually see them. You know what? I haven’t been on a vacation outside of the maritimes since I was 13. And it doesn’t bother me one little bit.
I love the nova scotia accent, the southern one always makes me laugh, and at least the city has a soul so to speak, i’ve been to many and they all feel lifeless. An aquarium would be nice though, i came here for my first vacation and was shocked there wasn’t one, hell we got a fantastic one near where i’m from at home and all we have is muddy water.
If you all think Halifax is such a nasty place try living and working in London England!, London is probably one of the most overcrowded, filthy, expensive cities in the world with some of the rudest, nastiest, miserable lazy, ignorant, snobbish, chain smoking, alocoholic people I have ever seen in all of my travels, I MISS HALIFAX AND NOVA SCOTIA!!!
if there weren’t anything to do.. would there be a need for the Coast?
though I must admit… I’m a HaliHater as well.
Get out then, we didn’t want you anyway.
I spent three years away from NS, where I was born and raised, and couldn’t wait to get back here. You go back to your palm tree land, and I’ll continue to love where I live.
I enjoy Halifax and all of Nova Scotia. I love the Spring/Summer months where there’s always something going on during the weekends like Greek feast or Multicultural feast or Buskers, tall ships, Canada Day, Natal Day, Jazz fest, I could go on and on….I love going to Hubbards or Lunenburg…..I love walking through the Public Gardens….or the waterfront and get Beaver tail. I love tidal bore rafting in Shubie and zip lining in Pictou…..camping in the valley. This is a great place to live!!!
There’s lots to do and this city has lots to offer….you just don’t want to embrace it OP. Sorry that you have wasted so many years of your life being pesimistic….and sorry for the many un-happy years to come…all because the weather…
Hope the door smacks your azz on exit.
The only thing I really hate about Nova Scotia is our politicians and how they continue to drive their agendas without consultation or accountability to the very people who pay their fucking overblown salaries. They have plowed this city/province into the ground and will continue to do so until we become a Minimum Wage Mecca (if we aren’t that already).
What a shame, we’ve got some wonderful loving people here who would give you the sweater off their back if they knew you were cold. Hope you feel some love before you make it back home.
Palm trees? Southern US, maybe? Tropical something. So let’s see, humidity that kills the ill and elderly, possibly tornadoes, definitely hurricanes, floods, cesspit of insects. You’re just somehow pissed that your life isn’t the perfect little play you envisioned in your head, so let’s blame it on your surroundings.
QE2: Ugh. Leeds is right up there too. And yet oddly enough, you can find things to enjoy.
I hate to say I kind of agree with the OP here as well as Tee. I am really starting to hate it here. I’m finding it hard to find things I like…. transit is awful, anytime someone tries to build up the city (instead of the effing suburbs) there’s a whole pack of old people (which there are a lot of in this province) who want the city to stay the same forever, taxes are ridiculous, the weather is usually not so great and I could go on but won’t, as my break is almost over. I went to the Dominican Republic in January and even though it’s not the best place to live it’s all I wanted to do since I left was go back with a tent and just live there. Like I know there is still violence and poverty and hurricanes there but frig, all I want to do is chill on a beach and eat pineapple. Have you ever had a Hawaiian pizza with realll, fresh pineapple on it?! FRIG. But alas, I think I’ll just settle for Victoria or Vancouver, which apparently is one of the best cities in the world :P. But to me it seems, anywhere that has palm trees, most of the time has a lot of crime and such… like Miami, places in Mexico, the Caribbean. Ah well whatever. Back to work.
OP, you chose to come here. Didn’t you do any research on NS before you moved here? Lonely Planet book? Tourism Nova Scotia? Or did you just get washed ashore and beached here during the last hurricane?
Can I follow the OP back to Florida? OP forgot to mention beer costs three times as much as it should too 🙂
Sure tourism nova scotia is glossy airbrushed view of the province, how much money have they wasted on this bay of fundy campaign to get more tourists in, have people not learnt you can’t sustain an economy on tourists? why not appeal to the rest of canada to come over here, i spoke to loads of people who wanted to visit NS but decided not to because of prices of flights, train etc. As long as its cheaper to travel outside the country rather than in it, we are always gonna rely on tourists (american ones mostly) where their currency is not as strong as the dollar. (except the pound, which is going down by the day anyway).
Nice Kim 😀 Haven’t heard this in way to long.
For all of you who think there’s “so much to do” here in Halifax/Nova Scotia . . . have you ever tried to do any of it without the use of a car? Tidal bore rafting? Um, pretty sure you need a car for that. Zip lining in Pictou? Need a car. Visiting Lunenburg? NEED A CAR. There is really not much to do here . . . unless you want to drink yourself silly. I remember people used to brag about Halifax having the “most bars per capita” in Canada . . . wow, what a claim to fame.
Honestly, a typical night in Halifax consists of drinking your face off, listening to god-awful local cover bands singing their sea shanties at god-awful local bars full of god-awful local boors, then standing outside for hours on end trying to hail a cab, which is impossible on Friday and Saturday nights or when there’s more than 1cm of snow. With no cab, you instead get to stumble home through other people’s puke, being careful not to run into the mailboxes that are now lying on the ground after having been toppled over by drunken retards, oh sorry, I meant *students*. Then on Monday you get to go to your shitty job where you make barely enough to live on, and bust your hump all day because your coworkers called in “sick” again. Hurray!
What I’m getting at is, this city is a shit hole. It could be so much more: the restaurants are good, the harbour views are nice–we could (and should) really do something good here. But the people are lazy, uneducated, obnoxious, rude and careless. And a lot of them drink WAY too much. The politicians are corrupt, the landlords are sleazeballs. The apartments are full of boorish students and bedbugs, the roads are full of people who can’t drive. Sure, every city has its negatives and positives . . . but the OP sees a lot of negatives here, and he/she is not wrong. The problem is, there really aren’t enough positives to make it worthwhile to put up with the negatives. No wonder people move West.
Well said Letta!
Can’t argue with that.
It is what it is, and your right that is why I vacation.
Well…I used to live in a shit-hole much, much worse than Halifax. Try “every big city with good shopping or beach is at least 8-9 hour drive away and yes you need a car because it is actually life-threatening to wait for that unreliable bus in -40 plus wind chill weather”. All things are relative, I guess.
Well, you could always live Sackville….
DON’T LIKE N.S., THEN DON’T FUCKING COME OR STAY HERE THEN.
I too, kinda agree with the OP, tee & Letta… and to all of the people defending Halifax and citing things like the farmers market, busker festival, concerts, etc. as the things to do in Halifax… almost EVERY big city has these things on a regular, more grand basis. You don’t have to wait an entire year to go see buskers in most large cities. Most cities have a public garden. Halifax has absolutely nothing that sets it apart or makes it unique or attractive. It seems like it’s just stuck. No development, no improvement… just bickering back and forth. Political parties just constantly disagreeing with each other rather than working together to bring the city forward. Meh, Halifax is a dying city… and it’s sadly on it’s last breath.
Yes, our weather can be terrible, the city is kinda dirty. But also, OP, you’re a total pussy from a warmer climate who can’t take the cold. I’d take the cold weather and some friendly people any day. So why not pack up your shit and go home to your fucking palm trees and use the education system in your own country? Our summers aren’t shitty, and last time I checked, we’re on good solid land with minimal risks for tsunamis and earthquakes.
Sure, i saw human curling in calgary last week, that looked awesome.
I have to ask those of you who bitch about how badly Halifax sucks – why the hell are you here, then? Seriously. If you hate it so much then why not move away?
Even you, OP – ever hear of international exchanges? How about just transferring schools (assuming you came here as a student)? If that’s not in the cards, suck it up for the remainder of your days here.
I’m not by any means saying that Halifax is paradise (far from it), but I’ve traveled all over the world & lived in a lot of places – and there really is no such thing as a “perfect place”. True, the weather here does kinda suck for 1/2 the year. But I’d like to point out that it IS February, the shittiest, most depressing month of the year.
For those of you talking about going west – have fun in Deadmonton & Calgary. Really can’t stand those cities. I’d be up for Vancouver, but then again they get tons of rain. Basically the Canadian climate, no matter where, has its fair share of shitty days.
I agree that there’s not that much to do in Hali, but really, what do you expect? It’s a (very!) small city – more like a town, really. You can’t really compare it to places like Toronto or Montreal or Vancouver.
Here’s the thing I’ve learned – as cheesy as it sounds, it really doesn’t matter where you are in the world if you don’t have good friends to share it with.
The most beautiful place can be the loneliest place (been there) and the ugliest place, the warmest.
There’s lots of things I hate about Halifax. But, although I frequent to this particular section of The Coast, I’m not so shortsighted and bitter to focus only on the bad. So in the spirit of writing about something that doesn’t make me want to gouge my eyeballs out (or indeed the eyeballs of others) here is a list of random shit I love about this city for anyone who is bored enough to read it.
On hot summer days I love picking up an ice cold Propeller root beer and climbing the hill by myself or with a friend. We take our shoes off and rest our feet in the cool grass. Watch the cars, people, and boats go by. Perhaps doze off in the sun listening to the sound of the traffic below, some of the best naps of my life have been on that hill. Just never fall asleep on it around 12… In the winter I love tearing down that same hill on a toboggan or scrap of cardboard.
I love walking on the boardwalk at Crystal Crescent beach, settling down on one of the smaller, less busy stretches of beach. Some ice cold beverages, various snacks. Spend the whole day swimming and lying in the sun. Then visiting the nearby brook on the way home for a freshwater swim to wash all the salt and sand off of ourselves, positively warm in comparison to the ocean. Top the day off with an ice-cream from Mishooes during the drive home, car windows open.
I love Gus!
I love that one of my childhood heroes is floating in the harbor.
I love Nocturne! Guitars on buses, enough said.
I love walking up to pizza corner on sore feet at 2am with some good company, completely exhausted from grooving out to the best live music in the city. That first bite of a gigantic slice of pepperoni pizza is heaven.
And the Pop Explosion, and the Film Festival, and the motherfucking Buskers! Anyone who thinks “this sucks” after watching people fire dance and do flips on unicycles is an asshole.
I love that I can literally go camping in my backyard, and I have, many times. I love the various secret bike trails and beautiful secluded swimming spots scattered throughout the wood nobody knows about. I have them pretty much all to myself.
I love going to see the new stuff at The Freewall whenever I’m passing by.
I love the Titanic in the pond.
I love getting off a long day at work and busing down to the the Jazz Fest to spend the afternoon listening to the free live music alone in the shade of the tent, sipping an ice cap or something similarly cold.
I love the guys who park outside the library to sell fries and hotdogs, they always seem to be there whenever I forget my lunch and am late for something…
I love sitting up in the balcony at The Oxford for a midnight movie… helping to fund some worthy cause or youth group. See a classic old flick I haven’t seen in years, or some foreign film I never would have thought to watch otherwise, buttery popcorn… mmm
I love poking through the eccentric local shops and especially the used book stores all within walking distance of each other. Once I bought seven books for 20 bucks.
I love the bubbles on Doyle Street.
I love visiting all the small free art galleries in a row, there’s like three or four of them minutes away from each other.
I love the open-to-the-public lectures at the universities.
I love looking up at my reflection on the escalator in Parklane, I don’t know why… I just do.
I love the Oval! I hope it stays!
I love eating outside at restaurants! All the restaurants that have outdoor areas are awesome.
I love taking the ferry over to Dartmouth on sunny mornings, sitting on the top deck in the very front, putting my feet up on a seat in front of me and listening to “Grace Kelley” by Mika song on my ipod.
The list goes on, bitches.
Have any of you been outside of NS?
I side with QE2 & sky, there are many, many much worse paces than here. I’ve lived away (Montreal is the biggest city that I could live in), and couldn’t wait to come home. I’ve been from LA to London, Vancouver to Brisbane, plain filth.
Someone complained about counting 100 dog turds in the park, make that human shit on the sidewalk. Imagine not being able to take a deep breath witout choking, no shit.
I love it here. Yes NS has lots of problems, nothing compaired to the rest of the world, and nobody is fire-bombing my house because they don’t like my looks.
Oh, and the whole “I need a car to get around in this big bad city” – give me a fucking break, do what everybody in the rest of the world does.
Im non-Nova Scotian too….so Im not going to defend NS. Living here for 25yrs should do just that. But to OP that’s what is nice about a free Country…you are always free to leave! Dont let the door hit ya in ass on the way out!
Yep, rent a care for the weekend. I’ve gone car-less since October and I’m perfectly happy, and loving all of those wonderful things that Snoop does… and more. I love the valley, I love golfing, I love my north end neighbourhood full of crazies and food and galleries and antiques… I’m so happy here. I know, I could be happy in many places, but Halifax suits me just fine. Ya, it has problems – the weather sucks some days, but I dress for it! And it’s not half as bad as half of the rest of the planet!
To those of you who seem to hate it here: LEAVE. If you find life here so miserable, then pack yourselves up and go somewhere “better”. You’ll be hard pressed to find a city that is picture perfect. Every city has its issues. I hate Calgary. Which is why I don’t live there. I’m not a huge Toronto fan either. Again, why I don’t live there. (are you noticing a pattern here?) I love Vancouver, however have my reasons for not relocating there. Halifax being a much smaller city cannot be compared to the likes of Toronto or Calgary. Sure transit has its issues, the politicians are craptastic….among other things, this place is still the home I love. I love that, generally, Nova Scotians are friendly “give you the shirt of their back” types of people. Try finding people like that in Calgary.
If you absolutely hate it here, get out. Unless you are somehow tethered to the ground, you are free to take yourselves elsewhere. I just feel sorry for those of you who live in negativity and are unable to see the good around you.
I’m not a hobbit. I wasn’t born and raised here in the Shire. But I’ve grown quite fond of the place and its somewhat clannish inhabitants.
I greatly disagree that most Nova Scotians are friendly ‘give you the shirt off their back’ types… from my experience most of them are sheltered, ignorant, and intolerant yahoos most of the time.
Personally, I would move in a heartbeat… however, I’m married. And my partner does not want to move. He’s too firmly rooted to this area, so I’ve compromised. So, despite my disdain for this area, I’m stuck here for the time being.
Personally, I just find this entire area sheltered and just behind. Not necessarily just Nova Scotia, but, the entire maritime area… it’s way too hokey and backward-thinking, that it’s very embarrassing.
I’ll get on the band wagon 🙂
I love playing in the snow with my dog.
I love long walks in the forest.
I love the ocean.
I love the fresh air.
I love watching the stars as the frosty air nips at my face.
I love the fact that I can grab a grog, a spiff, jump in the tub, stargaze, and throw the ball for Blue.
Back in an hour 🙂
“Personally, I just find this entire area sheltered and just behind. Not necessarily just Nova Scotia, but, the entire maritime area… it’s way too hokey and backward-thinking, that it’s very embarrassing.”
You give me one anecdote to support this and I’ll give you five anecdotes that conflict, followed by a long explanation about why anecdotes are essentially useless for basing conclusions on.
😀
I don’t like how moms look here. How there pants never fit right.
the o.p., actually sounds like iggy pop the lie-berrrrral.
Kay – are you off the meds again?
Love, love love… I thought I stumpled upon either the LTWWL section or Plenty of Fish Bios. Back to where I came from:)
Surfing at Lawrencetown
Picking wild cranberries in the fall
The City of Lakes ~swimming, skating, pond hockey, boating and fishing practically in your backyard
Natal Day ~ parade, bridgewalk and free concerts
Topside on the ferry ~night or day, winter or summer
Fisherman’s Cove and McCormack’s Beach
Anywhere near the ocean, oh wait, we are almost completely surrounded by the sea:
extra bonus points for unlimited coastline
NYE at Parade Square
Concerts on the commons
Pow-wows on the commons
Trans Canada Trails
The Neptune
Halifax Waterfront
Seafood
Donairs
Until recently: BEEP 🙁
The Dutch Mason Blues Festival
Stanfest
Dancing to Garrett Mason at Bearly’s
Oakley Reunions
Canada Day Fireworks watched from the Ferry
John’s Lunch, The Chickenburger and Cows: need I say more?
Pizza Corner at the end of the night
Fresh maritime air
and so much more…
There is no such thing as a maritime accent, sorry!
Actually, that’s not true, echo. I got teased relentlessly in Quebec by some of the folks from out west for my pronunciation of certain words. I didn’t even NOTICE until they pointed it out!
First impressions of a place are usually the most lasting. My first impression, upon asking a lady politely, “Excuse me ma’am, could you tell me how to get to Point Pleasant Park” and her response was “FUCK OFF” I have been all over the world thanks to my profession, including a wrong turn into the Bronx once, and was politely escorted out of that place for my own safety. Not so here, got swarmed while performing first aid on a couple of dudes who just got swarmed themselves. Plus Niagara, where i am from has way better wine tours…it is the Fruit belt after all, and every NSer that ive spoken to that has been to ontario’s cottage country thinks its heaven. After all, Newfoundland(god’s country) looks exactly like northern ontario. My wife and her whole family cant find enough excuses to go abroad to leave this place. the other days they live here, its to the drink to have any fun.
That’s AWFUL, cuja!
We’re not all like he “fuck off” lady! The only time I haven’t stopped to help someone when they asked was when I had to run to catch my bus. And even then I felt super bad.
oh and i almost forgot, topless women in public in the summer time….wasaga beach is a sight to behold. cant get that here. 35 degree and up summers the great lakes, fishing for the predatory fish (sure it isnt shark but so what) moose galore, yards are a full acre in the older neighbourhoods. sure everywhere is pros and cons, i hated calgary and whitehorse, but even they had more charm than this city, and could drive better. my wife is terrified of driving in halifax and she’s lived here her whole life, yet was no problem in 8 lanes of highway traffic in ontario at rush hour. it is what it is i suppose.
i do love bearly’s house of blues though, nothing like it ive stumbled across anywhere else in canada!!
LOL cuja — a friend of mine who’s a server in toronto said one summer night when she was serving on her restaurant’s patio this homeless woman came over to the side of the patio and took her shirt off and kept asking people for money…and there wasn’t anything they could do about it because toplessness is allowed in public there.
haha.
Also: my dad used to play at Bearly’s all the time back in the day…I remember when I was a wee little one my mom used to take me there to pick him up after his saturday matinees 🙂
FYI Letta, Halifax has the highest % of educated residence of any city in Canada. So per capita we are the highest educated. Which works against itself in a way, as you need a uni education to work many customer service jobs.
Informant.. dont you think that statistic is scewed by the amount of universities in a small area? Plus i don’t hate Halifax, i wouldn’t have moved back here twice otherwise but theres things that could be better about the place like what T says about the heritage trust and the amount of people scared of building anything here. I’m not gonna bother with the amount of things i love about halifax, i’ll right about that in LTWWL one day.
Hmm, Informant, I’d love to see some reference material on this “highest percent of education”–could you provide some statistics and a source, please? Also, um, you used the word “residence” . . . I think you mean “residents” . . . back to school for you!
Perhaps the word I *should* have used was IGNORANT, not uneducated. There are plenty of people who have attended one university or another . . . big deal. It’s not that difficult to obtain admission to university; it’s mostly a cash grab anyway.
And Juswamsmi, you are right, this province is “backward” and I think that’s a big part of the problem. Come on, there was no Sunday shopping until, what, 2007?! There you go, Snoop, there’s some evidence for you. Oh, and here’s some more: when I was first moving to N.S., I advised my seatmate on the airplane that “my partner and I” were moving to Halifax. He asked what business we were in. I told him it was my romantic partner, not a business partner. He laughed and said, “Oh, if you go around saying ‘partner’ to anyone here, they’ll think you mean ‘business partner’. No one here uses that term–what you mean to say is ‘husband’; don’t confuse people.” That comment indicated to me that the people here are behind the times, and are unable/unwilling to catch up. And they know it.
And much like Juswamsmi, I would move, too, but my partner (oh sorry, yokels, I mean common-law husband) is rooted here. And so living here is a compromise. I’m not miserable, and I don’t *just* see the negatives; however, having lived in different parts of the world, I have the ability to compare Halifax with other cities, and it comes up short.
It’s all well and good to say to the complainers, “Shut up! If you don’t like it, move! Go back to where you came from!” But this kind of response just shows how unwilling you are to change, or to consider a different viewpoint . . . and this is the problem with Halifax. Imagine moving to a place and basically being told, “If there’s something you don’t like about the city or its inhabitants, you can piss off! We like it and we will never change for anyone!” How stubborn. Refusing to allow or encourage change leads to stagnation.
For real improvement to occur, you need to listen to what the complainers have to say, determine whether it’s a valid complaint/assessment, and then figure out how to move forward. If your significant other said to you, “I don’t like that you throw your dirty clothes all over the floor,” hopefully you wouldn’t shout back, “Well that’s the way I am, and I like it! Shut up! If you don’t like it, move out!” Hopefully you’d listen to their concerns and figure out how to improve the situation. Otherwise you’d end up with one of two things: either being in a dead-end, resentful relationship where nothing ever changes or gets better, or having someone wonderful leave you because you’re a disgusting, stubborn asshole. And that is exactly what happens in Halifax.
superbly said Letta, again : )
The majority of things I dislike about Halifax, Nova Scotia and the Maritimes is how anti-change it is. Business, government and people are hell bent on keeping the “status quo” for as long as possible and when no longer possible, it’s an uphill battle of resistance from all.
A few weeks ago there was an article here on The Coast site about future development, in reality, how many of those do you foresee actually going up? And as soon as there is an article about funding changes in the other newspaper, there is an uproar of comments against that decision or proposition (whether it is an increase or a decrease of funds).
I would love to see Halifax, Nova Scotia and the Maritimes progress, I really would, but it’s not. I love how easy going this place is, I love the cute little shops that you randomly discover walking around downtown. It’s great, I love being downtown (and I don’t mean the bars, couldn’t care less about those). But everywhere you look there’s a boarded up empty building and there’s a crumbling Historic Property.
My point is, as much as I love those things, the lack of progress is tipping the scale and beginning to look like a deal breaker as I consider moving to a place where development doesn’t come to a staggering halt each time a few old farts decide a building isn’t suited for the city or blocks “the view”…
I don’t think one has lived until they’ve lived in a warm country where the weather never changes and the sun rises and sets the same time every day. I also don’t think you’ve lived until you’ve experienced winter. As far as staying here forever, I’m not sure. I’d like to ditch the vit. D tablets I must take daily in order to help my melancholic mood during winter …
Ah, well it is what it is, but the drinking thing is true … nothing ever seems to happen without liquor, and I can’t handle downtown after 10pm anymore without being at some stage of inebriation.
To each his/her own. Where one individual is miserable, another can be perfectly happy and vice versa.
Not all of us end up here by choice or for school. Sometimes work takes you place you didn’t expect (for better or worse). Work took me here 4 years ago. While I know there are worse places I could have ended up, I also agree with a lot of the comments from the OP, Letta, Tee and others. As usual the first year in a new location is fun and exciting (new town, new faces) but the “newness” wore off rather rapidly and I’ve become quite bored with this place. The “cons” have outweighed the “pros” and I’m quite ready and willing to move somewhere else. If I play my cards right (and with a bit of luck) I’ll be moving to Montreal around 2012.
Doesn’t mean there’s anything particularly “wrong” with this province…it just ain’t right for me.
You, my dear, are not a Nova Scotian then. Nobody is begging you to stay. The exit is exactly where the entrance is.
Letta: you are my hero… perfectly stated!
Tee: I wholeheartedly agree!
It takes FOREVER for anything to happen here in Halifax, and it’s mostly because people just bicker back and forth. Halifax, and the rest of the maritimes… are pretty much just one giant retirement home.
Jenn:
I admire your investigative skills…although my statement “work took me here 4 years ago” kinda gave away the fact that I’m not a Nova Scotian. I don’t need anyone to beg me to stay (it wouldn’t change anything anyway), I’m just sharing an opinion…is that allowed?
As someone who regularly travels out of this province, I’m quite aware where the exits and the entrances are, thank you. Work took me here, and work will also take me out of here in due time.
Your childish reaction to my comment only helps the naysayers.
All of the ‘well, get the f*ck out’ responses are only proving the point about Nova Scotians being a rude, ignorant and backward thinking bunch.
This bitch made my day. THANK YOU. It’s high time WE Nova Scotians realize that we SUCK and do something about it. We are all drunk on our own PR – we are so nice, so quaint, so ADORABLE. LIES! We are a bunch of lazy, corrupt, uninspired, backward boneheads and need to grow up.
Sorry Letta, but your logic is not sound. And that second bit of “evidence” was actually yet another anecdote…
“But the people (Haligonians) are lazy, uneducated (correction: ignorant), obnoxious, rude, and careless.” …based on anecdotes… anyone know what the definition of “prejudice” is?
I’m over it, let the haters fester. I don’t give a shit of some anonymous troll on the net thinks me (and every other Haligonian) a lazy, obnoxious, rude, ignorant, and careless person.
haters always gonna hate.
I am not from here, have been living here for a couple of years. Honestly, this city does suck. Its pathetic. But, the good people from halifax just take it on the chin and smile 🙂 Hey lets give the “bums” more money, they are making more money than the rest of us!
I was born in Halifax and I lived here until I was 12, then my parents shipped us all off to Wolfville. I lived there until I was 23 then moved back here about six years ago.
At first I was PUMPED to be back…buuuut the novelty wore off pretty darn quickly. I have nothing against the people here, but from spending a significant time in other cities in other provinces, I really appreciate how fucking BORING this place is. Halifax is boring as shit. After a year it’s just the same ol’ over and over again. And maybe my experiences in other cities have made me biased because they were relatively rich cities, but it’s obvious when you first come back from a richer city that the socioeconomic demographic here is not on the…side of extraneous prosperity. And the downtown core is WAY more expensive than it should be.
But, I wouldn’t say I’m MISERABLE here. I like my job and where I work, I like my friends here and I like my neighbourhood. Sure I’d love to go back to live in la ville de quebec permanently, but for now I’m not going to sit around and trash NS/Halifax *shrug*
I was born here and will probably die here. I’ve been from one end of this province to the other. I’ve been all across this country and have visited other countries. Just like anywhere else, N.S. has its good points and it’s bad points. Out of all the places I’ve been to, I’m proud to call N.S. my home and “There’s no place like home.” You don’t like it, get the fuck out of here and go back to “la-la land” asshole. That’s right… return to your insect infested, sun baked, tsunami saturated, tourist trapping, hurricane hell-hole. ’nuff said.
“… return to your insect infested, sun baked, tsunami saturated, tourist trapping, hurricane hell-hole. ’nuff said.”
Oh boy …
LOL!!! THIS POST IS HILAAAARRIOUSSSS!!! LOLOLOLMAOOOOOO!!!
Halifax gets hurricanes too, and insects, one fucker put me in hospital for a week. No tsunamis yet but maybe some flooding? tourist trapping… haha that describes halifax summer to me.
Halifax is a Hurricane swamping insect swarming, tourist trapping hell hole 😉
I’m originally from Calgary, which is loaded with Maritimers. Anecdotally I can’t recall a single one I’ve met over there that didn’t desperately want to come back. Personally I don’t blame them; I’m not a big fan of Calgary and Halifax possesses a very unique pseudo-British urban fabric that still hasn’t failed to keep me intrigued.
The main problem I have with Halifax is too many people who think the city is comparable to Somalia or downtown Detroit – and usually in the process throw out some kind of garbage plug-your-ears ‘Halifax isn’t Toronto’ ‘slogan’ as though it’s some kind of carte blanche to justify continued whining. Barrington Street being a perfect example; the way people described it before I moved East I was expecting some kind of post-apocalyptic urban wasteland completely beyond hope. In reality it’s already home to a small but growing number of unique quirky local shops with plans to put in residential buildings in the few rough patches along the street – a move that will increase density downtown and subsequently encourage more businesses to return to the core and fill vacant space.
Honestly I think the biggest problem with Halifax is the defeatist tone Haligonians automatically seem to defer to when…well, ANYthing happens. Or dosen’t happen. I’m an architecture student so I can’t pretend to not be biased, but personally I find this to be a very exciting time in Halifax’s development. Christ forbid, have a little positive faith now and again.
People say Nova Scotians are “rude, lazy, obnoxious” blah blah, but you can find these people anywhere. You can also find great people anywhere. I haven’t really come into contact with any of these rude Nova Scotians…I think if most of the people you meet have a bad attitude, it may be because of you… There have been several times in this city now, where I’ve needed help or have been in some sort of trouble and complete strangers have come to my rescue, where in most places they may try to take advantage of me vulnerability or just walked on by and think it’s not their problem. People say British people are rude as well, but when I went to London, both times, I found nothing but nice people who were willing to go above and beyond and help me or just have a nice conversation. Probably because I had a good attitude approaching them or just didn’t have any stand-offish vibes. Try being a positive person and the people around you will mimic :). But yes, there are those few that will be rude and obnoxious no matter where they are.
w/e
I hate it here too, but I have family I love who won’t leave with me…
If you hate Nova Scotia so much please feel free to return to your “beautiful land of palm trees and warm weather”. Nobody is forcing you to stay here and as a proud resident of the BEAUTIFUL city of Halifax, I can assure you that you will not be missed. I don’t know your reasons for being here but if you are too weak to tolerate a little cold weather may I suggest that perhaps you should not have moved to Canada? Surely you could have found a warmer locale and inflicted your presence on the people who reside there. Instead of insulting our province, maybe you should make an effort to explore it and to seek out activities and foods that are more suited to your tastes. If all else fails and you are served with bland Nova Scotian food, do what I do. Locate a bottle of hot sauce, apply liberally and quit whining.
Go N.S. or go home.
“a little cold weather” HAHA
I’ m from here, and am now living overseas. I have travelled to about 17 different countries, and I can honestly say as a gay man, the only time I felt victimised was in Halifax. Nothing physical, but being called “You fucking faggot” by some drunk asshole from across the street downtown isnt exactly a good feeling. And I don’t even look gay! ( so what if I did). This has happened 4 or 5 times. It hasn’t happened anywhere else.