Hello Everybody
I need your help. I am English and I’m so taken with your beautiful province that I’m seriously thinking of selling up and moving to Halifax. Of course this is a massive undertaking which is why I need to do some research, which is where you come in. Please could you good people give me your personal answers to the following:-
What are the BEST THREE things about living in Halifax (could be anything from food to coastline or people to music scene).
And
Your THREE worst aspects of life in Halifax.
Any feedback received will be very helpful.
Kind regards
J
This article appears in Oct 15-21, 2009.
Best three things:
1) It is not England
2) Everything here costs 50% of what you pay in England
3) We don’t have a prime Minister called Gordon Brown
Worst 3 things
1) Too close to Toronto
2) February is cold and dreary
3) Too many people rely on the government for a pay cheque
So just to check, you do know how immigration in this country works, right?
Haha, I love the “Kay” tag and was thinking the same thing. I’m sure she’ll be all over this one! Unless she decides to throw a curve ball at us, of course, and steer clear.
Anyway, I think the three best things about Halifax are:
1. The people, especially me. We’re generally relaxed, friendly, open-minded, and like to have a good time.
2. The overall vibrancy of the city, especially considering we have just under 400,000 people (sure kicks the fuck out of Halifax, England I’m sure! Never been there, just heard it’s a hole).
3. Fresh seafood! Whenever I’ve been away, I’ve always missed the seafood. I love seafood.
4. For me, it’s home. I was born and raised here and I guess there really isn’t any place like home… unless you’re from England I guess, since you Poms all seem to hate your country.
Three worst aspects:
1. Kay… just kidding. For me at the moment anyway, it’s probably the lack of readily available, quality employment. Maybe not in your field, but certainly in mine! I have my honours degree and have been looking for quite a number of months for work in my field and haven’t gotten anything yet.
2. The weather, although depending on where in England you’re from it might not seem that bad.
3. The people – we’re generally quite nice and all, at least to begin with and to your face (I’ve found that sometimes our negativity comes out later since we’re always putting on that friendly facade), but we can also be a bit passive-aggressive, indirect, backwards, and lame. It’s good if you don’t make funny jokes though because people will laugh at them anyway, just to be nice because we’re too afraid of offending anyone. This is a general Canadian trait as well, mind you.
Can I have your place in England?
But ‘Joeblow’, I’ve been told that everything over there in Europe is perfect compared to our backwards country. I thought that Europe should be held up as an utopian example of how things here in Canada should be like.
Alright. I moved here from England and here’s why.
1. It’s not England.
2. It’s not England.
3. It’s not England.
The worst aspects, if you can call them that…
1. It takes getting used to the snow/driving. But all you need is a good set of winter tires and careful driving.
2. There’s so much to do, that you’re often left without money until next pay day!!!
3. There’s no chippy.
That’s pretty much it.
England is going to hell in a handbasket. I read the news back home, both local and national, and the MET Police just released an interactive map of the U.K and gives you detailed information on all the crime committed in the area you’re interested in (it even gets specific down to the street you lived on) – and boy oh boy, has crime ever increased since I left in number and severity.
1. I LOVE the crappy weather here…. I much prefer cold to heat and enjoy walks in the tropical storms.
2. Nearly everywhere has all the necessities so you really don’t need a car unless you’re not close to a bus route – unless you’re afraid of a little walking….
3. I may get razzed for this but we’ve been getting some decent events lately….
we have buskers and international and jazz festivals, keith’s B-Day is practically a holiday as well, some decent concerts and both theatre as well as dinner theatres. plenty to do if you’re looking to do something.
Me no likie
1. the moronic drivers. they’re bad… really bad. What really can you expect when you have 3 universities chalked full of young drivers who don’t know the city and it’s Fucked up street system. Be careful out there… and not just in a car. more people a WAY more hurt walking….
2. no pro teams to get behind. I catch the occasional Mooseheads game but other than that, I’ve practically stopped watching sports full stop.
3. Work -or lack of it (though I still am employed)- and the lack of fair pay that other regions get. they claim other parts of canada have higher living costs but I’d say we’re pretty even with some that are ranked much higher for whatever reason…. food especially is quite pricey.
oh yeah… and we have a casino…
but it’s pity small…
so that’s one more good and one more bad.
1. Wide open spaces just outside the city
2. much less expensive coastal land/homes than similar sized ones in the UK
3. even though we have winter THE SUN COMES OUT FROM TIME TO TIME
Worst
1. General laziness of some in the population; not willing to work hard to get ahead
2. Not enough density to create effective and cost efficient public transit that people would use (think trains and trams)
3. more expensive to fly from here to anywhere warm in the winter
Best thing about Halifax is it isn’t hard to find a place to live outside of it. 2 It has new sewage treatment plants…they don’t work right & even if they ever do , they’re already behind the minimum needed to pass the minimum standards of a waste water treatment system 3 Just about Everything in local government is a secret & the pettier the problem the more resources the council wastes on it.
The worst thing about Halifax is its illegal to shoot all the assholes walking around downtown. 2 Running over the jaywalkers & joggers in blinders & cranked wide open I-pods is frowned upon 3 They still haven’t flattened that useless waste of space called Citadel Hill.
Do yourself a favor…move to any other spot in Nova Scotia, its a beatiful province…but like everything else it has a back passage & that’s Halifax .
Bestt
1. Walking distance! And the country/ lakes aren’t too far either (hiking and kayaking oh my). Although if you are a commuter…. this might not help you
2. You don’t have to deal with a huge city but there’s always something to do
3. Cheap, diner-based breakfasts
Worstt
1. You should watch out for wanna be thugs and people staring at you
2. The strip club is terrible… only trumped for the unattractive and gross factors by those in rural new brunswick
3. You should really look into keeping any job you get 🙂
I Love listing things.
I like that Halifax is big enough to lose yourself in but small enough to find a friend at any given time.
I like that the stranger standing next to me at any of the city’s events is not afraid to share their thoughts on what we are both experiencing.
I like that I can lie in bed and listen to trains’ whistles blow, fog horns wail, frogs sing, crickets chirp, birds tweet and water lap the shore in between the periodic blasts of city sirens.
I dislike that we are and will continue to be a ‘have not’ province because our leaders (who grew up here) do not know how to be anything else.
I dislike that we are starting to act more like we live in the city rather than a city size town.
I dislike tampons washing up on shore.
I like that we get all the seasons (more than 4 IMO) and each in full force.
I like that if you’re friendly, random strangers will be friendly back, especially at events.
I like that for a small city, there’s always a restaurant that I’m craving and haven’t been to in awhile.
I don’t like that our winters tend to be a cycle of slush and ice for 3 months. It’s impossible to dress for.
I don’t like that the majority of big acts that are finally coming our way are playing to the trailor park music scene.
I don’t like the lack of creative career opportunities. But there’s a lot of opportunity to work for free on small things, and that community is great, just underfunded.
I’ve been away from Halifax for way too long, but am coming home very shortly so I thought I’d add my two cents.
Things that I’m looking forward to:
1) The numerous parks and open spaces to run/walk/bike/etc
2) The zillions of restaurants/bars/clubs places to see and things to do
3) The fact that there is pretty much only one degree of separation between you and everyone else in the city
Things that I’m not really looking forward to:
1) Lack of good public transportation – busses that are late/don’t show up, expensive taxis and. . well. . that’s pretty much all we’ve got for transportation.
2) The cold, rainy/overcast days that can go on for weeks and sometimes even months
3) The fact that there is pretty much only one degree of separation between you and everyone else in the city
We’re leaving Nova Scotia for Montreal at the end of the month. We’ll miss it dearly, but not necessarily Halifax.
Worst:
1) Public transportation is abysmal to say the least. Traffic bottle necks are the norm, and d/t parking is way over priced.
2) You can’t get a decent meal after 9pm in this so-called city, but you can drink yourself into a stupor (if you want) till the wee hours. So is that a glass half full or half empty?
3) EXPENSIVE city to live in. Unless you want to live in a hole in the North end, Spryfield, or the shoddy area of Fairview, you’re going to overpay for lodging. In Montreal which is a mega city, the avg. rent in a good area is $650/mo. in the best of areas it starts at $800/mo for a 4-1/2. Food is off the wall expensive here.
4) OK I’m cheating here. Why do we need 23 council critters for HRM? Oh yea, old boys club. Did I mention corruption?
Best:
1) Air quality is far superior to any of the big 3 cities – Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver.
2) Almost pristine beaches within 15 minutes of the city. Provincial parks open from June to Sept. only really blows.
3) Lots of jobs flipping burgers or cashier positions. Nothing else. If you do find a decent job in your field, there is absolutely no chance of upward mobility.
Take a long hard look at what’s available in your own country before thinking the grass is greener here. Nice place to visit though :).
I grew up in Montreal…good luck Anomie, but I think your list of things you like about Halifax will increase once you live in Montreal for a while, don’t get me wrong, I love my hometown but I love Halifax more…The fresh air and the ocean are deffinately the best parts!
Interesting tag. Good for a giggle anyway… I think.
Best
1. Natural beauty and a lot of it… kay lives here *BIG smile*
2. Cheap car insurance and no required emissions testing in lieu of cheap annual inspections (is that a good thing?)
3. Prime opportunity to make a difference since so many in NS live in poverty and many of them are our elders and veterans
Worst
1. The seeming majority fit into 2 camps, victims or bullies. There are few assertive personalities to be found. Instead you find racism and a higher per capita rate of violent crime here than anywhere else in this country, metro’s included. Big business is coming here due to low property values so the population mix is changing. There’s long-term hope.
2. This is not a wealthy province and it shows… in emergency rooms, in hailing a cab, in navigating highways and just have a whiff of the harbour, etc
3. No bike paths, foot paths and, count them, 2 ped-ways connecting the downtown. Crosswalks miles apart… this is not a foot-friendly or bike-friendly town. ie. stimulus money proposed to be spent on libraries pffft Many backward thinking people running the show here.
Can I only list 3? I have about 100 ideas for improvement. I guess you’ll just have to wait and see me make it happen… and you will, you bitches.
OP, normally I’d encourage people to visit NS because you can visit every other coast on the planet and not experience what NS has to offer in natural beauty. Living here is entirely another story, however. If you’re coming here, come prepared to pitch in to make a forward-moving difference in this town and you may find satisfaction or even happiness. All other motivations, in my Nova Scotian experience, lead to disappointment.
The Best:
1) It’s clean. Clean air, clean lakes, clean beaches. The outdoors aspect of Halifax/Dartmouth is by far my favorite part of living here.
2) The cost of living is very reasonable. I have a huge loft apartment on the water for $500/month. You can’t get that in Montreal, Toronto or Vancouver.
3) The indie scene here is fantastic! We’ve got great bands, DJs, shows and live acts. The only drawback is that large shows don’t happen often enough.
The Worst:
1) Public transportation blows here. Fortunately I don’t have to rely on it (unless I’m drunk) and it’s not too much of an issue. But the reliability and frequency of the buses here is terrible.
2) It’s so goddamn far from all the other cities. If you want to go to another city, it’s no day trip. You need a whole weekend just to get there and back.
3) Special interest groups. They piss and whine about the stupidest things and really prevent this city from moving forward.
1. cheap houses(compared to t.o. etc.)
2. no traffic
3. friendly folks
1. racists
2. not enough immigrants
3. winters
lorilulu I can completely agree with your “bests” selection. But the cost of living here is VERY HIGH in comparison to … well Montreal. A Nun’s Island 4-1/2 for $830./mo is sweet. Laval avg. rent $650./mo. Here a decent apartment in a good district like Clayton Prk W. will run $1,000. if you’re lucky. Given the transit system in Montreal (excellent) and the city planning (1 way streets that don’t change names in mid stream), we’re getting shafted here in Halifax.
Of course, they don’t have an ocean in Mtl. We’ll miss that desperately.
I totally agree about cost of living and transportation…..those are the things I miss most about Montreal! Oh and the sports teams….I really miss those EXPOS!
I suppose if you’re hell bent on Halifax, many of the “worsts” listed above will stay the same, but consider the “darkside” of Dartmouth, and some of them, like lack of bike /hiking/walking paths disappear.
Places to eat after 9pm are easier to find in Dartmouth, but the cheap drinks option? Not so available…
Of course, in Dartmouth you can expect to take 1.5 hours by transit to get to a place 13 minutes away by car, and you can’t ride your bike down the Circ or the highway, so getting from Cole Harbour to Burnside, you pretty much have to drive or transfer twice on the bus routes…
Cost of living in Dartmouth cheaper than Halifax, but of course, there’s the transhit to contend with if you don’t have a car… (and yes, I added the H on purpose)…
Upward mobility in a job? Only available if you spend a long time looking for something like that, and make it clear when you take a position that you expect it to go somewhere other than what you started at (something most people don’t bother with- they just bitch that they can’t get promoted, but I digress…)
As for the NS weather? Well, if you wait 5 minutes, it’ll change… I find it hilarious that people bitch about how we get nothing but rain or cloudy periods “all the time”, but they forget about the 3 days of sun in a row as soon as we get a dark cloud… Just like us bitches I guess, more interested in the negatives…
BEST 3:
1. The Halifax-Dartmouth-Woodside Ferries
2. Proximity to surfing at beautiful Lawrencetown Beach (google image it)
3. The local music scene
WORST 3:
1. Above mentioned ferries and the rest of the transit system stop running at 11:45ish but the local musicians play at venues open later than that making taxis the only option for returning home.
2. Not enough bicycle lanes.
3. It’s too far away from Kensington Market in Toronto.
I’d be interested to hear your Top 3’s, J, about the town where you reside in the UK. Please contribute…
Then there are the CFA’s with better-than-thou agendas.
Best:
1. The ocean. And I don’t even surf/swim/sail! It’s just nice to see it when you’re walking about. I definitely missed it when I lived inland for a little while.
2. The weather (sometimes). Sometimes we have beautiful sunny days with nice blue sky, which is perfect for going to one of the many parks in our city, the beach, or further out to places like the valley. At times, I am even amazed by the fog. It can get so thick you can’t see the building across the road. But then later on that day, it’s completely clear. My bf (a Brit) was also amazed by our weather.
3. I actually have a job! In my field! In Halifax! My hometown! It’s possible, people!
Worst:
1. The transit system. It’s difficult to go anywhere outside of downtown in a reasonable amount of time without a car.
2. Everything is slow to change. The people in charge are slow to get anything done, whether it’s approving new buildings downtown, or restructuring our transit system. I wish we would have a mayor with a real vision and would just have the balls to DO something already (and do it right).
3. Power outages. We get them too frequently, especially during snow storms, but sometimes for no weather-related reason at all. I don’t know why we don’t just bury all the power lines underground.
All that said though, I plan on moving to England next year. We can trade places! 🙂
top three:
– proximity to so many lakes and ocean
– a short fligth away from NYC / Montreal
– workin in my field too!
worst three:
– shitty winters
– no classy (or better than ralphs) strip joints
– small french-speaking population (compared to say, new brunswick)
Fachée:
There are several thriving french communites a short jaunt from Halifax… but it depends on what dialect you speak, you may have to travel to the South Shore… Lots of french social clubs around though…
As for the several comments claiming that Nova Scotia is and will always be a “Have not” province, I read somewhere that we will enter into the “Have” category some time in the next few years. Relax, things aren’t so bad here! I don’t find Halifax anymore dirty, rundown, poor, or sketchy than wealthier cities like Toronto, Vancouver, or Calgary, which each have their own problems themselves, and we are far better than cities like Regina, Winnipeg, and Saint John!
And I must say that I am surprised no one else has responded to Kay yet… after reading your post I was expecting a barrage of “Kay you’re an idiot, Kay you suck, Kay Kay Kay Kay Kay Kay Kay Kay…” you get the point. Anyway, I just thought I’d point out that Halifax is, in fact, NOT the most violent per capita city in Canada. As per the latest StatCan statistics for 2008, Vancouver, Abbotsford-Mission, Saskatoon, Regina, Winnipeg, and Thunder Bay are far more violent cities than we are, with Kelowna, Montreal, and Saint John not far behind. Source: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/cgi-bin/af-fdr.cg… ://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/85-002-x/2009003/article/10902-eng.pdf&t=Police-reported%20crime%20statistics%20in%20Canada,%202008
I guess I was working off 2006 stats. I didn’t realize stats can has finally posted something more current. I’ll have to check it out.
See? The population is changing.
Well we’re only getting better! Nowhere to go but up from here. On the other hand, I don’t think we were even the worst in the 2006 stats, or any stats really. Cities like Winnipeg, Regina, Saskatoon, and Edmonton almost always seem to have the worst violent crime rates in Canada. Seriously, just look at some of the shit that happens there, it’s completely fucked and we don’t get anything to quite that scale here. Winnipeg is particularly bad, and I think even your hometown of Calgary is getting worse, too!
As for poverty, once again, it’s not that bad here in Halifax either. Last stats I saw show that we’re about average in Canada. Want to see a real backward dump of a city within driving distance? Take a quick visit to Saint John, New Brunswick – quick because you wouldn’t want to spend more than a day there.
What an awful tag, a new low for the coast.
“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.”
– Aristotle
Think hard about this, OP! Nova Scotia is a very beautiful place to visit and there are fun places and some nice people, but do do you really want to give up having all of Europe at your fingertips, for so little cost? The nearest cities to Halifax are Boston and Montreal, each about 12 hours drive, or a minimum $300 flight. No 50 pound return flight to France or Italy for a weekend getaway. Even if there were, most Canadians only get 2 weeks annual paid vacation:(
Anomie – I pisssed myself laughing at your post about council corruption in HRM, where there is none, and you are off to Montreal to live where the Mafia runs the show !!!! ROFL