Quote:
Originally Posted by 905er
i absolutely love these Halifax pics.. I have yet to visit, but for some strange reason I feel like it's the city for me.. I wish to move there some day... I've had enough of Ontario and the GTA....i'm a city, boy, but a small city boy.. Any Haligonians have any advice for someone wishing to move to Halifax? what's life out there like?? spare me the winter details.. i'm already sadly aware, they're brutal.
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I love how this resulted in ~a full page of people talking in great detail about the winter weather
My overall experience is that the differences between Nova Scotia and Ontario are fairly subtle. There is less conspicuous wealth here but it doesn't feel like a particularly "poor" province. Provincial politics seem more boring here than in Ontario but are also much less polarizing, which is nice. It is also a very secular province though not aggressively so like Quebec. There's a wide range of outdoorsy stuff to do and it's easily accessible from the city. Activities like sailing, surfing, sea kayaking, rock climbing, and hiking/camping are very popular here. Fishing (both salt and freshwater) is quite popular but hunting is not, compared to most other provinces.
Halifax itself feels like a complete city with its own unique characteristics and identity. Obviously it's not as large as Toronto but aside from things like NHL/MLB/NBA and Canada's Wonderland you can do most of the same things here that people would do in Toronto and the surrounding area. Halifax has a great food scene and tons of independent breweries, coffee roasters, and there's a substantial wine region about an hour NW of the city. The music scene/nightlife is among the best in Canada. The city is a bit more colourful and hip than most of Ontario in my experience - London and Ottawa (and 90% of the GTA) feel a bit dull and "stiflingly normal" to me in comparison, while Montreal and St. John's feel a bit more out-there (both in terms of cityscape and culture). Chain restaurants and the like are sort of looked down on here and are less prevalent than they are in Ontario, and there are proportionately more local/indie businesses and brands. The direct interface between downtown and the ocean is something I haven't really seen anywhere else in Canada (Vancouver and Victoria are kind of similar in this regard, but still feel markedly different). Halifax (and Nova Scotia in general) has a weird self-image as being an exceptionally racist place, although I'd say based on my own observations we're one of the least racists parts of Canada in practice, but also more self-conscious about race-related stuff when it does come up. A lot of the stuff that is decried as horribly and blatantly racist here would just be considered business as usual in most of Canada and wouldn't get any attention - we're more likely to call ourselves out on it. It's also one of the most LGBT-friendly cities in Canada. There is quite a bit of recreational drug use but it is mostly hidden and we have so far been spared the opioid and meth crises that have been affecting a lot of other cities.
In terms of practical stuff, Halifax deals with a lot of the same issues as Toronto but on a smaller scale. Traffic can be bad at rush hour but not Toronto-bad. The transit system is lackluster but is getting more reliable and generally works well. A lot of the worst transportation issues are not within the city itself but in terms of getting to other places - YHZ is one of Canada's more well-connected airports but trains and intercity buses are not very practical or cost-effective here. There is no Uber here but cabs are generally easy to get. There is no Bixi or equivalent here but bicycle infrastructure is improving rapidly. In many parts of the city it's practical to just walk places. Housing affordability is starting to get worse but it's not remotely as bad as in Toronto or Vancouver and is basically in line with the Canadian average. Gas is fairly expensive but again not as bad as in Vancouver. Electricity is expensive, and natural gas heating is not very common. People here would associate the word "hydro" with water, not with electricity. Most kids here just go to public school, there's no Catholic school system and very few private schools compared to Ontario. The healthcare system is a bit strained but there is currently a lot of focus on fixing that.
Overall it's kind of hard to explain "what life is like here", it's worth a visit to see for yourself; if you were to move from Ontario I don't think it would be very hard to adjust.
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