Downtown Halifax population growth

[Haliguy]

Downtown Halifax's population growth the highest in Canada.

https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/dail...g-b001-eng.htm

[Haliguy]

Sorry meant to start this tread under General. Not sure how to move it.

[q12]

^Amazing news!

BREAKING: Halifax, Nova Scotia has the fastest-growing downtown population in the country, according to the first batch of 2021 Census data released today by Statistics Canada.

https://twitter.com/Brett_CBC/status...07323373641728

[q12]

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/cana...on-highlights/

Chart 2
Downtowns in the largest urban centres also have the highest population densities



https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/dail...g-b002-eng.htm

[Jethro Bodine]

Originally Posted by Haliguy

Downtown Halifax's population growth the highest in Canada.

https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/dail...g-b001-eng.htm

Surprising that people would be moving to downtown instead of the suburbs during the pandemic. You would think people would be looking for more space, especially outdoor space.

Not surprising due to the Maritimes in general and Halifax in particular is an absolute gem, undiscovered by some, unappreciated by others. Having travelled extensively I always look forward to coming back to Halifax. It's got everything one needs in a city, not too big but not too small, it's just an all around great city. I hope it doesn't grow too much, it's affordability, in comparison to the larger centres, is one of it's biggest assets.

J

[OldDartmouthMark]

I wonder if this might be skewed a little bit by the downtown having once been almost entirely a business district, with a whole barrage of residential buildings going up over the past half decade+.

Like, to exaggerate the point, if only 100 people lived there before, but now 1000 do, you have a 10X growth rate, even though the actual numbers aren't that great.

Regardless, the vacancy rate in Halifax is a clear indication of how many people are moving here from other places, so it's probably not too skewed (if at all).

[someone123]

Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark

I wonder if this might be skewed a little bit by the downtown having once been almost entirely a business district, with a whole barrage of residential buildings going up over the past half decade+.

This is a reasonable theory but if you look at the boundaries they're using a very generous 4 km square area that includes a bunch of housing and covers around 20,000 people (incorporating part of the old North and South ends, not exactly what a lot of people would call "downtown"). I think there really was just a lot of population growth in the inner part of the city.

I think a lot of the growth is "back-loaded" in the census period too. There could be even more population growth in the next census if the current pace continues, though maybe the rate will fall. The sheer number of people moving in is high enough that in the long run it seems like it will have a big impact on aspects like pedestrian traffic.

[Drybrain]

Yes, the “downtown” defined by StatCan is Inglis to North, Robie to the water, so a fair swath of neighbourhoods. But yeah, I’m sure the big commercial core developments are a big factor, injecting a lot of new people into areas that were previously pretty void.

[Keith P.]

As long as they always eat out or order in, and don't ever have kids that need to attend school, I'm sure they'll love their high-rent district studio apartment.

[Haliguy]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

As long as they always eat out or order in, and don't ever have kids that need to attend school, I'm sure they'll love their high-rent district studio apartment.

[mleblanc]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

As long as they always eat out or order in, and don't ever have kids that need to attend school, I'm sure they'll love their high-rent district studio apartment.

I mean - all jokes aside, that lifestyle sounds good to me. You can also just rent for a few years, then decide to do this? Having trouble finding your point here

[someone123]

Census tract 8 bounded by Morris, Sackville, South Park, and the harbour (a little under 0.5 square km) grew from 2,778 to 5,203. That really is substantial not just in percentage growth but raw numbers of people moving in to a neighbourhood. I could see it eventually going higher since there are still unfinished construction projects and empty lots. To some degree it reveals how hollowed-out the city was back around 2000. That area has some density but is not exactly Blade Runner-esque.

[Jethro Bodine]

None of this is much of a surprise. Halifax is killing it, especially the last couple of years.

Coast to Coast: Data Shows Canadians Moved to Halifax and Vancouver During Pandemic

The pandemic has inspired Canadian professionals to relocate to the country’s picture-perfect coasts.

According to LinkedIn’s inaugural Workforce Report for Canada, which documented the LinkedIn members who had relocated since the onset of COVID-19, the urban areas in and around both Vancouver and Halifax have experienced the most internal migration gains.

Since April 2020, Vancouver has experienced a 10.5% rise in the inflow-outflow ratio of residents, indicating that thousands more Canadians have been moving to the easy-on-the eyes west coast city than leaving it, compared to pre-COVID trends.

But it’s the country’s other coast that’s seen a more dramatic influx of new residents. Halifax’s metro area experienced a dramatic 39% increase in the inflow-outflow ratio of residents since April 2020.

J

[Colin May]

The census includes non-residents,including out of province students. The numbers would be higher if tourists had been in the hotels.

[Haliguy]

Originally Posted by Colin May

The census includes non-residents,including out of province students. The numbers would be higher if tourists had been in the hotels.

Not sure about that one, but who cares, they have always been there, so they haven't skewed the growth numbers. If that's what you're trying to get at.

[Colin May]

Originally Posted by Haliguy

Not sure about that one, but who cares, they have always been there, so they haven't skewed the growth numbers. If that's what you're trying to get at.

Significant growth in foreign students since the 2011 Census, especially from wealthy Chinese students. Car dealerships will tell you the difference in sales from 2011. Student enrollment is much higher than in 2011 - paper factories are doing well on the peninsula. Population increase in HRM is significant off peninsula, ask any realtor. Today CBC carried an item nationally in which a woman from Toronto described why she moved to the Eastern Shore shortly after COVID was indentified and she certainly was not low income.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by Colin May

The census includes non-residents,including out of province students. The numbers would be higher if tourists had been in the hotels.

I had to look this up to verify but the only people counted in hotels (under collective dwellings) are usual or foreign residents. Typically collective dwellings are overwhelmingly health care or related facilities - things like nursing homes and long-term care hospitals. They typically make up something like 80% of the collective dwelling population with a variety of other dwellings making up the rest. Tourists visiting don't really account for all that much, if anything. AFAIK census forms aren't sent to hotel rooms and are instead sent to facility operators, but I could be wrong.

Originally Posted by mleblanc

I mean - all jokes aside, that lifestyle sounds good to me. You can also just rent for a few years, then decide to do this? Having trouble finding your point here

Bikes are bad.

[Haliguy]

Originally Posted by Colin May

Significant growth in foreign students since the 2011 Census, especially from wealthy Chinese students. Car dealerships will tell you the difference in sales from 2011. Student enrollment is much higher than in 2011 - paper factories are doing well on the peninsula. Population increase in HRM is significant off peninsula, ask any realtor. Today CBC carried an item nationally in which a woman from Toronto described why she moved to the Eastern Shore shortly after COVID was indentified and she certainly was not low income.

I agree, population growth is significant off peninsula, but this is talking about the large population growth downtown.

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by JHikka

Bikes are bad.

You said it.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

You said it.

I was being facetious. Amazing.

It just sounds like maybe the city isn't for you, especially one getting bigger and accommodating more people of differing backgrounds and interests. Not everyone is going to be exactly like you in every possible way. The point of living in a city is being around and interacting with people of every possible background and persuasion - to dismiss most of them as others says more about the person than the environment, you know?

Originally Posted by Jethro Bodine

Surprising that people would be moving to downtown instead of the suburbs during the pandemic. You would think people would be looking for more space, especially outdoor space.

The trend is similar in Toronto, with the downtown core's growth outpacing the outer core and nearer suburbs. People still want urban living, even if it's becoming more difficult with more expensive housing. Similar to living in a downtown, only a specific subset of people can really make it work and be happy in a suburb.