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What's it like living in Nova Scotia?

What's it like living in Nova Scotia?

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Old Jun 28th 2017, 11:31 pm
  #46  
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Default Re: What's it like living in Nova Scotia?

Originally Posted by Wella1
What do you want to know? culture? living costs? taxes? etc
Do you intend to live in/around Halifax or rural?
Are you retired or will be looking for work?
Hi Wella,

I want to know about it all.

I am looking at NS as a place to live and work.
I work as a .net software developer, so I guess, like it or not, we may have to live in at least a commutable distance close to Halifax.

The cost of living and house prices may be good places to start.

Many thanks,

Steve
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Old Jun 28th 2017, 11:34 pm
  #47  
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Default Re: What's it like living in Nova Scotia?

Originally Posted by BristolUK
"population is sparse and geography is vast" is actually true of Canada as a whole though.

I wonder why Nova Scotia is being compared with the UK. Of course it depends on the need to know...is the choice UK or Canada or has Canada already been chosen?

Unless there's a chance of moving jobs via an employer from the UK to NS (which is likely to be very few) I would imagine someone is looking at "Canada" in which case NS compared to other places in Canada is what's important. The OP's posting history suggests a possible desire to move to North America rather than NS or stay put in the UK.

Almost everywhere is a long drive from almost everywhere else. If you want the hustle and bustle of a big city, live there or fly to it. Even if in Vancouver and you wanted to see a different city you'd probably fly to it, Seattle excepted maybe.
Yes, compared to a lot of provinces and places the Maritimes have quite a lot within driving distance, its not so much like a pocket of civilization surrounded by vast prairies and absolutely nothing for hundreds of kms.
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Old Jun 28th 2017, 11:36 pm
  #48  
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Default Re: What's it like living in Nova Scotia?

Originally Posted by BristolUK
Almost everywhere is a long drive from almost everywhere else.
That's not true of southern Ontario. At least, it's not true in the sense in which NS is being, accurately, described. We can drive in one day to (any one of) Toronto, Chicago, Detroit, Albany (train from there to NYC), Montreal, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, almost to Boston. It's not as convenient as Brighton but there's are a lot of urban locations within reasonable reach.
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Old Jun 28th 2017, 11:36 pm
  #49  
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Default Re: What's it like living in Nova Scotia?

Originally Posted by SurreyGuy
Hi Wella,

I want to know about it all.

I am looking at NS as a place to live and work.
I work as a .net software developer, so I guess, like it or not, we may have to live in at least a commutable distance close to Halifax.

The cost of living and house prices may be good places to start.

Many thanks,

Steve
Steve, there was a thread a little while ago (should find it if you search) called "is $50,000 enough to live on in NS", or something along those lines.

A lot of people put their monthly costs and budgets on the thread, which might help you to get a clearer idea of what cost of living is. I live in PEI and am about to move to NS, and I was very pleasantly surprised at the cost of living compared to PEI, so it shows just how much difference there can be even within the Maritimes.
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Old Jun 29th 2017, 1:25 am
  #50  
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Default Re: What's it like living in Nova Scotia?

Originally Posted by dbd33
That's not true of southern Ontario.
Well, I did say almost everywhere else. Southern Ontario does leave almost everywhere else.

We can drive in one day to (any one of) Toronto, Chicago, Detroit, Albany (train from there to NYC), Montreal, Philadelphia, Cincinnati...
Which is not so different to the stated 10 hours to Boston & Montreal from Halifax. And Quebec City? Not to mention Moncton
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Old Jun 29th 2017, 1:34 am
  #51  
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Default Re: What's it like living in Nova Scotia?

Originally Posted by BristolUK
Well, I did say almost everywhere else. Southern Ontario does leave almost everywhere else.


Which is not so different to the stated 10 hours to Boston & Montreal from Halifax. And Quebec City? Not to mention Moncton
You can actually get to Boston in under eight hours from Nova Scotia - ferry from Yarmouth to Portland, Maine, and then just under a two hour drive to Boston. New York in under eleven hours too, again ferry then drive.
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Old Jun 29th 2017, 2:57 am
  #52  
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Default Re: What's it like living in Nova Scotia?

Originally Posted by raindropsandroses
Steve, there was a thread a little while ago (should find it if you search) called "is $50,000 enough to live on in NS", or something along those lines.

A lot of people put their monthly costs and budgets on the thread, which might help you to get a clearer idea of what cost of living is. I live in PEI and am about to move to NS, and I was very pleasantly surprised at the cost of living compared to PEI, so it shows just how much difference there can be even within the Maritimes.
.... and here's the link

http://britishexpats.com/forum/canad...enough-896812/

and a few other threads that may be of use

http://britishexpats.com/forum/canad...s-move-897917/
http://britishexpats.com/forum/canad...ily-ns-897975/
http://britishexpats.com/forum/canad...b-live-896596/
http://britishexpats.com/forum/canad...advice-896534/

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Old Jun 29th 2017, 3:30 am
  #53  
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Default Re: What's it like living in Nova Scotia?

Originally Posted by raindropsandroses
Lychee, genuine question as we're about to move to NS South Shore from PEI, I'm always a bit puzzled by people saying PEI/NS lack big cities, what does Halifax lack that Montreal has?
I initially thought that this was some weird dyslexic nickname for the area
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Old Jun 29th 2017, 2:39 pm
  #54  
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Default Re: What's it like living in Nova Scotia?

Originally Posted by dbd33
Club Super Sexe?

More generally, big city hustle and bustle. Lots of choice in entertainment, sports, restaurants, shops. Montreal even has IKEA!
To be fair IKEA is opening in Halifax this year

Originally Posted by SurreyGuy
Hi Wella,

I want to know about it all.

I am looking at NS as a place to live and work.
I work as a .net software developer, so I guess, like it or not, we may have to live in at least a commutable distance close to Halifax.

The cost of living and house prices may be good places to start.

Many thanks,

Steve
This is a good place to start when looking at house prices:

http://www.realtor.ca
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Old Jun 29th 2017, 2:52 pm
  #55  
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Default Re: What's it like living in Nova Scotia?

Originally Posted by confused_uk
To be fair IKEA is opening in Halifax this year
Nooooooooooo!!!!!!! I wonder if its too late to cancel our move? NS tarnished forever
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Old Jun 29th 2017, 3:10 pm
  #56  
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Default Re: What's it like living in Nova Scotia?

Originally Posted by raindropsandroses
Nooooooooooo!!!!!!! I wonder if its too late to cancel our move? NS tarnished forever
Lol, is it bad I'm looking forward to it?
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Old Jun 29th 2017, 3:37 pm
  #57  
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Default Re: What's it like living in Nova Scotia?

Originally Posted by confused_uk
Lol, is it bad I'm looking forward to it?
Only if you rave excessively about it and write blog posts about your latest ikea haul
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Old Jun 29th 2017, 3:47 pm
  #58  
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Default Re: What's it like living in Nova Scotia?

Originally Posted by raindropsandroses
Only if you rave excessively about it and write blog posts about your latest ikea haul
Haha no, it's just nice to have something familiar that you know you can buy reasonably priced items at.
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Old Jun 29th 2017, 3:55 pm
  #59  
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Default Re: What's it like living in Nova Scotia?

Originally Posted by confused_uk
Haha no, it's just nice to have something familiar that you know you can buy reasonably priced items at.
I know I jest, we lived in Sweden for a (thankfully very short) while and it was a pretty horrendous experience, hence I am unfairly prejudiced against anything remotely Swedish
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Old Jun 29th 2017, 7:07 pm
  #60  
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Default Re: What's it like living in Nova Scotia?

A lot will depend on where you are living now (assume Surrey) and how you spend your time. If you travel into London frequently and like the facilities offered then you'll need to make some major lifestyle changes to enjoy NS. There is only the one city, Halifax, and it's not big compared to UK cities. The next biggest city is Moncton, a 3 hour drive away, and that's smaller than Halifax! Both have a selelction of restaurants and things to do but there isn't such a wide range as you would find in a lot of British cities.
Living in NB the people I have met are very provincial and not open to change. They just accept that's the way things have always been done and don't want to rock the boat (it is what it is). I've met people who moved to NS then left because they were seen as incomers (come from away) and were made to feel unwelcome. It does seem that people either love it or loathe it, and those who love it don't like to see it criticised so the best thing is to take a trip and do the things you would do if you were living not visiting.
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