Steve_P

Recently there was a thread about Canada's Best Places to Live 2011

Well here is the other end of the scale, Canada's ten worst places to live apologies to anyone who might live in one of the ten communities.

1 each in Ontario, Nova Scotia, P.E.I. and Newfoundland
2 in Quebec
4 in British Columbia

Tangram

North Shore in there .... ? No ? ....Phew. Ontheboatout will be pleased.

dbd33

On the other thread New Glasgow, NSNS, was the very worst place. Maybe it got better this week.

Tangram

You might be right, who knows.

Greenhill

Is this not the reality about New Glasgow?

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showp...&postcount=196

Tangram

Ah that brought back memories ( wipes a tear away from his eye ) Give him his due, he's still going but what a twat.

Pebblebeach

Ha, ha, I still remember reading that very clearly, as we had recently visited and had to check where he was talking about It was the only place I have visited in NS so far that I felt uncomfortable. We were only there for about 2 hours on our reccie and decided to move on a day early.

BristolUK

I've not been there (unless I passed through in 1975) but New Glasgow seems an okay place from on line research.

What's wrong with it?

Pebblebeach

To me it seemed like a run down industrial town, there was an air of poverty and misery when I visited. Very uncomfortable.

On the plus side, property is cheap, it is close to some lovely beaches and they seems to be trying hard to rejuvenate the town centre. At least one regular poster that I can think of has made this their home and seems happy there.

I made the comment in response to the orignal description by OTB quoted above, which would be hard to agree with, even through many layers of rose tinted specs IMHO

NoreenC

We've been living in New Glasgow almost a year and really like it. When we did a recce to NS we went to several places and felt comfortable there straightaway. We're an older couple so are looking for different things than younger people. I've joined the library and a couple of other groups as well, we find the people friendly and have got a Dr. We liked the fact that there is a bus service to Halifax. I don't drive so it's nice to know that I can get out of New Glasgow if I want; I've been used to Public Transport in the UK where I could get to most places that I wanted. We're very happy with our house (yes, property probably is cheaper) and the neighbourhood. The shops and library are within easy walking distance. Another plus is the large hospital which we thought we might be needing sometime in the future, but hopefully, not just yet!

BristolUK

That sounds more like that other part...Trenton is it?

Your comments make it sound more like the place I thought it would be and for much the same reasons.

Cookie

It saddened and upset me that New Glasgow faired so badly on the recent survey because it does not consider the quality of life our rural town has to offer. Aside from the fact that New Glasgow does not even meet the criteria of population over 10,000 that the survey stipulates, it made New Glasgow look like the bottom of the barrel which it is most definitely is not.

We came over from Aberdeen 4 years ago and landed up in New Glasgow by fate (job offer). We have been PRs for over 3 years so can freely chose to live anywhere in Canada. Back home we lived in a nice house, OH worked offshore for 18 years and I also worked so we could afford nice things and great holidays. Kids were 13 and 16 at the time, me 44 and OH was 51.

New Glasgow only has a population of 9455 so for the purposes of the survey they had to include the local towns of Trenton (the main drag is certainly not easy on the eye - huge job loss to the community a few years back when Trenton Works closed), Stellarton, Westville, Pictou Landing (First Nations) and other outlying rural areas. There is nothing industrial looking about New Glasgow (Trenton is industrial). We only had Maritime Steel and it closed its doors before Christmas (ugly building but it's location is fairly tucked away). There are definitely people going through some hard times right now. The sale of Maritime Steel is currently under negotiation and fingers crossed it will open back up or be relocated to a new area in town.

New Glasgow is very leafy and green most of the year. There are lots of heritage style housing in New Glasgow - I would say it counts for most of it. You would be hard pushed to find any two houses looking the same in ANY street in New Glasgow, even in the new subdivisions. We have a river running through town, a small marina and several beautiful unspoiled beaches only a 10 minute drive away.

Main employers are Sobeys headquarters (the Sobey family all live in New Glasgow), the Aberdeen Hospital and local school board. Outside the town there is Michelin, and Northern Pulp is up at Pictou.

New Glasgow is rural (1.5 hours drive from Halifax) and does not have public transport within the local area; only has a stop area for buses connecting to Halifax, Cape Breton etc. So nil points for local transport on that survey. No passenger trains either, only mile long cargo trains! People don't commute to jobs down in Halifax like they would from Truro - it would be a 320km daily round trip.

Although there are plenty decent vehicles on the road, rural people don't particularly care much about driving the latest model every year. Nobody feels the need to keep up with the Joneses with house, vehicle, designer clothes, etc. Money is spent on leisure time, outdoor activities and sport (hockey for the kids costs $$$$ a year and a lot of parents are often on weekend roadtrips over the winter). Music plays a big part of our community – huge amount of musical talent around. There are always music events (usually fundraisers) all year round and there is a large 3-day downtown riverfront music festival in the summer.

Lots of people here have also local summer cottages by the water. Many extended families head off for the weekend and it's not unusual to see tents pitched in the gardens of the cottages and see several families and friends meeting up for weekend and holiday get togethers. Families are also very generous in letting friends have the cottage for a weekend too.

We feel very safe here. People are very polite, even teenagers lol. People still don't lock their front doors or cars. Kids can leave bike's etc out in the street and still find them there the next day.

Just for the record, the people of New Glasgow (and Pictou County) are very generous, eg Big Brothers Big Sisters Bowling for Kids event 2 weeks ago raised over $80,000!!!! Each year the Dragonboat Races raise a huge amount of money - over $120,000 in 2010 for Breast Cancer, Prostrate Cancer and Special Olympics. Volunteering is a huge part of peoples lives here. Most events in town are fundraisers – this goes on all year round. Nobody shakes a can and asks for money – it’s all events eg Casino Night, live bands and dances, BBQs, pancake breakfasts, suppers, sports events, festivals. These all take a lot of effort and organising but people here really do care about their community. People rally round and really do care about each other and it shows. For such a small town this is one busy place I can tell you.

Need some volunteers to help paint your house, build a deck, put a new roof on the house, or want to borrow a truck? …….. then ask around or pop your request onto Facebook – job is as good as done! Pop out for a carton of milk, it’s guaranteed that you meet at least half a dozen people to chat to. This gives me a great sense of belonging.

Since arriving here in January 2007, NONE of us have been homesick and that's all down to this great community who welcomed us and made us feel like it was our home too. Our great friends make it all extra special. Money can’t buy that.

We are proud to call New Glasgow our home!


PS OTBO does not live in New Glasgow. He lives a 40 minute drive away in Tatamagouche, the pretty town featured in "The Week the Women Went" a few years ago.

Also, for us the current Canadian Tire TV Advert isn't far off the mark either - except we only travel a few minutes to the wilderness or the water ;)

NoreenC

Well said, Cookie! I know your positive comments about New Glasgow before we came over were very encouraging, and we found you were right

DandNHill

Cookie
Your post describes New Glasgow so well. You can tell that you feel very affectionate towards your new home and neighbours.
I have only passed through once but I can't see what others have against it, it looked like a lovely typical country town.
You have given me the desire to visit sometime when we are settled in Nova Scotia

Tangram

I don't think anyone on here has criticised it. I believe the usual dubious survey results were the implicator.