Lamin

We have been in Calgary now for just over 3 years and when my contract is expired we will be moving across to NS as per the original plan.

To be honest I really haven't enjoyed my time here for personal reasons and I am hoping things will be better for different reasons in NS.

There seems to be a huge BE community in NS so can I ask what is the attraction, do you find enough to do and occupy you, do you feel isolated and is the weather negotiable.

I have visited NS and Halifax plenty of times and due to a well known contact on here I have been given a steer on a particular company.

For me, I like the affordabilty of property, the coast, seafood, access to places and the proximity to the UK.

I find Calgary quite barren (except the Rockies obviously), isolated, repetitive, a little brash, expensive, sterile and unaspiring. It boasts of the population doubling, in the short time I have been here, I just seem to see instant estate and type affairs popping up everywhere.

Has anybody lived in both provinces and can offer some advice.

Many thanks.

DandNHill

My little corner of NS reminds me of the England I grew up in 30 years ago if that goes anywhere towards helping you understand... but I am in Yarmouth...

Atlantic Xpat

For a gentler, less spiky version of Newfoundland, (What a friend describes as the "disney" version), it's OK.

Lorry1

The ocean
Close proximity to England

Actually the family and I were in the valley on Sunday picking pumpkins, doing the corn maze and other Halloween stuff. The valley is fertile and has wine vineyards etc. I actually felt very weird driving on the right, I kept checking I was on the right side of the road. It's very close to being like the English Countryside.
Then we pulled onto the highway where, like the rest of Halifax area, it's very rocky and not very picturesque. I remembered where I was.
Unfortunately there is not any work in the valley and it's too far to drive to Halifax every day.

NS for me, IN MY OPINION, is quite boring with not much going on. Their 'theme parks' and 'zoo's' are very small and not really great for a whole day out. I struggle to find places to go with the kids, and for me.

NS will be somewhere to retire to in 30 years time. We will be moving away in a couple of years.

Deva

Beauty and bounty of the Annapolis Valley
Friendly people
The ocean
Small town with good amenities (Wolfville)
Short drives to different towns and countryside
Interesting history
Proximity to England
Housing cost
Good mix of weather

spaceace

I've only lived in NS...

But if you live downtown then most of the activities are there....like bars, there's plenty going on there.

Working in Dartmouth/Halifax and living 20/30kms out of town is also do-able...there's a lot of us doing just that.

Yes, it's not blackpool, or disney, or TO...certainly not much for the shoppaholics, a few average malls in Halifax and Dartmouth etc.

There's plenty of trails, walks, parks.....forest and wooded lands cover some 78% of Nova Scotia's 5.5 million hectares of land area, if that's your thing, and there's a few really great beaches on the Atlantic.

The local weekly 'what's happening' rag seems to be full of stuff to do, but mostly in Downtown Halifax/Dartmouth areas tho

http://www.thecoast.ca/




Most things we like to do/see are up to 2 hours away....Mooseheads, the Valley, Rainbow Haven Beach etc

Yep, like anywhere, it really does depend on disposable income, where in NS you live, what you like to do, how much you like to travel if your not living downtown, and the age of your kids if you've got them to drag around.

Our 2 are age 6 and 11 and are quite happy to go exploring....while other kids may not be.

Personally I prefer living out of town and having the space, but then we need to travel to see/do stuff....it's a trade off

The weather's certainly less harsh than AB too. This year we had a crappy wet spring and IMO a great summer (at least 2 months of hot) and a very mild Fall - and only 2 tropical stoms

The pace of living is slower than the UK

The people are mainly friendly :-)

oh.....and great Sweet potato fries and curry mayo at the Old Triangle downtown

Lamin

Curry Mayo -------sold.

Spaceace, thanks for a positive and informative reply.

Do you travel further out, for instance other provinces or the US.

What about getting to the UK etc, I use to fly Zoom until it unfortunately went bust. Apart from Air Canada are there over outlets to and from, or is it just seasonal?

woodworm

like someone else mentioned .. it's a nice place to retire.... but on the whole there is not much going on. (we are in the country, not in Halifax)
For me the attraction was being close to the ocean, having a lot of space, getting away from the crowds in Europe, ... Now after 8 years here I am desperate for people, things going on, cultural diversity and good food, so I am leaving for France in 4 weeks... (but I'll be back here next summer)

Oink

If you want a desolate and remote place, near the ocean, with few job opportunities and that is culturally different from England, why not just move to Wales?

Tangram

The Welsh.

Lorry1

I love the way you picked out the positive post.

It's like anywhere, some people settle and some don't. I'm not sure how long Spaceace has been here, maybe not long so everything is still an adventure. I have been here 4 and a half years and now have nowhere new to go and not much to do.

The US, first point of origin Maine, is a 7 hour dead boring drive from here. You need a long weekend to go on shopping trips.

The social scene here is diferent too. If you live outside of Halifax, you will find people don't want to travel in to go to the decent bars and clubs. They would rather have a house party, which is great but sometimes you just need a girlie night out.

I do not dislike NS, it is a mostly beautiful province and even in the 4 years I have been here, there are more shops and services coming in.

If I could do it all again, I would move elsewhere in England.

Good luck in whatever you decide

spaceace

yes a warning to the OP......I am a hall full kinda guy, and tend to bury my head in the sand when it comes to lifes negatives.....which of course there are plenty here in NS just as there are everywhere else

we've been here 18 months and not done the US....yet, but would like to once we have PR sorted

the furthest we've ventured is about 4 hours....5 Islands and Moncton spring to mind.

Howefamily

We have been here just over 6 months and we find loads of things to do. Our children are 7 and 4 and they love being able to ride their bike in the road and I love that I am without fear of them being run over.
We have spent every weekend this summer going out at least one weekend day and still havent touched the place. There are stacks of beaches I havent yet had so much of a sniff at and the ones I have been to, I want to go back to.

It DOES depend what you are looking for. We wanted peace and quiet and beauty and a nice house in a safe neighbourhood with proximity to a small city with restaurants and the ocean and we got all that. We are not looking for theme parks and are happy with the wildlife park. If we want theme parks we are a few hours from Florida where we would go anyway for that kind of thing.

For us, this is perfect. We love being here. Who knows whats ahead in life anyway.

Howefamily

I have lived in Wales and NS is nothing like it

Lorry1

Oh Nat, I do love you but you are still wearing those good ole rose tinted specs

Just kidding hun.

As I said, I'm not knocking NS but for me, I want more!