Planning a recce to Nova Scotia
 

Hi to everyone out there i am planning a recce to Nova Scotia in September and was wondering if anyone have any recommendations on where to stay as we have our PR's and need to activate them also i am starting the process of finding the area we want to live.It will only be a short 10 day trip so i know it will be a very manic visit but any advice or recommendations would be great and also thats for all the great advice from everyone out there
thanks paul

Re: Planning a recce to Nova Scotia
 

where are you planning on visiting whilst you're here?....this will help you make the choice of where to stay.

Re: Planning a recce to Nova Scotia
 

Hi we would like to be with in an hour and half travel time of Halifax airport but our options are totally open so we dont rule anything out
thanks paul

Re: Planning a recce to Nova Scotia
 

An hour and a half from the airport covers a pretty large area of NS! lol.

Start by thinking about what you want as a work life balance and what employment opportunities you need around you to narrow a location. Theres no point looking at parts of the valley or the highlands if you need a large population.

Populations of towns (high to low):
Halifax
Sydney
Truro
New Glasgow
Yarmouth
Bridgewater
Kentville

I am sure when you have narrowed down to what you need, many of us could recommend places that might fit the bill...

Hope this helps.
LL x

Re: Planning a recce to Nova Scotia
 

Hi LL thanks for that good point i am a firefighter/instructor and also a diesel mechanic and my wife is airline cabin crew,thats the reason why we need to be within a hour and a half of halifax.
thanks again paul

Re: Planning a recce to Nova Scotia
 

Halifax itself may be the best option for you guys then, as many of the smaller towns have large volunteer fire services/small paid teams due to the smaller populations. It might be worth looking at the burbs around Halifax and the smaller towns - I know a lot of expats have settled in areas like Porters Lake, Hammonds Plains, Upper Tantallon, Lake Echo etc. Hopefully someone will be along to talk to you about these areas.

Truro is another option, also popular with expats, because it is a large and growing community that provides many services and is still a reasonable commute to the airport.

Hope this helps.

LL x

Re: Planning a recce to Nova Scotia
 

The Valley..that's the area between Kentville and Digby, down the Highway number one, is something you just gotta see when you are here. It is gorgeous and the houses are soooo cheap!
Paul

Re: Planning a recce to Nova Scotia
 

Love the Valley, specially my bit of it!:thumbup:

Re: Planning a recce to Nova Scotia
 

As the others have said it really does depend on which areas you plan on researching. We've just got back from our first recce and stayed in Brookfield, Colchester county. It's about 50 mins to Halifax and about 15-20 mins from Truro. The location was perfect for us as we are looking to move to Colchester county. We managed to rent a 3 bedroom cottage on the lake.

Re: Planning a recce to Nova Scotia
 

Hi

If you want somewhere cheap, friendly and clean then stay at The Lake City Motel. We used it for a week. It was only $350 plus tax. Free internet and a shared kitchen if you dare....we didn't. The owner was really helpful as were all the staff. Depends what you want i guess, our view was it was a bed and it was cheap. We were out early and back late looking for a house and area to live. At the moment we live about just over an hour from the city but when we buy will look to be about 30mins from Dartmouth/Halifax it's a ball ache driving there and back with 3 kids....but it's not forever!!

We are on the Eastern shore.

Cheers

John

Re: Planning a recce to Nova Scotia
 

Where are you staying now? Up near Musq? Are you looking for a property with Alan the Realtor?

Re: Planning a recce to Nova Scotia
 

Hi Rifecottage, welcome to NS, first of all there are hundreds of Expats living in NS and pretty much every one will give a different reason about why one area is better than the other. It is all very subjective to what you want as a family.

I along with many other Brits work at the Airport and we all live in different areas depending on our wants and needs.

Fall river is beautifull and a lot of expats live there, it is a lakes and forest community, schools are good, but infrastructure is as you would expect from a suburb. No public transport but highway quickly gets you into the city within 20 minutes.

Elmsdale, more remote a little like a British village but more spread out infrastructure as above.

Dartmouth, Town living, cheaper than Halifax, good nightlife, easy access to the city 15 to 20 mins to the Airport, schools not as good as some.

Sackville, nice area 15 minutes to Airport size of a small town, very good shopping, easy access to everywhere, schools are fair, housing is cheaper than some areas

Bedford, 15 minutes to Airport, (next to Sackville) some people say this is a more upper class area, this is seen in the house prices, again attractive small town community 2 shopping malls (home of Petes Fruitique), plus close access to most super stores, Schools are rated some of the best in HRM.

Tantallon, 40 to 55 minutes to the Airport. Beautifull area lakes forests coastal inlets beaches close by, schools are good, Halifax easy access on Hwy 103, fair shopping super stores are expanding, nightlife is not so good but it is a peacefull type area, much like Fall River, but it does have limited public transport.

We live in Hammonds Plains on a beautifull sub division lakes and forest, this is halfway betwean Bedford and Tantallon, good schools, (several volunteer fire depts) few shops you need to travel for shopping but tantallon is 5 minutes, and Bedford is 10 minutes, Halifax is 30 minutes. Airport is 30 minutes on a good day dependant on time of travel.

I cant comment on areas like Truro or the Valley, although I do know people who commute from there to the Airport, takes an hour I guess dependant upon distance, but remember to take into account driving conditions in the winter that can double or even treble your commute time.

So as you can see this is the local area from my perspective, I am sure someone will come along shortly and tell a completely different story but that is the nature of BE.

At the end of the day it is down to what you want as to where you settle.

Feel free to PM me if you want more info we often talk to people interested in the area via phone, as there are always lots of questions to be asked.

It might be a good idea if you state what type of life style and family commitments you will need to satisfy, that way people can more easilly cater to your questions.

With regards accomodation we stayed in a holiday inn hotel in Dartmouth for our recce, it was central to a lot of the areas we wanted to explore, I know a few people who have stayed in a hotel on chocolate lake, and found it reasonable as well as central. another cheaper option might be to stop in a motel, if all you want is a bed to sleap in, there are several on the Bedford highway.

Best of luck with your Recce, prior planning is a must, Google earth and MLS, will help you decide on areas of focus, also contact UK2Nova Scotia for further info (their website is helpfull) above all make a list and hit the ground running.

Regards

Andy

Re: Planning a recce to Nova Scotia
 

When we reccied NS in 06 we stayed in a nice hotel in Halifax, The Residence Inn (Marriott) on Grafton St right in the centre. Nice English pub right across the road aswell... the Maxwell's Plum :)