Lynsi

Hello oh wise BE peeps,
We have been living in North Vancouver for 6 years and, well, its time we broke up. She has grown too expensive for our taste and we are growing increasingly depressed at her housing prices. So we are looking to relocate (we love trees, mountains, snow and coast still)and are currently researching Halifax and surrounding areas. Is there anyone there who can give us the lowdown? Areas to avoid? My husband is an accountant and I am a Pilates instructor. We have two young girls of 4yrs and 1yr plus a large hairy dog.
Already read the Wiki!
Thanks in advance!

scilly

My daughter is a Vancouver native who relocated to the Halifax area after she married a NS man 16 years ago.

She's now settled, and knows they will never be able to move back here although that had been their original idea.

They have a nice house ...... and a big mortgage. They did look at buying in Halifax, but that was expensive so they bought in a nearby community.

Schools are the same as everywhere ............ some good, some bad. Halifax School Board (which also covers Dartmouth across the harbour) has a school year that is 12 days longer than in BC (and probably elsewhere in the country!). They adopted this a few years ago after so many school days had been lost to "snow days", and it has now become permanent. This can impact on parental holiday arrangements .......... for example, the Christmas break is usually no more than 10 days.

Grocery stores are more expensive than here. Restaurants more expensive ......... for example, sushi is as much as 3 times the cost here, and you never see wild sockeye listed.

There is downhill skiing in NS, but cross country skiing and snowshoeing is common ............. at Ski Martock the hill is 600' high, 7 trails, 5 lifts. Ski Wentworth is 815' high and has 20 trails.

Weather can be horrendous ........... they get the tail end of many hurricanes in summer and nor'easters in winter. We've been there in real blizzard conditions. Our daughter snowshoes or uses her cross country skis to get to work, with transit for part of the trip, 2 or 3 times every winter.

I find it is more difficult to get to know the "natives" there, than when we came to Vancouver.

It's faster to get back to the UK, but very expensive to fly to other parts of Canada.

That's the bad side.

You need to investigate the job situation very carefully, although it seems that you have the skills to run your own businesses if needed. I know there has been a downturn in the building and construction industry and there are a lot of people out of work.

The outdoor life is great, with lots of hiking, camping, etc ........... and often cheaper than on this side.

It can be difficult to access sand and sea other than at public beaches ........ home owners own the beach down to the low water mark and can ban the public form even walking across "their" beach.

There's loads of mosquitoes and blackflies!

Stinkypup

Given what Scilly says, I would just head further East in BC if that is feasible .

Snowy560

I'm from North Van and co-incidentally went on very short trip to Halifax last week.

Flying in was horrendous (see my separate thread on that). However, I found out that it's not that uncommon (problems with fog etc.).

My impressions of Halifax were that: the people were lovely and very friendly/welcoming all that sort of thing, that it seemed like a nice holiday destination (I said to my husband who was not with me that we should come again and explore), that I don't think I'd like to live there long term.

I also thought stuff was a bit more expensive in the shops. I noticed that Tim Hortons was a bit cheaper, but by the time the tax went on it was the same or more expensive (am I right?). I went to a supermarket type store called Pete's which had a lot of British stuff but ordinary food items seemed a bit more than here. People seem to like lobster: even McD's sell it.

The fog really got to me actually, but I think I was partly apprehensive about the return trip.

Why don't you go for a holiday and see what you think?

S

cxx

Pete's is not your average supermarket. They are trying to be more Whole Foods than Asda, and are more expensive than Superstore / Sobeys.

Snowy560

Yes, I thought this. It was just the store I stumbled upon during my brief trip there which was close to the hotel. It's not Whole Foods. It's a bit like Fresh Street in West Van.

S

Howefamily

Fog is particularly crap right now as we are having an unseasonably cool Jun and I for one cant wait for it to leave.
I don't see much downturn in the construction industry, there seems to be construction and new buildings going up everywhere.
For some real estate info take a look at: www.viewpoint.ca
For accounting jobs Accounting Staffing and Meridia are good options for recruitment consultants and also there are some good accounting positions going at Emera www.emera.com


Good luck with your decision. We love it here.

Oink

That's going backwards. Move west, go to VI, if you can't afford Victoria then there are plenty of other places that you can twiddle your thumbs while not freezing your nads off.

scilly

Maybe it's just the Halifax architectural firms that are not getting any business then. Daughter is an architect.

Actually, I believe most of those new buildings may well have gone through the design and approval processes some time ago, then put into abeyance while money was raised for building. The architects were very busy up to about 3-4 years ago, most have been scratching for contracts since, laying off staff, cutting back, etc.

Howefamily

Interesting and useful info for sure. I hope that turns around for your daughter soon

Lynsi

Thank you so much you guys are awesome. I think we will take a look at the Kootenays and more on the Island. It would be great to be closer to home but I don't like the sound of all those mosquitos and black flies!! Or the weather! We are so ready to leave Vancouver. Its soul destroying watching the property market!

Stinkypup

Yeah, that sounds like a plan- Oink certainly has a good point with the Island. I suppose it depends if you need to be in spitting distance of the Ocean. I like the Kootenays but somewhat isolated IMO. Consider our patch- minimal insects

MillieF

Or forget about it all.... and come to New Brunswick....No Fog...No employment either, of course...and as yet...No Summer Sunshine It is however, very green...very, very green...it's the rain you see

We have more snow, generally, than Nova Scotia, so the winter sports are even better, and they last much, much longer...house prices are better too! Thanks to the climate and the HST....

When you have sorted is all out and found a home away from home from Vancouver....please let us lot on the East Coast know about it!

Very best of luck

Flogger

The weather, or bug situation in NS are anything like what Scilly described.

Stinkypup

So good weather and no flies?