Flogger

1 tail end of a hurricane and a couple of tropical storms in seven years that I can remember .
Winter storms can be a pain in the arse, we do seem to get a lot. A couple of years ago it seemed like every Wednesday, probably wasn't. February is normally the worst month. We do get quite a lot of thaw days though.

Black fly mainly around in June, don't seem to populate urban areas. Can be horrible by lakes though.

Howefamily

You are right, it WAS every Wednesday or near as dammit.
I think the black fly are gone already - probably as sick of the weather this June as I am. Its forecast to be 21C on Saturday - you can bring that on asap

YoshiPal2010

Been here a week now. "Let's move to Halifax", says the wife. Worst mistake we have ever made! It is a dump! And so very overpriced, considering its moribund economy, Stay west of the Saskatchewan/Alberta border and you can't go wrong.

scilly

Only 7 years, eh??


Hurricane Juan hit NS in September 2003, wiped out most of the trees in Point Pleasant Park, as well as in throughout the city, and causing days-long power outage. We were in Halifax at Thanksgiving that year, and the damage was devastating

White Juan hit NS in February 2004 ......... a hurricane-strength nor-easter blizzard. Halifax and Dartmouth got almost 100 cm of snow over 2 days.

There was a huge blizzard on Boxing Day 2004, we could not leave the house for a full day. There has been at least 1 blizzard day on 3 of the Christmas visits that we have made since 2004.

The records show that there has been one land-falling hurricane every other year and 1-2 storms of tropical origin moving over land each year since 2000. That's an increase over what used to be the case.

This does not count the heavy rainfalls due to being at the edge of tropical storms that have moved further out to sea.

I've been going to NS regularly since 1999, and 3 or 4 times before that from 1972.


I agree that black flies are not too much of a problem in Metro Halifax ........... but they are bad out in the country in the woods and by the lakes. And that is a deterrent if you like the outdoors. Mosquitoes are around for much longer than black flies ............ they always find me

BristolUK

Heavy Rain, floods, ice storms, big snow storms, tornadoes, power outages, bone chilling cold...there's stuff like this in most of Canada isn't there?

scrubbedexpat133

To the OP.

Are there any other reasons apart from expensive housing that you are looking to leave Vancouver?

Halifax is not a cheap city to live in. The housing is quite expensive for these parts but the wages are no higher. General cost of living here is not cheap either. Taxes(property and income) are among the highest in the country and you will have quite the shock when your Jan and Feb power bills come in.

I think the weather has been covered above but dont underestimate just how crap it can be. Nor Easters will wear down even the most ardent of snow lovers.

Do you go to the states very often? Very long drive to get there or 3 hour drive and insanely expensive ferry.

The biggest problem with this part of the country is lack of employment opportunities which keeps wages low. You may like many here find yourself underemployed and overlooked time and again for better jobs or promotions because you are an outsider or are not connected. Nepotism is the order of the day here. A lot of the best and brightest up and leave for points west because of this.

Piff Poff

My daughter and her Aussie friend have just done a massive road trip and Fredericton was by far their most favourite place they visited, even though they had a big problem with their hire car there!

Flogger

Yep there was a bad hurricane in NS 13 years ago

izzi81

I live in rural Nova Scotia and seem to have lucked in to an area where there are no black flies! I'm sure as soon as we move we'll encounter them so I'm bracing myself.

We've had 3 winters here so far... the first had a lot of snow compared to the UK, with a snow storm every Wednesday for about a month! The second year was insane, more snow than most locals had seen for 30+ years. Last year was tame in comparison, not much snow. All of that means I have no idea what constitutes 'normal'!

Someone earlier said than in NS the beaches can be owned down to the low watermark. I'm not sure where you heard this but I don't think this is the case. I do a lot of beach walking (I'm into rockhounding!) and have been out with a few walking groups and we have no problem walking on beaches; someone even asked this question on the last hike I went on and was told all beaches in NS are public and cannot be owned. I'm not very good with legalese but this document seems to suggest the same:
Beaches Act
particularly this line:
The beaches of Nova Scotia are dedicated in perpetuity for the benefit, education and enjoyment of present and future generations of Nova Scotians.

I've never lived in Halifax but to visit it has always seemed like a nice city; I lived in Vancouver for a few months and Halifax reminds me of a mini Vancouver at times :-)

Lamin

I love reading this----- sat in Halifax now, friendly people great vibe (football on shortly). Spent a beautiful day at the beach yesterday, so many to choose from, clean and great facilities. Spent the evening having fish and chips in a fishing village, so many people out enjoying it.

Downtown now, just had lobster for lunch, the variety of restaurants never seen to amaze me. Havnt been here since March and omg the downtown skyline seems to have changed with so much construction going on.

Been here on and off for 7 years and will finally move over next year, never had a problem with beach access, black flies or anything else. Yes taxes maybe higher but looking at house magazines now and the average price is about $250,000.

I lived in Calgary for 4 years, seemingly lower taxes but expensive and expensive houses and don't ask about the weather there------ you couldn't pay me to live there.

Howefamily

Enjoy! I couldn't move from the spot

scrubbedexpat133

The Halifax Real Estate Blog - Welcome

A quick search on realtor.ca will show you what you get in Halifax for 250k - not much.

https://www.realtor.ca/Residential/m...yTypeGroupID=1

dbd33

I should think "houses for sale under $250,000 in Vancouver" would not be a search that would tax even the rubbish search engine at realtor.ca

It seems to me that if you want to live by the ocean and are happy to live in English, then Halifax is a much better bet than Vancouver, provided you can find a job.

scrubbedexpat133

I agree, just wanting to provide info to the OP. 250k figure is a bit misleading and you wont get your McMansion for that in Halifax. Here in NB maybe. The trouble is that many come to this part of the country and find it a challenge due to the other factors talked about.

BristolUK

I amended that search to include houses only, changed it to $225k to $250K and selected a more central area of Halifax.

Over 100 listings. Sounds pretty good and a lot of it looks perfectly decent

Maybe I'm a bit 'out' on what counts as central.