With so much change in the world, a lot of people are on the move and looking for a new place to call home. While the usual concerns of job availability, school systems and cost of housing face many in the process of relocating, another layer of decision is added when you are an avid lover of the outdoors and NEED to be able to get outside.
For those of us in Canada, there are a lot of options to pick from right across the country. While the mind might spring to options like Vancouver or Calgary for ‘outdoorsy-ness’, how about Halifax, NS? Is Halifax is a good place to live? I say definitely yes! Halifax is a great place to live for nature lovers and adventurers because not only do you have immediate access to outdoor activities, but you also don’t have to jostle and elbow with a million other people once you get there. Its fantastic!
I can testify from first hand experience that this is so since I have lived here over nine years, but wasn’t born and raised here. I say that since it seems some people don’t know what they’ve got when they have never had to have it any other way. If you wonder why Halifax could be a good choice for an outdoors enthusiast like you to live, just take a moment to consider the variety of activities you could pursue here, the short travel times to reach most Nova Scotia destinations and the amount of breathing room you can find.
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Endless Adventures
I think this is the shining feature and most attractive aspect to the outdoors life you could expect when moving to HRM, the Halifax Regional Municipality. You can do almost anything here. Halifax is on the ocean and has a sizable provincial park within the city. Try to think up an activity, I will think up several.
On the Water
- Surfing: one of the most famous surfing beaches of the North Atlantic is less than a 40 minute drive from downtown at Lawrencetown Beach. Note – you will need a wetsuit. ; )
- Kite Boarding: next door to Lawrencetown is a bay perfect for kite boarding or spectating at the colorful kites whizzing by.
- SUP: Paddleboard rentals are plentiful and choices range from freshwater to saltwater, lakes to coves to bays to marshes. Seriously LOTS of lakes.
- Sailing: lots of clubs and learning opportunities, plenty of marinas.
- Body boarding: also called boogie boarding, grab a board and a pair of fins to hit the waves at Cow Bay.
- Scuba Diving: Torpedo Rays is the top local dive shop. I know its popular when I can drive by guys on the side of the road in full gear just up from a dive.
- Snorkeling: Super relaxing and fruitful. Look into recreational licenses to harvest your own oysters and scallops. See lobsters in there natural habitat and swim through a school of mackerel.
- FISHING: Oh yes and wow. The fishing you can have here with trout from the lakes and groundfish from the docks and who knows what from a boat, there is plenty of fishing to be had. Striped bass is fun, flounder is tasty. Mackerel is traditional and makes a mean ceviche.
- Kayaking: Huge opportunities for sea kayaking all around the coastline of Nova Scotia or smack dab downtown. Tour Halifax Harbour from a kayak rental right from the dock.
- Canoeing: Ah, I love paddling. Plenty of lakes to choose from. Outfitters available.
- Whale Watching: You don’t get to do this just anywhere you know. The gentle giants visit the waters during summer and into early fall. You can take a viewing cruise right from Halifax Harbour.
- Jet Skiing: seen in the harbour when speed is your need.
On the Land
- Hiking: So many trails, so little time. Unless you move here, then time is on your side. My favourite trails are at Duncan’s Cove and High Head (happy, longing sigh) for dramatic coastal hikes. Hikes in the woods are plentiful. Michael Hayne’s books on trails in Halifax and throughout Nova Scotia can enlighten you further.
- Bicycling: With a beautiful ‘rails to trails’ system, you can bike all the way to Lunenburg from Halifax if you wanted to, over 90km away. On the other side of the harbour, you have the Salt Marsh Trails system. Throughout Halifax, more and more cycling infrastructure is being developed for daily commuters. Many trails are multi-use.
- Camping: Plenty of opportunities within HRM, loads more throughout the province. Oceanviews available! Interior camping without a soul or easily accessible car camping, your pick.
- Horseback Riding: On farms or on trails, available for your perusal.
- Bird Watching: Halifax and the rest of Nova Scotia is full of birds. All sizes, many types.
- Skiing: In winter time only, there are a couple resorts close enough to visit for a daytrip. Cross country is more of an option.
- Hunting: I don’t do much hunting, but for those in the mood and with the will, lots of hunting available from birds, to rabbits to deer and goodness knows what else.
Enough? For goodness’ sakes, it better be… Thats a whole lot of the outdoors world to cram into one medium-sized city. Now, I will admit that there is something that Halifax, and the rest of Nova Scotia, doesn’t have. Real mountains. Sorry, fresh out. So, no 20 resorts to choose from for hitting the powdery slopes and no mountain climbing. If it is absolutely essential for you to move somewhere within a short drive of snow capped peaks, please look left… I mean west.
Closer Commutes
A fabulous aspect of living in Halifax is how quick it is to get active somewhere outdoors. Frequently, you can just step out your front door and be on a trail in minutes. For example, my husband and I have the privilege to live within a five minute walk of one of the trailheads for Long Lake Provincial Park, with trails that wind around lakes and a great swimming hole. Sometimes, and not too rarely, properties border right up to wilderness preserves, parks or trail systems. Literally, your backyard is the wild.
For the times you need to get in the car to reach your dose of the wonderful wild, practically everything is two hours or less away. (Except Cape Breton. Thats four hours away.) Kejimkujik National Park (which is also part of a dark sky preserve)? Under 2 hours from the west side of the city. The waters of the Northumberland Strait? An hour and 50 minutes. The shores of the bay of Fundy? Hour and a half. Taylor Head Provincial Park? Also an hour and a half a different direction to a stunning landscape. Bet you’ve never heard of the Eastern Shore’s 100 Wild Islands, but you’ll soon hope you had if you own a sea kayak. It starts even closer to town than Taylor Head. These are just the farther off places.
Most of the time, you can reach somewhere for an outdoor adventure from your would-be home in around 20-40 minutes. These include a number of beaches, lakes, trails, and parks. (Its making me wish I was out there right now and not typing this…….) Sometimes there are surprising finds in the middle of what look like completely developed suburban spreads. For example, Deadman’s Island Park (charming name, of course). Went on a whim one day, was super surprised with such large trees for such a small park and a gorgeous view across the Northwest Arm of all the sailboats at the Armdale Yacht Club. Tiny little hike on its peninsula, but the perfect spot for a picnic. Another example is Hemlock Ravine Park, completely surrounded by development, but with a good trail system.
The beaches within Halifax are easy to reach and worthwhile. You have Lawrencetown to the east for wave action, Rainbow Haven a bit closer for families and Crystal Crescent to the south. Further afield is Clam Harbour and glorious Martinique Beach with its 5 km of uninterrupted sand.
Less Crowds
This is definitely my husband’s favourite aspect of the outdoor opportunities within and near Halifax and a major plus for me. There just aren’t that many people around. You can go to a popular spot (outside of beach holidays) and count the people on your hands with an occasional toe added. In some locations, even though there are more people, there all spread out enough to feel quite comfortable.
This all makes perfect sense when you look at the statistics. For comparison’s sake, I’m going to use the city that strikes me as having the most ‘outdoorsy’ sensibility in Canada, Vancouver. They’ve got mountains, the Pacific and lots and lots of people. Metro Vancouver, according to Google, is 2,883 sq km with a population of well over 2 million individuals. Halifax Regional Municipality is 5,490 sq km with over 430,000 people. So 1.9 times the space with less than a quarter of the people. I love when math is that simple! If you love the crush and the roar, Halifax is not for you. Otherwise, come right on in.
And the Rest
There are other perks (depending on your point of view) and some drawbacks to living here besides the outdoors. Shocking, I know.
Halifax is a popular tourist and cruise destination in the summer months, so yes, some crowds do increase at the tourist attractions. It adds a lively feel to the city though and brings in business. I think its further proof of the high rating of this city if people will go out of there way to visit. There are a couple of universities here with the top dog being Dalhousie. I would say cultural diversity is transitioning from its infancy to its “toddler” phase, which I am thrilled with since the variety of cuisine is on the rise (YAY!!!), and I think this translates to many ripe opportunities for business. No one, huge, dominant immigrant community from what I can tell yet, but a big mix of many people with a growing Korean and Indian influence. (This is from casual observance, I’m not an analyst! I’m probably way off the mark.) The climate can be fairly wet in winter and spring, but we aren’t nearly as cold as inland. Summers are dreamy. This place absolutely shines in late summer through early fall. The Annapolis Valley, a major agricultural and vineyard region is about an hour away, with amazing produce. Night life is limited, certainly compared to the bigger cities. Taxes are high, but this is Canada. Lastly, we don’t have the same amount of high quality sushi and Japanese food that Vancouver does. That can be a drawback.
If you want outdoor living in a city large enough to have adequate amenimities, I think Halifax has great bang for buck. Researching this article reminds me of how much I haven’t even seen yet in Halifax. And I get to live here! Better get cracking. So awesome.