Halifax Population & Growth

[Antigonish]

I was surprised to learn how many people from Western Canada who have no ties to Nova Scotia want to move here. Many have vacationed east and have set goals to move here (well.. Halifax, really). The problem comes from many of us "ex-pats" who say there's nothing there for you, don't waste your time. It's a damn shame.

It would be encouraging to know if Halifax is working it's A game luring companies to move here, not just the typical tourist mantra.

I can picture it now: "Come to Halifax - we're a more affordable Vancouver with less hippies!"

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by Antigonish

I can picture it now: "Come to Halifax - we're a more affordable Vancouver with less hippies!"

"Fewer" hippies - although I wonder for how much longer. We have a scary bunch of hipster types here now that seems to be in a growth phase. Many are totally out of touch with reality.

[halifaxboyns]

Originally Posted by Antigonish

I was surprised to learn how many people from Western Canada who have no ties to Nova Scotia want to move here. Many have vacationed east and have set goals to move here (well.. Halifax, really). The problem comes from many of us "ex-pats" who say there's nothing there for you, don't waste your time. It's a damn shame.

It would be encouraging to know if Halifax is working it's A game luring companies to move here, not just the typical tourist mantra.

I can picture it now: "Come to Halifax - we're a more affordable Vancouver with less hippies!"

Being someone who left and wants to come back - I see the things that make Halifax a great place to live. Yes, there are drawbacks but that's no different than any other two city comparison in this sort of situation (taxes and pay being the big issues). For me, money isn't the main thing and considering that if I moved home I'd pocket $1,600 a year back to me for not having to pay for tickets home at Christmas (plus additional trips throughout the year) I think it makes up for it.

While I have no problem with people making comparisons to Halifax and Vancouver or Seattle - part of me just wants people to think about actually making the best Halifax it can be. We can get ideas from other cities - I was in Seattle for the first time and I'd love to see something like the Space Needle or the Calgary Tower on either the Halifax or Dartmouth side (would probably be a great tourist thing). But it's really about Halifax for me...

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by Antigonish

I was surprised to learn how many people from Western Canada who have no ties to Nova Scotia want to move here. Many have vacationed east and have set goals to move here (well.. Halifax, really). The problem comes from many of us "ex-pats" who say there's nothing there for you, don't waste your time. It's a damn shame.

It would be encouraging to know if Halifax is working it's A game luring companies to move here, not just the typical tourist mantra.

Yep. We undersell ourselves by portraying the city as some sort of pleasant backwater where people might like to take a holiday, but barely consider that people might want to like, live here. And a lot of our expats, at least in my experience, form a sort of stay-way brigade warning people not to come.

Even locally, I'm often encountering the "Oh, I stay here because I love it, but I know I could be doing bigger things elsewhere" attitude. To which I think, "Could you? Really?" It's like a massive civic FOMO complex.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by Drybrain

Yep. We undersell ourselves by portraying the city as some sort of pleasant backwater where people might like to take a holiday, but barely consider that people might want to like, live here. And a lot of our expats, at least in my experience, form a sort of stay-way brigade warning people not to come.

Even locally, I'm often encountering the "Oh, I stay here because I love it, but I know I could be doing bigger things elsewhere" attitude. To which I think, "Could you? Really?" It's like a massive civic FOMO complex.

Meh... I don't think it's as bad as all that. Though historically, there has been a certain truth to it, but it is not exclusive to Halifax.

I mean, it has always been a fact that there are certain industries centred in certain areas. Perhaps you have always aspired to be an aircraft designer for Boeing - then Halifax is not the place where you'll realize your dream. But then again neither are most cities in Canada. That doesn't mean there aren't other opportunities, but not being able to see the forest for the trees is not an exclusive Nova Scotian trait.

I think when people are telling you that "I know I could be doing bigger things elsewhere", they're blowing it out a little because if they had the moxy to pursue their dreams they would likely have already gone off to pursue them. So what I'm saying is that it sometimes becomes a convenient excuse for accepting moderate goals...

...or in some cases is a legitimate explanation for choosing to live in a place you enjoy vs a place that has your ideal career path. For example, a person may always have aspired to be a designer for Boeing but felt that the compromise of living in NS and working for Pratt was sufficient for them.

Regarding expats you've spoken to, it doesn't sound like their attitudes have driven them to lofty heights of success, so maybe their negativity towards Halifax is just a symptom of their particular mindset rather than a good representation of what the average NSer thinks. I don't know, but everybody that I know who has moved away from here would like to return some day, but most of them are too settled in their lives and jobs to want to throw it all into upheaval to move back (i.e. leave jobs where they've built up pensions, vacation time, benefits, etc. or take their kids out of school, leave clubs they enjoy, etc etc).

I'm thinking that maybe we are reading too much into heresay. IMHO, we should just do whatever we can, personally, to relate positive experiences when we speak to others regarding life in Halifax. That in itself will do more good than focusing on those who choose to be negative about it.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by halifaxboyns

While I have no problem with people making comparisons to Halifax and Vancouver or Seattle - part of me just wants people to think about actually making the best Halifax it can be. We can get ideas from other cities - I was in Seattle for the first time and I'd love to see something like the Space Needle or the Calgary Tower on either the Halifax or Dartmouth side (would probably be a great tourist thing). But it's really about Halifax for me...

That pretty much encompasses how I feel about it. While other places have their attributes, we also have many that they don't have. We should strive to strengthen our strengths while maintaining our character and uniqueness. Be the best "us" that we can be and forget about following the rest of the world.

Leading always has better results than following.

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

"Fewer" hippies - although I wonder for how much longer. We have a scary bunch of hipster types here now that seems to be in a growth phase. Many are totally out of touch with reality.

What's funny is Halifax actually IS kind've a hippie town in terms of the youth culture. Compared to Toronto, at least, our hipsters are a little more granola.

[ILoveHalifax]

It seems to me we are talking about 2 distinct entities here, one Halifax and the other Nova Scotia. Many people in Canada do not recognize any differences between the two.
I think Nova Scotia is one of the prettiest places in North America with a not too bad climate. The province has some challenges with unemployment and needs to stop pouring money into industries that have no future.
If one is looking for a rural life style Nova Scotia has some great possibilities with so many unique towns and villages.

Halifax, on the other hand is probably the nicest small city in North America. Many Canadians who know the city wish they could live here. From what I understand we are not that bad off financially. Our climate is superior to most of Canada but few know it. We are a reasonably progressive city with a great sense of history, business, arts and culture. Generally people who live here live well.

Our governments, city and provincial should embrace Halifax as it is the golden egg. The rural areas should be happy for Halifax's success and work for spill over.

[terrynorthend]

Halifax is Shrinking heralds the Cbc.

This headline just stopped me dead, but then interestingly, the body of the article says that after years of "leading the province", the population of Halifax only grew by point four percent in 2012 and 2013. Well listen, yes, those are dismal numbers by any measure, but I'm not sure how a positive growth of 0.4 percent means that we are "shrinking"

[someone123]

Originally Posted by terrynorthend

This headline just stopped me dead, but then interestingly, the body of the article says that after years of "leading the province", the population of Halifax only grew by point four percent in 2012 and 2013. Well listen, yes, those are dismal numbers by any measure, but I'm not sure how a positive growth of 0.4 percent means that we are "shrinking"

Those are also noisy estimates that may not be correct or may not accurately represent longer term trends. Here are the latest labour force numbers: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/tables-tabl...fss05b-eng.htm

Population up 1% year over year, jobs up by 1.3%, unemployment rate down to 5.8%.

Those are just a few more noisy data points too but the thing is that the media in Halifax tend to report on the bad stuff and ignore the good stuff.

[Drybrain]

That's insanely irritating. The reporter/editor obviously know the headline and lead are entirely wrong (the data they report later on are very clear about that) but thought they could get away with something more sensational.

And in any case, this slow-down in growth is something anyone who tracks StatsCan numbers (like, reporters, presumably) would have seen at the beginning of 2013. And even more annoying is the fact that population growth seems to have recovered--the province's quarterly growth numbers have been moving tentatively back into positive territory during several quarters in 2014, and the city's are back at their recent historical norms.

CBC knows the story is misleading, and what's really irritating is that "Halifax is shrinking" is now going to become a fact in some people's minds. The way this city talks about and thinks about itself is really broken.

[hokus83]

contently hear people saying they have to leave because everyone is leaving

[Drybrain]

They changed the headline and lead. Thankfully. I can't even call it an error, since they knew the facts contradicted what they wrote. Pretty horrible reporting. Anyway, fixed now.

[hokus83]

Originally Posted by Drybrain

They changed the headline and lead. Thankfully. I can't even call it an error, since they knew the facts contradicted what they wrote. Pretty horrible reporting. Anyway, fixed now.

still show the same headline to me

[mcmcclassic]

Originally Posted by hokus83

still show the same headline to me

Same here. There is a note at the bottom of the story stating their "corrections".

Either way this story is hardly news. Here's how to write a (seemly) common CBC NS article:

- State the province/economy/population is declining (and base that off of fact and/or fiction)
- Interview a couple twenty-somethings planning to move to Alberta
- Open the story up for comments and let people bash the city/province

[q12]

Originally Posted by mcmcclassic

Same here. There is a note at the bottom of the story stating their "corrections".

Either way this story is hardly news. Here's how to write a (seemly) common CBC NS article:

- State the province/economy/population is declining (and base that off of fact and/or fiction)
- Interview a couple twenty-somethings planning to move to Alberta
- Open the story up for comments and let people bash the city/province

Spot on.

I'm starting to wonder if CBC just reuses the same stories year after year with slightly different headlines.

[Colin May]

Originally Posted by Drybrain

They changed the headline and lead. Thankfully. I can't even call it an error, since they knew the facts contradicted what they wrote. Pretty horrible reporting. Anyway, fixed now.

The CBC will blame Harper and cuts to their budget and then Liberals will jump in and pour more scorn on 'the Harper cons' and tell us to vote for Junior who'll fix everything.

[worldlyhaligonian]

So, if this is their reporting about something as objective as population numbers... what about development? Makes you think...

[q12]

Halifax population estimate July 1, 2014: 414,398 (12th largest in Canada)

http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quoti...11a001-eng.htm

[terrynorthend]

Originally Posted by q12

Halifax population estimate July 1, 2014: 414,398 (12th largest in Canada)

http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quoti...11a001-eng.htm

Wow! Saskatoon's growing fast...