Top Central Haliax SFH Neighbourhoods

gumgum · #1 Posted: **Apr 26, 2009, 2:17 PM**

Hey all.
I was hoping you guys could help me out.
What are the preferred single family home (mixed with denser buildings too) neighbourhoods in the central Halifax area? Something close to downtown would be great.
What area do you like?

I have a growing family and am weighing my options. I currently live in Victoria BC.

DigitalNinja · #2 Posted: **Apr 26, 2009, 2:39 PM**

Anything in bedford is normally popular. There are a lot of new stuff building out in Sackville as well, which is about 20 min from downtown halifax, but normally cheaper as well for what you get.

spryscraper · #3 Posted: **Apr 26, 2009, 4:01 PM**

the Quinpool Road area borders downtown and is mostly single-family homes (with the odd apartment building here and there)... south of quinpool there tend to be a lot of students though there are less to the north.. the Leeds st. area of the north end is similar but probably a bit less expensive, same with the west end, spryfield, fairview, and the older parts of dartmouth although these are all further away from downtown

Dmajackson · #4 Posted: **Apr 26, 2009, 4:57 PM**

The side-streets in the South-End end are mostly single-family but have some apartments near the main roads but they cost an arm-and-a-leg to buy. I know from other people (and partly from me) that growing up on streets like McLean, Brussells, Tower or Atlantic is great and they're are all within walking distance of downtown/PPP.

To give you an idea of how much they are my family just sold my grandma's house on McLean St last summer. It was a 4 bedrooom, 2 bath, 1 den, complete with a 2 bedroom, 1 bath basement apartment and a large backyard (for the South-End) and it was a '50's style house (box looking, ugly in today's terms) ten minutes walk away from PPP and 10-15 minutes to downtown. We sold it for just over $400'000 but it was "flipped" afterwards and is now going for over $500'000.

But if you're looking for cheaper locations the West-End is nice and up around the Technical College in the North-End is pretty good too.

worldlyhaligonian · #5 Posted: **Apr 26, 2009, 6:21 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by gumgum

Hey all.
I was hoping you guys could help me out.
What are the preferred single family home (mixed with denser buildings too) neighbourhoods in the central Halifax area? Something close to downtown would be great.
What area do you like?

I have a growing family and am weighing my options. I currently live in Victoria BC.

I would reccomend buying a house in the Oxford St/North St area or North Park St/Cornwallis St... these areas are good location-wise and still have affordable houses

alps · #6 Posted: **Apr 26, 2009, 7:05 PM**

Bedford and Sackville aren't in central Halifax, they aren't close to downtown, and there's no density to them. If those three things are what you're looking for, don't move there.

gumgum · #7 Posted: **Apr 26, 2009, 7:17 PM**

Thanks for the helpful info guys. I will look into this info in detail. Being from Victoria, 500,000 for a house is relatively cheap. I bought my small two bedroom bungalow in Fairfield for $550 three years ago and it actually should have been at least thirty thousand more. (We got lucky and got into the market in another house just as prices were about to take off.)
I'm not a big house, huge yard kinda guy. We like to be within walking distance of amenities and hopefully downtown.

Dmajackson · #8 Posted: **Apr 26, 2009, 7:44 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by alps

Bedford and Sackville aren't in central Halifax, they aren't close to downtown, and there's no density to them. If those three things are what you're looking for, don't move there.

I feel insulted.

Bedford has a few dense areas. Now Sackville on the other hand ...

Quote:

Originally Posted by gumgum

Thanks for the helpful info guys. I will look into this info in detail. Being from Victoria, 500,000 for a house is relatively cheap. I bought my small two bedroom bungalow in Fairfield for $550 three years ago and it actually should have been at least thirty thousand more. (We got lucky and got into the market in another house just as prices were about to take off.)
I'm not a big house, huge yard kinda guy. We like to be within walking distance of amenities and hopefully downtown.

Well if your looking for a small(er) house and a small yard close to downtown Brussells Street might be perfect for you.

I don't know if you have children but the houses there can easily fit a 4-person family and if you're lucky you can a nice charming Victorian house for cheap.

Keith P. · #9 Posted: **Apr 26, 2009, 7:51 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by worldlyhaligonian

I would reccomend buying a house in the Oxford St/North St area or North Park St/Cornwallis St... these areas are good location-wise and still have affordable houses

One of my favorite neighborhoods (actually several) are those that run between pretty much the full length of Quinpool and Chebucto. Excepting the eastern end closest to Windsor St, which is full of rentals and students, the other streets are great -- Kline, Beech, Elm, Poplar, and once past Connaught Avenue, that lovely neighborhood with Newton Ave and First through Fourth (? I think) Sts., and then the ones closest to the Armdale Rotary, like Quinn, Philip, etc. Great place to live.

DigitalNinja · #10 Posted: **Apr 26, 2009, 8:01 PM**

I missed the central part of halifax haha. And it's unfair to say sackville doesn't have density, the new areas have about 2 feet between houses.

someone123 · #11 Posted: **Apr 26, 2009, 8:04 PM**

Areas north of North Street including the Hydrostone can be pretty nice.

Neighbourhoods like the southern end of downtown Dartmouth, Rockingham, and Armdale are still pretty "central".

Nilan8888 · #12 Posted: **Apr 26, 2009, 11:35 PM**

Armdale / Chocolate Lake is good -- I lived there most of my life and was able to be downtown in a 45 minute walk, if you've got that sort of time.

It might be that the best way to go about this is to describe what neighborhoods to AVOID, actually. That would generally be the North End from south of North Street to Cogswell, and from Robie street to the harborfront -- although actually the block before you hit Cogswell is a lot better than it used to be and quality development is really starting to push up Gottigen.

Then also the Spryfield area of course. Spryfield actually isn't as bad as it's reputation; the neighborhood was probably worse in the 70s. Still, having lived next door in Cowie Hill prior to moving to Armdale, it's still not as good as anywhere actually in the band around the Peninsula starting from Purcell's Cove all the way into Wedgewood, and that includes Fairview (which people dump on but it's still better than a place in Spryfield).

And oh yeah, Highfield Park and that general area of Dartmouth... not to sound cliche, but I wouldn't advise anything around there. At all.

worldlyhaligonian · #13 Posted: **Apr 27, 2009, 3:49 AM**

You can get a nice place for $500,000 that is close to downtown, there is enough selection in that price range.

YOWetal · #14 Posted: **Apr 29, 2009, 8:56 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by worldlyhaligonian

You can get a nice place for $500,000 that is close to downtown, there is enough selection in that price range.

With a young family and a 500k budget I would recomend a place in the area bounded by Coburg, Oxford,Qunipool, Robie. Good schools at all levels nearby (with Le Marchant scheduled to get a new school) and near almost everything.

eastcoastal · #15 Posted: **Apr 29, 2009, 9:59 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by YOWetal

With a young family and a 500k budget I would recomend a place in the area bounded by Coburg, Oxford,Qunipool, Robie. Good schools at all levels nearby (with Le Marchant scheduled to get a new school) and near almost everything.

Agreed. You could also go a bit further west than Oxford and still be in a great location - and I'm talking within a few blocks west.

alps · #16 Posted: **May 4, 2009, 3:54 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bedford_DJ

I feel insulted.

Bedford has a few dense areas. Now Sackville on the other hand ...

Sorry, I just thought he was looking for the most central area..

I agree with Quinpool and Oxford - good location, not too expensive

Takeo · #17 Posted: **May 4, 2009, 11:44 PM**

There really is no such thing as a bad area on the peninsula. Anywhere on the peninsula (or the Chocolate Lake area) is great. It's just a matter of personal preference, budget, commute, schools, etc.

For accessibility, you can't beat the North End. If you're anywhere near Young Street in the North End... it's SOOOO easy to get around. Head down Gottingen and you're at the old bridge in two minutes. Turn north on Robie and you're on the new bridge in two minutes. Head up Young and you're on the Bicentennial Highway in 3-4 minutes.

Yes there are a few municipal housing projects on the peninsula... but for the most part they are peaceful neighbours. I've live within spitting distance of Mulgrave Park for years and I love it here. Lots of families. No problems. I mean sure... given a choice... you probably don't want to raise a family on the north end of Creighton Street... but those exceptions are so few and far between. We're talking about a tiny handful of streets (or portions of streets). And even then... it's not South Side Chicago.