General Updates and News

[alps]

Originally Posted by HarbingerDe

I have an engineering degree. I make $70,000/yr. Yet between paying off my student loans, and paying for the car (that I need to reliably commute to my job) I cannot afford to live in this city. Hell I can barely afford to split a 2-bedroom apartment in this city if I want to contribute to my savings.

Originally Posted by Antigonish

At this point the writing is pretty much on the wall, for me at least. I have until maybe June to find a new job/career or I'll:
1) Literally be out on the street, forced to declare bankruptcy
2) Sell everything I own (minus my car and clothes) and go live with my retired parents in NS to avoid homelessness and stave off bankruptcy a couple extra months hopefully.

Younger Canadians need to consider emigration. People in my life tend to get pissed off at me when I mention emigration, because they are more nationalistic than they realise, not to mention comfortably housed. But for many of the rest of us, it makes no sense to stay. There are other options. I don't have any faith that Canada will fix the housing crisis because no government will act against the interests of the homeowner class. I'm not going to waste any more of my life here.

[Haliguy]

Originally Posted by RoshanMcG

The gas station at Bayers/Connaught has been demolished.

Good news. Hopefully they will start the Bayers Rd widening project soon.

[Dartguard]

Originally Posted by Antigonish

The problem with demographics has been ongoing for decades now. Nova Scotia has/had a lot more going for it then was ever acknowledged but now I think the damage it too far done without a complete (metaphorical) nuke wiping the status quo out in one go (good luck with that).

Nova Scotia has always had a higher than average trained/educated work force. When Alberta/Saskatchewan needed 10s of thousands of trained skilled trades people almost all of them came from here in the Atlantic. In Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, etc., many people within STEM, finance, business, you name it, disproportionately come from here. And many of these people, many now multi-generational, would come back in a heartbeat and make it better but the rug is pulled and those here holding the cards may as well be saboteurs of our present and future. My brother-in-law is a doctor, originally from Amherst, and he's said time and time again he would move back in a heart beat but the government makes it extremely prohibitive to the point of not being wanted at all. How can the powers that be and their vocal supports/enablers say with a straight face that we have a demographic problem, all we can do is import 100,000 Punjabis (90% male) and call it a solution? These people are beyond incompetent, there is seriously something sinister going on.

I am from the Gen Y "echo boom" where for about 5-7 years birthrates actually went up for a period in the 1980s/early 90s and the classrooms were over capacity. Where have all these now middle aged/young adult gone? Are their kids going to the same schools they themselves went to growing up? Why have they left? Where did they go?

Nova Scotia, and Canada as a whole, does not need mass immigration, or "temporary" workers, or any BS proposed solutions. We need to invest in our own people already here and make life better for our own families and communities. I swear, Nova Scotia is so poorly operated because anyone whose been in a position of power is either a nepo-hire or legitimately mentally deficient. I still have a transit pass from August 2023 in my wallet... it was a paper slip with whole punchers through it. HRM Transit didn't even have a tap card, an app, or even proper ticket booths that gave change for ticket purchases. It's utterly 3rd world garbage and not being people from here aren't capable, it's that those who are capable got chased out and told to fuck off by our own people holding the cards.

Most of the problems you describe I would Opine relate to that never ending competition between the three Nova Scotia's. What I mean by that are Cape Breton, Nova Scotia in name only, but culturally, economically, problems and asset wise very different from Rural Mainland N.S. and the third element Halifax regional Municipality. 250 years of history can cement old ways of doing things. C.B. and Rural N.S. are always thinking that Halifax gets everything so when a Rural Premier is the Boss guess what gets discussed and prioritized at the Cabinet table. Provincial governments never worry about the Tri County area because of Lobster landings. LOADS of cash down there. Halifax has the Navy, University's and the Port so lets take care of the mainland. That has led to small town thinking leading the entire Province.

I see that changing especially since Covid as many Maritimers have chosen to come home and mainly residents of Ontario have found our way of life with cheaper Housing to boot. The N.S. government have encouraged the Punjabi population by awarding an extra 50 points towards their PR application if they can keep a job here. Its interesting how working at a Bigstop for a twenty something from India is not beneath them. BTW the Indian born folks we are seeing here are the middle to upper middle class folks of India. There are no "lower caste" if you will among them. I think they have added some colour and spice to the place and have shaken up our assumptions.
The Feds are about to turn the tap way down on Immigration and for Social cohesion in Canada that is a must. Inflation is cooling off but we need to increase incomes and that means allowing business to lead the way. Trudeau and company do not have a business mind left among them. Change is coming. Like a freight train.

[Keith P.]

One reason that people from other parts of Canada are reluctant to relocate here is our crushing tax burden. Between provincial income tax rates which are very high and brackets unindexed until next year, HRM's runaway spending, the high rate of HST, and the lack of return for all that taxation, we are a poor value place. Some of that could be alleviated if the three Maritime provinces cooperated better but that has never happened. And of course HRM sees itself as having an endless supply of tax dollars to waste. Our governments have few economies of scale because we are small, but insist on doing everything themselves, which is ridiculous. Adding more local bureaucracy is the worst way to try to supply any govt service as it is the most costly and inefficient way of delivering services.

[OldDartmouthMark]

One attraction used to be a substantially lower cost of living (mostly based on housing costs) compared to the provinces west of the Maritimes, but that is no longer such a strong selling point, as our younger posters have pointed out quite strongly.

That said, our population continues to grow, so there must be something drawing people here.

[Keith P.]

In other news, the first rubber-stamp hearing about HRM selling out property owners in exchange for a minuscule $79mil sack of Justin's (really our own) gold has occurred:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-...nits-1.7177029

Some things never change in Halifax politics though: the South End aristocracy surrounding Saint Mary"s U. are spared from any changes in density, what a shock. Oh, and Sam Austin got his precious flower streets in Dartmouth (where he happens to have a million-dollar residence) exempted as well. Quelle surprise.

[HarbingerDe]

Originally Posted by alps

Younger Canadians need to consider emigration. People in my life tend to get pissed off at me when I mention emigration, because they are more nationalistic than they realise, not to mention comfortably housed. But for many of the rest of us, it makes no sense to stay. There are other options. I don't have any faith that Canada will fix the housing crisis because no government will act against the interests of the homeowner class. I'm not going to waste any more of my life here.

Not an ounce of Nationalism in this body. The only thing keeping me here are my loved ones and a naive hope that maybe some day things will change. I'm becoming increasingly comfortable with saying that I, in fact, hate this country. Not because it's a particularly horrible place to live in the grand scheme of things (yet). It is a considerably better place to call home than many others in the world.

I don't hate Canadians. I don't hate my fellow working-class citizens. I want the best for everyone. I want dignity, affordability, and the ability to have an acceptable/comfortable quality of life for everyone. I hate the greed. I hate the incompetence. I hate the complete lack of any substantial action to reverse the supersonic speed at which literally everything is getting worse.

The government isn't left-wing enough to build commie blocks and house people for 4% of their gross income. They're not capable of anything but Neo-Liberal bullshit, and we will get the exact same thing for 10 years from the Conservatives. The free market has zero incentive to make things any better. On the contrary, the more property values skyrocket and the more wages plummet, the better things are for a large corporation, wealthy individual, asset owner - or more broadly - capitalist.

There is a 1-bedroom condo for about $220,000 which I'm thinking of making a hail mary and attempting to purchase. This is not within my budget, and I would likely have to draw a small amount from my savings to make ends meet for a few years until I land a substantial raise and pay off my car. It's probably a horrible financial decision, but not getting into the housing market when even the slimmest opportunity presents itself is also probably a horrible financial decision.

The mortgage for this 1-bedroom condo in suburban Dartmouth would be around $1300/mo add up all other housing fees and it'll be around $1800-$1900/mo.

I have a millennial friend who bought a home in 2019 for the same price of around $220,000. It's a 3 bed 2 bath townhouse... And his mortgage is $800/mo.

Okay I'm going to officially stop venting about my personal grievances about the housing crisis (for now).

[OldDartmouthMark]

It's not clear to me if this has much significance, but there may be changes coming to the waterfront? I will say that I wasn't aware the the Province controlled so much of it.

Build Nova Scotia reviewing provincially owned Halifax waterfront properties

The Crown corporation responsible for several high-profile projects underway in Nova Scotia has quietly launched a review of the province's holdings along the Halifax waterfront.

The provincial government owns or controls a major portion of the waterfront.

He summed up the work of his team as a "look at the strategic potential of our waterfront and making sure it's still in accordance with the way that the province wants to move forward in its growth," and called the area "an incredible jewel."

"It is about the strategic potential of our waterfront and making sure that we get the most out of it for the public good," he said.

Minister of Public Works Kim Masland, who oversees Build Nova Scotia, called the review "sound, smart management" of the waterfront.

"I think it's smart to take a step back and look and make a plan of the entire harbour," Masland told reporters following a cabinet meeting on Thursday.

She said the timing was right, given that the planned fast ferry from Bedford will need a place to land and the existing ferry terminal isn't suited to handle it.

"We're going to have to look [at] another spot for our ferries to come in," Masland said. "We have five other ferries coming in from Mill Cove.

"The traffic that's going to be on that waterfront is going to be huge."

[OldDartmouthMark]

I missed this one the first time around, but it was linked to in the article I just posted.

Halifax kickstarts major plan to improve the Dartmouth waterfront

The plan will consider a new multi-use emergency access route from the bottom of Ochterloney Street to Atlantic Street near the Woodside Ferry Terminal that could handle vehicles and would be the foundation of a better-connected waterfront. It would closely follow the existing Trans-Canada Trail that is now broken up by dead ends and buildings.

Having a new emergency route open up the waterfront for housing development is key, MacGregor said.

"The influx of residents have been a cornerstone in rejuvenating downtown Dartmouth. So more of that is actually quite critical," MacGregor said.

A staff report said Halifax Fire would prefer overpasses or other options across the CN rail rather than more ground-level crossings, given that trains often block the current one at Alderney Landing.

The port is also looking to expand its cruise traffic. They will create a new tendering location off George's Island this summer, where ships will anchor and then bring passengers to the dock via smaller boats.

Paul MacIsaac, senior vice-president for the Halifax Port Authority, said they hope to put removable, floating docks on the Dartmouth side of the harbour. Passengers would then walk through an extendable gangway, similar to ones used in airports, to get to shore.

MacIsaac said they haven't yet decided on an ideal location.

"It really depends on the infrastructure that's over there, and the acceptance by the community. We certainly wouldn't want to put in any more than are wanted," MacIsaac said.

MacIsaac said the Port could likely start with 25 ships a season in Dartmouth and grow from there.

Provincially-owned Dartmouth Cove lands will also be considered in the plan, which is a future growth area where the city would eventually like to build a new neighbourhood.

[Dmajackson]

Another demolition permit for Robie Street;

1770 Robie Street - Appears to be a former frat house. The land connects to other recently demolished lots and is now a full block from Cherry-Cedar.

[Dmajackson]

120 PINECREST DRIVE, DARTMOUTH is now under construction. The developer is 4423358 Nova Scotia Ltd which is run by Ross Karlin, a Toronto-based developer. There is a rendering floating around and it is definitely not a "Highfield Special" which should be a nice change. It's a six-storey, 56-unit building.

The same person owns 41 Brule Street which I noticed is breaking ground as well. This site has no excavation or building permits submitted that I could locate.