Questionable areas of Halifax, Dartmouth (how much, home, neighbourhood)

[monkeyhead]

Hi all, I hope some knowledgeable person can give some guidance.

My husband and I are planning a pleasure/fact finding trip to Halifax next year (Apr/May) and are looking forward to walking about your beautiful city and also using public transportation. Since this is our first time visiting we would like to know of any 'questionable' areas that should be avoided for our safety. Every city has their 'seedy side' and I have tried to do some research on this and only came up with the Uniacke Gottingen street area (Young, Barrington, Gottingen, Cogswell streets) which someone stated as being "like the downtown east side of Vancouver" which we are familiar with (my home town). Is this the case? Would we be in danger if we find ourselves inadvertantly wandering in this area? If so how much of a threat would there be -- panhandling, purse snatching, mugging? The East side of Vancouver is very seedy but pretty contained, everyone kept to themselves and we did not feel threatened. And how is the panhandling situation in Halifax? Vancouver is pretty excessive as well as evidence of drug use with disgarded needles on the street.

How about the Dartmouth area? Are there other "don't be caught here at night" areas? Any information/advice would be greatly appreciated!!

Thank you!

[monkeyhead]

guess we'll just carry a big stick and poke anyone who gives us the stink-eye...

[aggo]

Hi there. Sorry, I'm not the most knowledgeable person about Halifax (spent a few days there this summer) but someone had to chip in. I think it'd be safe to say you will not encounter seedy areas anywhere near the scope of Vancouver's downtown east side. Didn't even know about Uniacke Gottingen until you mentioned it and I looked it up.

I stayed in the university disctrict and was able to walk everywhere, didn't take transit once but shouldn't be a problem using it for places further than walking distance. Spring Garden Road is a nice little shopping/cultural disctrict....saw a few panhandlers there and I noticed it can get a bit lively at night but nothing too threatening. A couple of people told me Dartmouth can be a little seedy. I don't know if there's anything there worth visiting, although I would highly recommend taking a ferry to Dartmouth and going right back. You get a great view of Halifax and it's only something like $2.50 round trip.

The harbour is great (has the world's longest downtown boardwalk) and the casino is nice if you're into that sort of thing. Pier 21 in the harbour has this holographic show that's supposed to be neat (I didn't get a chance to see it). Pier 21

Other things I'd recommend seeing:

The Hydrostone Market - Halifax, Nova Scotia

Citadel Hill (Fort George) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

There are many more things to do there but hopefully that helps for now. I'm only speaking from my brief experience there but I'd say just come on out and get the real lowdown from the locals. Again, I don't think you will run into many problems.

[GTOlover]

yhe only thing I know about dart maouth is that is where the trailer park boys was filmed

[monkeyhead]

Thank you so much for your replies! Is greatly appreciated. It is great to hear that Halifax is a good walking city, we averaged about 5 miles a day in Vancouver and could have done more.

Was surprised to hear Dartmouth might be a bit 'seedy'. 'Trailer Park Boys'? that could be very spooky! We are on a fact-finding mission of the Halifax area looking for nice areas to live (we're artists) and thought Dartmouth looked promising from the pictures and housing prices, but will check it out.

This is going to be a wonderful adventure for certain.
Thank you again!

[Wingfoot]

Halifax is one of the worlds nicest places to live.

[monkeyhead]

YAY!!! Happy, happy, joy, joy! Can't wait to visit!

[Luisito502]

stay out of uniack square at any time of the day.... dont walk down creighton street at night.

[xmacseven]

I have lived in NS since 1985. The area you mentioned in Halifax is of concern, but there is also another area; Spryfield. It is known for drugs and criminal activity. It would not shock anyone to hear of a shooting etc. in this area. As for Dartmouth, for the most part it is good. There are as I guess in any place - areas to steer clear of. In Dartmouth that would be Gaston Road area and parts of Windmill Road and north end Albro Lake. Best bet is to call tourism NS and get them to send you a guide of things to do and places to see for the time you want to visit. Once you have an idea of what you want to do. Post questions then for more specific answers. All in all, this is a great place to live. My husband and I raised five children here, but I work in Emergency and do see the other side so to speak. My husband is in Law Enforcement so . . . . .
Anyway, hope you have a great time! Pictou area is nice, Cape Breton is amazing and one of our favorites is the Annapolis Valley.
The biggest variable is the weather.

[monkeyhead]

Many thanks again! I have sent off for tourism info for both Nova Scotia and Halifax, wish tourism books would also include the 'shady' areas for our safety, have come across a few but not for all cities. Looking at police reports is not that helpful since we don't know neighbourhood areas and can only figure it out if cross streets are mentioned, that is why forums such as this are invaluable.

We are also looking into areas to visit that we could possibly afford -- North End of Halifax above Young Street. Clayton Park, Fairview look nice. I assume the shady parts of Dartmouth Windmill Road are the near the bridge and ferry.

Discovering the beautiful Annapolis Valley (which will be another trip) is what attracted us to Nova Scotia in the first place. We only have a week and are big city folk so plan to concentrate on Halifax but are also planning to visit Lunenburg and Mahone Bay.

We so appreciate everyone for sharing their information, it is most helpful!