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Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
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A US State and Canadian Province that are very similar in character and draw a lot of comparisons. Which one would you prefer? If you haven't been, which place would you prefer to visit based off of what you know? Here is a bit of criteria.....
Scenery:
Recreation:
Economy:
Culture/Character:
Coastline:
Portland vs. Halifax:
Last edited by Champ le monstre du lac; 11-15-2011 at 06:18 AM..
They are nearly identical in coastline, scenery and recreation. This would be expected, because they are geographically adjacent. The border is "artificial" if you will - simply the result of European settlement.
Economy: The cornerstones of the economies of Maine and Nova Scotia are tourism, fishing and forestry. Both have difficulty holding onto their youth, as their economies are not robust compared with other parts of their respective countries.
Culture: Similar but different. The DNA of NS is Scottish, with a dash of French mixed in. The DNA of Maine is flinty Yankee with a dash of French mixed in.
Character: On the surface, NS is friendlier, although I find Mainers quite engaging once the ice is broken.
Halifax v Portland: Halifax is significantly larger, but feels a bit "colder" and newer. I give the nod to Portland, which has much more charm.
Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jm02
They are nearly identical in coastline, scenery and recreation. This would be expected, because they are geographically adjacent. The border is "artificial" if you will - simply the result of European settlement.
Economy: The cornerstones of the economies of Maine and Nova Scotia are tourism, fishing and forestry. Both have difficulty holding onto their youth, as their economies are not robust compared with other parts of their respective countries.
Culture: Similar but different. The DNA of NS is Scottish, with a dash of French mixed in. The DNA of Maine is flinty Yankee with a dash of French mixed in.
Character: On the surface, NS is friendlier, although I find Mainers quite engaging once the ice is broken.
Halifax v Portland: Halifax is significantly larger, but feels a bit "colder" and newer. I give the nod to Portland, which has much more charm.
This is a good comparison. I give a slight edge to Maine.
Nice review.
I never hear much about Halifax, I know it is the chief city of the Canadian Maritimes and has a bit of Boston & Portland in its character (so I've been told). I didn't realize it had that much modern infrastructure. Vancouver also feels a bit "cold" in that respect. I do know in the early 20th century Halifax had a catostrophic explosion when a war ship and a cargo ship collided devastating much of the city (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halifax_Explosion). The pictures I've seen of Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia I thought more of a rugged edge over places like Acadia NP in Maine (and less crowds).
Cabot Trail near Cheticamp (http://www.flickr.com/photos/24617834@N03/3681479889/ - broken link) by Murray McComb (http://www.flickr.com/people/24617834@N03/ - broken link), on Flickr
You're asking Americans about Nova Scotia? Heck, they hardly know anything about their own country. I'd bet that many (if not most) don't even know where Nova Scotia is.
You're asking Americans about Nova Scotia? Heck, they hardly know anything about their own country. I'd bet that many (if not most) don't even know where Nova Scotia is.
Scenery:Maine.Obviously Maine's coastline gets all of the attention, but Interior Maine is beautiful too. Katahdin and Baxter SP is the prettiest mountain setting in the Northeast outside of the Presidential Range in NH (IMHO). Side roads in Maine seem to yield unspoiled view after unspoiled view. I love taking 201 from Skowhegan up to Jackman en route to Quebec City. Gorgeous drive. Nova Scotia has a coastline that is more reminiscent of Ireland or Scotland than the U.S. and it's every bit as beautiful (if not more so) than Maine's. Maine loses some points on the built environment too. Rural Maine is marred by trailers and shoddy construction/ run down homes. It's an unfortunate blight on an otherwise spotless landscape. Vermont does much better as far as charming villages and towns go in New England. Nova Scotia isn't as pocked as Maine in the built environment, but I think ME offers more variety in scenery than the Nova Scotia.
Recreation:Tie. Both offer tons to see and do from an outdoorsy standpoint. Maine has better alpine sports (skiing), but Nova Scotia wins in urban recreation (nightlife, dining, etc) with Halifax.
Economy:Slight Edge- Nova Scotia. As has been mentioned, tourism, fishing and forestry are the anchors of each area's economy. Both are struggling to varying degrees, but Maine is really grappling with the loss of the forestry industry (largely to Quebec) and fishing regulations have damaged that sector as well in Maine. Nova Scotia and New Brunswick are picking up where Maine's losing out. Much of your "Maine Lobster" comes from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. In fact, many top chefs (Anthony Bourdain for one) will tell you the lobster from Canada are a little better (Maybe it's the colder water... who knows?). Without looking at numbers, I'd guess that Maine gets an edge in tourism, but overall Nova Scotia gets the edge.
Culture/Character:Nova Scotia. Both regions are hardly lacking in this regard. Both have very unique provincial, local cultures. Nova Scotia, however, seems a little more unspoiled and authentic overall. The Scottish heritage is played a little bit up for tourists, but it's not overwhelming. On the other hand, the primary cultural groups that make up Maine seem to be disappearing (French Canadian, Acadian, etc). Southern Maine along the NH Border is really a transition zone where you start to see a lot of Boston area influence too. I find the people in both to be friendly, resourceful and clever. Overall though, Nova Scotia is more enjoyable.
Coastline: Tie. Both fairly diverse and absolutely breathtaking. I think I'd really have to nitpick to choose one or the other.
Portland vs. Halifax: Halifax, and for me, this one isn't even close. I spent 4+ years living in Portland. I found that outside of the tiny 1 sq. mi chunk of town that makes up the Old Port, Downtown and part of the West End, Portland is fairly unremarkable. Don't get me wrong, that area is very charming and well worth a visit. There are a handful of good restaurants, galleries, shops, etc. However, it's a really tiny chunk of the city overall and isn't enough to be a big factor outside of a brief visit.
Halifax is a much larger, much more cosmopolitan and much more entertaining. It provides a stark and pleasant contrast to the quaint, quiet charm of Nova Scotia as a whole (whereas Portland just stands out as the largest of a number of seaside villages). I find Halifax to be much more attractive as a whole from both the street level and when viewed from a distance (from the water especially).
Downtown Halifax is much better integrated in terms of historic and new construction than Portland. I love the idea of having a preserved historic district like Portland's Old Port, but it's actually not executed all that well. Of the few blocks that do exist in the Old Port, only a REALLY small chunk (Middle and Exchange Streets in particular) aren't marred by empty lots and parking garages. It's in worse shape than notable historic districts like Vieux Montreal, View Quebec, or even the Whaling Distric in New Bedford, MA. Smaller cities like Portsmouth NH, Newport RI and Burlington VT do a better job of preserving their historic districts too. I'll take Halifax's effective blend of old and new over downtown Portland any day. Halifax is much more vibrant to walk around than Portland (especially when you get off of the two streets in the Old Port that are most trafficked).
Outside of downtown, it's even less debatable. Halifax has a number of vibrant, active neighborhood centers whereas Portland just doesn't. While the West End in Portland has nice homes (no better than any other New England city), and the East End has a good view of the harbor, there are no walkable shopping districts or neighborhood centers outside of downtown Portland. Halifax has quite a few and they are very attractive. Halifax's architecture is very attractive well beyond the downtown area too whereas Portland is just sort of "Meh" outside of the Old Port and West End.
Overall: Nova Scotia. I think Nova Scotia blends rugged charm with one great cosmopolitan urban center better than Maine by a large margin. I think Nova Scotia has less blight (for every charming Maine town there are 15 that are in rough shape) in terms of the built environment than Maine too. Maine does do an excellent job of directing tourists to the places it wants to showcase (Portland's tiny Old Port vs. the rest of the city is an excellent example), but Nova Scotia is much more well-rounded.
Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rnc2mbfl
You're asking Americans about Nova Scotia? Heck, they hardly know anything about their own country. I'd bet that many (if not most) don't even know where Nova Scotia is.
I know, for your everyday American it is sad but true. Al Capone once said..."Canada, What street is that on"? But it turns out so far some C-D writers are smarter than you give them credit for. Most of us are here because we're geography nerds.
When speaking coastal scenery specifically, I think NS is much more diverse (Bay of Fundy tides to the Cape Breton Highlands to the South Shore Beaches). So I would give NS the edge for coastal and ME for inland/wilderness. If you like small towns then Maine wins, it has a lot more of them. NS the population is more concentrated to its few cities and handful of other places, although it is true that of the fewer towns it has there is less blight in general. Halifax is definitely more of a city than Portland is, with both more to do and more interesting neighborhoods. Both cities contain quite a bit of non-descript areas as well though. I still don't think Portland is bad for a city its size (60-70k people).
It is hard to say which I prefer since they are both special places with many similarities and both have unique traits and features that I like.
One thing not discussed yet is the women. I say NS hands down (their accent is more charming as well).
Downtown Halifax is much better integrated in terms of historic and new construction than Portland. I love the idea of having a preserved historic district like Portland's Old Port, but it's actually not executed all that well. Of the few blocks that do exist in the Old Port, only a REALLY small chunk (Middle and Exchange Streets in particular) aren't marred by empty lots and parking garages. It's in worse shape than notable historic districts like Vieux Montreal, View Quebec, or even the Whaling Distric in New Bedford, MA. Smaller cities like Portsmouth NH, Newport RI and Burlington VT do a better job of preserving their historic districts too. I'll take Halifax's effective blend of old and new over downtown Portland any day. Halifax is much more vibrant to walk around than Portland (especially when you get off of the two streets in the Old Port that are most trafficked)
Halifax is much larger and more culturally significant so it gets a 'win' on that account. On the historic point I think it's more of a tie. I quite like the old buildings in Halifax but there do seem to be a lot more modernist atrocities mixed in there which mar the city for me. Portland is blighted by empty lots but this is easier to fix than a brutalist skyscraper and there are some gems in the historic parts of Portland. I would give Portland the edge were it not for the fact that Halifax has a Citadel.
Halifax is much larger and more culturally significant so it gets a 'win' on that account. On the historic point I think it's more of a tie. I quite like the old buildings in Halifax but there do seem to be a lot more modernist atrocities mixed in there which mar the city for me. Portland is blighted by empty lots but this is easier to fix than a brutalist skyscraper and there are some gems in the historic parts of Portland. I would give Portland the edge were it not for the fact that Halifax has a Citadel.
I agree that the Old Port has more historic structures than DT Halifax, but that's largely due to the fact that one city (Portland) set aside a historic district while the other (Halifax) didn't. Kudos to Portland for taking that initiative, but the preservation/reconstruction effort in the Old Port has been poor on their end. I know empty lots are easier to fix than modernist skyscrapers, but Portland has done a terrible job to date (concrete parking garages, buildings made with cheap materials that just don't mix, etc).
What's more is that downtown Portland is not free of notable ugly buildings. One City Center, One Monument Square, Franklin Towers and most of Portland's other tallest buildings in the downtown area are ugly and some 30+ years old. Halifax's "newer" structures are mostly far more attractive than Portland's.
Outside of downtown, there's no contest for me. Halifax just has so much more. Most visitors to Portland never leave the Old Port area but that's due in large part that the VAST majority of the city is just "meh" (nice homes in pockets of the West End, nice view from Munjoy Hill, and that's it). Halifax kills Portland when it comes architecture and vitality outside of the downtown area.
I know Portland packs a nice punch for a city of 65,000 but its metro area is nearly 230,000; and there's no reason it shouldn't pack a punch like that if you consider the reasons why. It's the cultural and economic hub for a state of over 1,000,000 people (it's really the only place outside of maybe a pocket of Lewiston or Bangor that's even remotely urban for more than a small distance).
Again, Portland is a GREAT place to visit. I suggest anyone do it. The Old Port is quaint and charming (if not a little too touristy), and the coastline there is spectacular. I do, however, think it gets a little too much credit, especially amongst New Englanders and others in the Northeast. I guess it's easy to see why it stands out... most comparably sized cities in New England and the Northeast (i.e. Fall River, Pawtucket, Haverhill, Brockton, Lawrence, and similar satellite cities near NYC, Philly, and beyond) are burned out industrial cities that are immediately adjacent (or at least close to) larger cities. They're not independent hubs like Portland is. Burlington VT may be the only other small New England city that's as independent as Portland. While it's smaller than Portland, it's a far more impressive city than Portland in terms of architecture, offerings for its size, and more. Portsmouth NH and Newport RI "wow" me much more than Portland too despite their relatively diminutive stature.
I think St. John, New Brunswick is the best comparison to Portland as far as maritime Canadian cities go. Similar in look, feel and size.
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Nice review. 
