Why didn't Halifax grow into one of Canada's largest and premier cities? (live in, bars)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I have the same question. It is weird that Canada doesn't have even a mid sized city on its east coast. Halifax has an urban population of less than 300k, smaller than Markham, a suburb of Toronto.
The municipality of Halifax is largely rural.
Halifax has a relatively mild winter similar to Toronto's, much better than places like Ottawa or Winnipeg.
You wouldn't consider a city with 300 thousand people to be even "mid-sized"? Just where are you from? Tokyo?
Obviously, it depends which types of ships you are talking about. Barges could reach Toronto, Detroit or Thunder Bay, but the largest ships could not, hence the St Lawrence Seaway was constructed. It's probably true that Detroit River is/was a very busy waterway but that doesn't imply its ships reached the ocean.
Tonnage statistics can be a bit misleading anyway as they can be heavily influenced by regional energy generation choices. In 2004 the port of Huntington, WV handled about 50% more tonnage than the Port of LA (source).
Well, I did do some research. I found a newspaper articleThe Milwaukee Sentinel - Google News Archive Search). This is from 1958 and the St. Lawrence Seaway wasn't completely until 1959. While it does say the Detroit river was the busiest water way in the world at one point, and ships were bound for the ocean. It mentioned oil tankers and ocean freighters. It didn't not say how big they were.
I think one thing about the tonnage is WHAT that tonnage is. Around Huntington, there is alot of coal and iron to be shipped, and Pittsburgh isn't that far away.
Now, as for Halifax, I sum it up like this: Geography. Yes, Halifax has a good, deep water harbor. However, I would argue this. Nova Scotia is a small province. It produces alot for its size. However, Quebec and Ontario produce even more resources, such as timber and iron, at least in more supply. And Ontario has half of Canada's industrial output. There also also alot of agricultural output With access to the Great Lakes, goods were shipped from there. Similar situation with Quebec. With Nova Scotia and Halifax, fishing is a major activity. There are other resources in Nova Scotia as well. I would argue that being a relatively small province and being relatively far away from the industrial heart of Canada poses some issues.
It was mentioned that Halifax was hard to get to. I did a check on this. Halifax is 9 to 10 hours away from Quebec City. It takes 3 to 4 hours to get from Boston to New York City. It takes 5 hours to get from Boston to Montreal. Halifax is quite far away from many things. Its Atlantic location is very helpful for Trans-Atlantic trade, and in the beginning, that was a major factor for Halifax. It still is.
However, this is what I look at in terms of geography. As mentioned before, Halifax does not have a large, productive hinterland. Nova Scotia produces alot for its size. However, Nova Scotia is still a small province, and so is New Brunswick. And New Brunswick has Saint John. And Halifax is far away from alot of markets.
It is a matter of economic geography. Port cities grow because of their hinterlands, as well as trade coming from the outside. Proximity to big markets helps too. Boston started losing to New York because of the Erie Canal. However, New York City is relatively close to Boston, so it still benefits from being part of the Bos-Wash corridor. Halifax, on the other hand, is further away from the major cities. The closest one is Quebec City, in Quebec. And with both the inland ports of Montreal and Quebec City, goods made in Quebec get sent to those places. Geography has made is as such that one can have a link to the Atlantic Ocean without actually having to be on the Atlantic Ocean.
You wouldn't consider a city with 300 thousand people to be even "mid-sized"? Just where are you from? Tokyo?
I would say Toronto is a perfect example of a mid-sized city - large enough to have some real urban vibe and doesn't get as busy and vibrant as a big city. Ottawa/Vancouver are small cities, or mid-sized ones on the smaller side - those with a relatively busy downtown but remains pretty quiet most of the time and most of the places (extremely residential)
300,000 people makes a town, and not a big one. "Cities" with 10,000-20,000 are villages with 1 or 2 commercial streets, and I have no idea how they got "city" status in Canada.
Take a trip to New York, or Tokyo, or Shanghai, or London, check out the street life outside the most touristy streets, how busy their transit is at 2pm, and how many people are on the street on Tuesday night. Seriously, and after doing that, nobody will come back to claim that Toronto and Vancouver are "big cities". Makes me laugh every time.
It was mentioned that Halifax was hard to get to. I did a check on this. Halifax is 9 to 10 hours away from Quebec City. It takes 3 to 4 hours to get from Boston to New York City. It takes 5 hours to get from Boston to Montreal. Halifax is quite far away from many things. Its Atlantic location is very helpful for Trans-Atlantic trade, and in the beginning, that was a major factor for Halifax. It still is.
However, this is what I look at in terms of geography. As mentioned before, Halifax does not have a large, productive hinterland. Nova Scotia produces alot for its size. However, Nova Scotia is still a small province, and so is New Brunswick. And New Brunswick has Saint John. And Halifax is far away from alot of markets.
It is a matter of economic geography. Port cities grow because of their hinterlands, as well as trade coming from the outside. Proximity to big markets helps too. Boston started losing to New York because of the Erie Canal. However, New York City is relatively close to Boston, so it still benefits from being part of the Bos-Wash corridor. Halifax, on the other hand, is further away from the major cities. The closest one is Quebec City, in Quebec. And with both the inland ports of Montreal and Quebec City, goods made in Quebec get sent to those places. Geography has made is as such that one can have a link to the Atlantic Ocean without actually having to be on the Atlantic Ocean.
true.
I think a place can be safely called "in the middle of nowhere" unless itself has more than 2M people, or is within 3 or 4 hours driving distance from a city with more than 2M people,
I would say Toronto is a perfect example of a mid-sized city - large enough to have some real urban vibe and doesn't get as busy and vibrant as a big city. Ottawa/Vancouver are small cities, or mid-sized ones on the smaller side - those with a relatively busy downtown but remains pretty quiet most of the time and most of the places (extremely residential)
300,000 people makes a town, and not a big one. "Cities" with 10,000-20,000 are villages with 1 or 2 commercial streets, and I have no idea how they got "city" status in Canada.
Take a trip to New York, or Tokyo, or Shanghai, or London, check out the street life outside the most touristy streets, how busy their transit is at 2pm, and how many people are on the street on Tuesday night. Seriously, and after doing that, nobody will come back to claim that Toronto and Vancouver are "big cities". Makes me laugh every time.
Toronto a mid sized city? That is so funny it's stupid!
I remember a few years back, I saw a list of Canadian cities/towns with the highest crime rates. All the cities on the list were prairie/western cities, exept for one. Halifax was the only city in th east that made it on the list. Halifax can be a rough little port city and apparently had a bad reputation for pimping and prostitution across Canada.
I would say Toronto is a perfect example of a mid-sized city - large enough to have some real urban vibe and doesn't get as busy and vibrant as a big city. Ottawa/Vancouver are small cities, or mid-sized ones on the smaller side - those with a relatively busy downtown but remains pretty quiet most of the time and most of the places (extremely residential)
300,000 people makes a town, and not a big one. "Cities" with 10,000-20,000 are villages with 1 or 2 commercial streets, and I have no idea how they got "city" status in Canada.
Take a trip to New York, or Tokyo, or Shanghai, or London, check out the street life outside the most touristy streets, how busy their transit is at 2pm, and how many people are on the street on Tuesday night. Seriously, and after doing that, nobody will come back to claim that Toronto and Vancouver are "big cities". Makes me laugh every time.
On a world scale, Toronto would be relatively small, but we are talking about CANADIAN cities.
And there is something else to consider. Is their legal designation in Canada that calls a settlement of 300,000 or more people a "town"? In the province of Alberta, a town must have at least 1,000 residents, so a settlement of 10,000-20,000 residents would not be called a village. In Manitoba, a city must have at least 7,500 residents. In NL, St. John's, which has around 100,000 residents, is called a city. Corner Brook,NL, with around 19,000 residents, is called a city.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
