Info Please - thinking of moving to Nova Scotia!!!!! (real estate, new home)

[Haley_Comet]

My husband and I are strongly talking about moving to NS and I could not be more excited. I have some family in the Mahone Bay/Bridgewater area and used to visit there every summer growing up and NS holds a very special place in my heart.

Can you tell me what you love about NS?

DH and I are both 35 and we have 4 kids (12,7,5,2) and we live close to Ottawa.

Also I really love Bridgewater - it seems to have everything we are looking for but chances are my DH will be working in Halifax. The commute I believe will be about an hour do you think this this too much?

Do you know another area that is very similair to Bridgewater that is closer to Halifax (we are open to any areas)?
That has mostly similair amenties?
Population similiar?

Thanks so much for any info as it is really needed.
We are planing on a road trip soon but we are doing some investigating before hand so that we arrived prepared on what towns/communities we 'scope out' for our new home.

Cheers,
Haley

[Wendy11]

I don't think there is a similar community to Bridgewater closer to Halifax - and yes, the commute would be brutal - very icy and snowy in winter. I guess there is Musquodobit Harbour or Porters Lake - but they aren't really similar. Personally, I'd never want to live in Bridgewater - so we may be on different pages. The HRM has lots of nice, semi-rural neighbourhoods that I think would be nice to live in and you would have public transit, better water!, lots of activities for your kids to do on their own as they get older. The Waverly road area is nice (where its on town water) and there is Shubie park nearby with swimming, and boating - there is a large woods for hiking or biking in where birds and chipmunks will come and sit on your hand to eat food. The people who live in that area tend to like the outdoors, so they are a bit more mellow. I don't think the real estate is that much cheaper in Bridgetown either. The yupppies seem to like Timberlea, park hill road/frog pond area of halifax seems nice too if you can afford it.

[Wendy11]

Oh, I forgot, Chrichton Park in Dartmouth is nice too (across the "lake" from Waverly) but it has more of a crowded urban feel and has more questionable neighbourhoods closer by.

[nuala]

Perhaps Haley_Comet likes the rural life by the ocean as it is everywhere on the Lighthouse route.

Bridgewater is 1 hour away from Upper Tantallon (the first leg of Halifax), and if you need to drive to downtown Halifax, it's 1.5 hours outside rush hour. While it's a long commute, some people do do it, though more likely Halifax-working people would be living in Chester or Hubbards. (45 and 30 min respective drive).

Mahone Bay would be an hour from Halifax.

Bridgewater is a nice small town, with lots of children activities (ballet, taekwon-do, gymnastics, swimming, hockey, soccer).

All these ocean-bordering little towns are spread along the shore so you drive from one to another without noticing almost.

[db108108]

I'm from Bridgewater (low living in the US). It's great in the summer, but dreadful in the winter. The winter weather *is* better than most other parts of NS, but it's all the same, really. The summers are quite a bit warmer than Halifax. Bridgewater is one of the only places in NS (outside of Halifax) that is actually growing, and lots of new things are going up right now. The real estate is cheaper than in Halifax, and much cheaper than in the other coastal communities (Mahone Bay, Lunenburg, etc). I wouldn't live in MB or Lunenburg - they have high property taxes and are very, very small (under 2k people).

The problem with living in Bridgewater and working in Hfx is the drive. It's an hour to the city, and you can throw in another 30 minutes to get downtown. but the drive feels like much, much longer because there is literally nothing to see along the highway.

Other than Bridgewater, you could look at Truro or Sackville (which are closer to Halifax), but they're very different places.

[gussie]

The drive to Halifax would be brutal. I like Bridgewater.. but I like Lunenburg better.. it all depends on what you want. We lived in the Annapolis Valley, so our trips to Halifax were not many.. They have a beautiful beach near Halifax called Risser's Beach.. great beach!!

[nuala]

Risser's Beach Park is between Bridgewater and Liverpool - 2 hours from Halifax. There are more beaches closer to Halifax, Queensland beach, and many more smaller ones.

Yes, Lunenburg is a nice town, too.

Break down of the drive times to downtown Halifax (NOT during rush hour that may increase the drive by 30-45 min):

Liverpool (exit 19 on 103) - 2 hours
Bridgewater (exit 12) - 1.5 hours
Lunenburg (exit 11) - 1.3 hours
Mahone Bay (exit 10) - 1 hour
Chester Basin (exit 9) - 50 min
Chester (exit 8) - 45 min
East River (exit 7) - 40 min
Hubbards (exit 6) - 30 min
Upper Tantallon (exit 5) - 25 min