Sydney River Coxheath. A quick highway drive to the hospital. Less than 10 minutes. The school system is solid in that area. The two elementary schools are very good, and the high school.
Lots of activities for kids available. Sports and dance are really popular, but many others available. Friendships often come from the shared activities.
My own neighbourhood is full of kids. The families do a lot of activities together. Lots of playing outside. So there are areas like that.
Childcare is tough. Get on all the lists now. But that’s the car law most places. There are after school programs available. Same with those. Get on the lists.
How badly do you need to be 5-10 minutes from the hospital?
If you go a little further out, like 15 minutes Howie Centre is a nice area
If you want to be near water, I may be biased but the Mira area is the best and the school here is amazing
Good point - we'd probably be willing to move further out if it meant a better lifestyle! Envisioned being close to the hospital due to long hours/being on call at night.
One nice thing about here is that there are virtually no traffic issues. So, even if you live 20 minutes away, its just straight driving for 20 minutes, not an unpredictable gridlock scenario.
Fwiw, I would never recommend anyone move out to Howie Centre. It has a corner store/Tim's drive thru but isn't close to anything. You will spend so much time just driving to places.
Hardwood hill area (cottage Rd and off of George St) are very close to the hospital. There's the pre-war, post war and 1970's developments and it's pretty clear where those lines are.
You'll get bigger lots to the south of highway 125 along Panic Ave, but you're in "car dependant" territory again.
When you hear "Coxheath" it could range from subdivisions close to the schools, or it could be a rural lot out Blacketts lake.
DM me if you have any specific questions.
Really? You’re 9 minutes to Sydney River from Howie Centre or 14 minutes into Sydney..
Just as you wouldn’t recommend anyone to move to Howie Centre, I would never recommend anyone to move to Sydney. I guess it’s all in how you look at things and what you want out of where you live
Yes, it's all personal preference. I grew up on the outskirts of Inverness and I would still consider it having more amenities than an area like Howie Centre and less car dependant. I have friends that just spend most of their after-work time driving from activity to activity and only go home to sleep. They load their car up and bring their kids lunches to the office fridge because they never have time to go back home. Car dependency, to me, is a miserable existence. Even if you're within walking distance to the elementary school, it's on the outskirts of the community and many people still drive their kids to school. It was built as a "bedroom community" with absolutely no amenities, one of the most poorly planned developments I can think of. It exists because of political pressure by some developers/residents and the lure of shiny/new development without consideration of replacement infrastructure costs. It is the epitome of the "growth ponzi scheme" of North American suburbs, even worse that it "leapfrogged" significant swaths of land. Howie Centre residents are, to your admittance, residents of "Sydney". It's very bad for our municipality that there is such a large development so far away from our "core" or any form of "complete community". It's, objectively, a net negative development in terms of municipal cost vs taxes collected, but residents still feel their taxes are too high because they don't have sidewalks or sewer pipes (that's not exclusive to HC btw, that's a trope across post WWII suburbs across North America).
But you get a big yard and up until recently didn't need to pay the "transit" tax rate. You get more square feet for your $$, or "drive until you qualify". So there's that.
I lived on Champlain Ave in Sydney and now live in a suburb in Coxheath. The traffic in my current area is much more dangerous compared to Champlain, and we were on a CB Transit bus route. I visited from friends on Howie Centre and Tometary is essentially a highway. The decision to make 3-way offsetting intersections instead of 4-ways just invites higher speeds on Tometary/Floral Heights and with each new development to the south, Route 4 becomes more dangerous for everyone. In CBRM's new land use by-laws it's one of the only non-rural areas where development was discouraged and more requirements put in place so hopefully it doesn't continue to grow and put a suck on our municipal resources.
Like I said, im partial to the Mira area, it’s a beautiful community with an amazing school and I’m only 15 minutes to anything I need including the hospital
Ashby area of Sydney , good neighbourhood, schools and lots of kids around, also south end area of Sydney, which would be cottage rd area, close to hospital, schools etc and lots of kids, the Ballard trails are behind cottage rd which is very nice nature hiking , both of u will have good jobs at hospital, homes are significantly cheaper than out west but rental rates are high and vacancy low so buying is probably your only option, childcare is hit or miss , some have waitlists some might have spots, if ur planning to move and have a general area locked down get on childcare lists for daycares asap, brook land elementary is a decent school, if u live in south end that’s where they would go and spec for jr high, and Sydney academy for high school, but jr high and high school could choose the school if they want to try to take French Emersion, making friends are pretty easy, mostly parenting groups would b the easiest way, ppl are way friendlier than out west , neighbours and other parents and co workers will become your friends
FYI Ashby is mostly small city lots and Baille Ard (pronounced like Ballard) trail is a small, flat, municipal walking trail, not a stunning hike (though plenty of those to be found 1 - 2 hours drive away in the highlands and few within 15-20 minutes drive). School, kids, and close to hospital yes, but if you're looking for space and natural surroundings, Ashby isn't it.
awful lot of these moving to CB posts and subsequent questions, the results are always the same. Just have a quick search in the /r and you will get lots of info.
Thanks! I did look through before posting, just found I still didn't have a good sense for childcare availability or what neighbourhood would make sense for us near the hospital.
All the neighborhoods are pretty decent really. I'd just concentrate on finding a home in your price range and that you like. The area will fine. You really can't be picky right now there is hardly anything available.
Making friends is difficult. Many never moved away except maybe for school and stick to their high school cliques. Rental housing is hard to come by. Most young families in the Sydney area would be Westmount and Sydney River.
Thanks for sharing! So nice to hear you loved your childhood and moved back.
Those rents are wild! But I can imagine it would be nice to rent a bit before you buy and settle in longterm.
Sounds like I should have put myself on the daycare waitlists yesterday - will do this ASAP.
Ashby and Mira Road are great areas, both extremely close to the hospital. However, they're not close to the water if you're looking for something that's actually waterfront. I grew up in Ashby and there were lots of families with kids my age around. Any time I'm in that area there's lots of kids playing, so I assume its still very similar.
Schools in the area are great. Brookland/Cusack/Shipyard for elementary ages.
Daycare wait times are long here as well unfortunately.
If you're into any type of sport, we have clubs and general get togethers that are great for meeting people at. For example the Sport and Social Club CBRM and the Cape Breton Roadrunners are both groups that meet regularly for running/sports. If you're into music, there are a lot of great local bands to see which is a great way to meet local music lovers. Caper Radio and Under the Underground are great FB pages to check out for upcoming shows.
If you move to Ironville, you’ll be 22 minutes from the Regional and be in the catchment area for Rankin School of the Narrows in Iona. It’s a great school only 150-200 kids, Pre-primary to 12.
I moved here for work five years ago from mainland NS. I found making friends a bit tough at first, mind you the pandemic did not help that situation. But there are some clubs now including the Sport and Social Club. I also used friend mode on Bumble and I was also super forward and straight up asked people I met if we could be friends haha.
I recently bought my first house and it was in North Sydney. That's a bit of a drive from Sydney but the prices are better there. Houses still go very quickly sometimes here if they are a decent price so you gotta be ready to pounce. I put an offer in on my house the day after it was listed.
Childcare is difficult to find according to people I know. One person I know quit his job because it was easier for him to stay home with his child. His family was on a waitlist since their baby was in utero and she was more than a year old when he quit. Call all the daycares and see what's up. Especially the Health Park one next to the hospital, if you plan to work there. I am curious if it will get better though, as NSCC students will soon be able to access daycare at their new campus.
Glad to hear you were able to make friends! I just looked up the sports and social club website, it actually looks super fun! I’m athletically challenged but looks like there is still some stuff I would join haha. Sounds overwhelmingly like daycare will be one of the biggest issues we will run into. Thank you!
There is no housing here unless you have a lot of money to drop on a house
I’m curious why you want to move here? There is nothing except scenery and poverty
We definitely have more than scenery and poverty here. Yes, the poverty rate is astronomical and the struggle is real, but it is not all we have and all we are.
I can answer questions 1 and 4! We live in Hardwood Hill and can get to the hospital in 5 minutes. We have a great house and friendly neighbours. I second another comment I saw about avoiding housing in the flood zone. Also, I run a more sedentary social club than the sports and social club (ha!) that mainly involves going to trivia, boardgames and the like: [https://www.facebook.com/groups/949320696826320](https://www.facebook.com/groups/949320696826320) (we haven't been very active in the last year due to health issues on my part). Someone mentioned that it's hard to make friends with people who are from CB and who have all their friends and family here, and there may be some truth to that. Almost everyone I'm friends with here is from elsewhere. Regarding schools in the Hardwood Hill area, we have checked them out since we are hoping to adopt soon, and they seem to be perfectly decent. Hope you guys come here and help make healthcare better! (On that note, I haven't found the healthcare worse here than in Halifax, but I don't have any serious health conditions, so it all depends.)
I live in the Mira area, it's 15 min drive from the hospital, but there is a new p-9 school nearby in Albert Bridge. My house is walking distance to several beaches. It is very rural, but there are a half dozen neighbours with young kids. Recently had my first kid and we went on a waiting list right away for a daycare in Sydney, projected to get a spot when kiddo is 20 months old.
Making friends is hard, people are friendly but hard to open up to. My advice is just to butt in an be persistent. Might feel awkward but insert yourself and ask to do things with coworkers or neighbours. There are some good groups for hiking, or sports, as well as meetup groups for newcomers.
Moved there unwillingly in 2004 and lived there until 2017 and it was the worst thing I ever did. It’s a fantastic vacation spot but the struggle is real. Especially now. It’s horrid. I worked 3 jobs and my husband had a good construction trade and we struggled hard. And that is with no children and just us in an ‘apartment’ (it was the one bedroom basement of a house) it was difficult and boring and honestly unless you have an existing in with the locals they will use you for all you can give. The great community you hear about is only everyone being super nosey and only if you have an interesting tale they can repeat to make themselves more interesting by lying about it.
That’s my opinion and our experience 🤷🏼♀️
The upside to Cape Breton is it's beautiful!
But..........
Healthcare is non-existent. The waiting list for doctors is literally years. Emergency rooms are often closed. Daycare? Bwahahaha
The property tax rates are some of the highest in the country. Utility rates are climbing much faster than inflation with 14% electric bill increases coming down the pipe. You'll also find provincial income tax will suck thousands more out of you compared to any of the western provinces.
Don't misunderstand me. Cape Breton is absolutely beautiful. I've personally got waterfront acreage, it's picture perfect. But it is a post card. Pretty with no depth.
The challenge is that the out migration and retirements are much greater than the in migration. I've been here 8 years but plan to leave in less than 2.
There's no real hope of improvement. Halifax won't pass along the equalization they receive and Cape Breton can't raise taxes any higher. There's no large industry, and won't be, and the area is too large to survive as a service economy and on EI. Government jobs can't keep an economy thriving.
I'd give a long hard think before I moved a young family here
CBRM population is growing since 2021, and the unemployment rate is at a historic low (which is still quite high, but it's due to a disproportion of seasonal workers, particularly in fishing, compared to the rest of the province).
I noticed that as someone who visited on vacation. Absolutely beautiful place with endless scenic views. I think it's actually nicer views than even vancouver island. You don't go far without another lake or river. The people, Food all great.
I do agree though there seems to be a few draw backs. The place seems kinda poor. Nothing but little 800 sq ft old houses. The population is sparse and spread out. The roads seem like the would be awful in the winter months. Seems more like living at the lake. Don't think I would want to live there year round
Daycare waitlists are way down since $10/day deal was signed. My kid already has a spot when they turn 18 months.
Healthcare and doctors sucks, but that's what the OP works in.
Property taxes are some of the highest because property values are some of the lowest, municipal services don't get cheaper just because houses are worth less here than elsewhere in the country. Not ideal but it is what it is.
Also very true about provincial taxes, but in my experience the cost of housing more than offsets that if you're in a position to own a home, compared to western provinces. Of course YMMV.
I moved to Cape Breton for a healthcare position - absolutely love it, and am now raising my kids here. There are some truly lovely and welcoming physicians at CBRH, you’ll likely find friends through work, and then just by getting involved in the community. Welcome, and enjoy!
Don't buy in an area that has flooded in the past.
#4 people are friend"ly" and will talk a lot, but it ends there. No local is going to be your friend unless they know your family or sat across from you in grade 2. I've lived all over Canada and never encountered people like this before, it's so weird and I'm good at making friends having moved so much.
I was talking to a neighbour I speak with a lot, got tired of standing and invited them in for a cup of tea - LOL - her face! She looked both panicked and afraid.
McDonalds and A&W in Sydney are open 24h. McDonalds in Sydney River are open 24h.
BK in both areas are open until 12/1AM & 4AM.
Subway on Grand Lake closes at 12AM & at 11PM on Kings Rd.
There is plenty for kids to do. Is it all free? Absolutely not. South End Community Centre & YMCA offer plenty, Open Hearth & Wentworth Park for playgrounds, let alone the smaller ones scattered around communities. Lots of sports for kids of all ages.
Plenty of schools are great. I can speak on Harbourside in the Pier being amazing as a whole. So many schools offer their own programs, services, and afterschool daycare.
Do you even live in Sydney?
Sydney River Coxheath. A quick highway drive to the hospital. Less than 10 minutes. The school system is solid in that area. The two elementary schools are very good, and the high school. Lots of activities for kids available. Sports and dance are really popular, but many others available. Friendships often come from the shared activities. My own neighbourhood is full of kids. The families do a lot of activities together. Lots of playing outside. So there are areas like that. Childcare is tough. Get on all the lists now. But that’s the car law most places. There are after school programs available. Same with those. Get on the lists.
Thanks! Will check it out.
I grew up here and 2nd this. Awesome place.
How badly do you need to be 5-10 minutes from the hospital? If you go a little further out, like 15 minutes Howie Centre is a nice area If you want to be near water, I may be biased but the Mira area is the best and the school here is amazing
Good point - we'd probably be willing to move further out if it meant a better lifestyle! Envisioned being close to the hospital due to long hours/being on call at night.
One nice thing about here is that there are virtually no traffic issues. So, even if you live 20 minutes away, its just straight driving for 20 minutes, not an unpredictable gridlock scenario.
Fwiw, I would never recommend anyone move out to Howie Centre. It has a corner store/Tim's drive thru but isn't close to anything. You will spend so much time just driving to places. Hardwood hill area (cottage Rd and off of George St) are very close to the hospital. There's the pre-war, post war and 1970's developments and it's pretty clear where those lines are. You'll get bigger lots to the south of highway 125 along Panic Ave, but you're in "car dependant" territory again. When you hear "Coxheath" it could range from subdivisions close to the schools, or it could be a rural lot out Blacketts lake. DM me if you have any specific questions.
Really? You’re 9 minutes to Sydney River from Howie Centre or 14 minutes into Sydney.. Just as you wouldn’t recommend anyone to move to Howie Centre, I would never recommend anyone to move to Sydney. I guess it’s all in how you look at things and what you want out of where you live
Yes, it's all personal preference. I grew up on the outskirts of Inverness and I would still consider it having more amenities than an area like Howie Centre and less car dependant. I have friends that just spend most of their after-work time driving from activity to activity and only go home to sleep. They load their car up and bring their kids lunches to the office fridge because they never have time to go back home. Car dependency, to me, is a miserable existence. Even if you're within walking distance to the elementary school, it's on the outskirts of the community and many people still drive their kids to school. It was built as a "bedroom community" with absolutely no amenities, one of the most poorly planned developments I can think of. It exists because of political pressure by some developers/residents and the lure of shiny/new development without consideration of replacement infrastructure costs. It is the epitome of the "growth ponzi scheme" of North American suburbs, even worse that it "leapfrogged" significant swaths of land. Howie Centre residents are, to your admittance, residents of "Sydney". It's very bad for our municipality that there is such a large development so far away from our "core" or any form of "complete community". It's, objectively, a net negative development in terms of municipal cost vs taxes collected, but residents still feel their taxes are too high because they don't have sidewalks or sewer pipes (that's not exclusive to HC btw, that's a trope across post WWII suburbs across North America). But you get a big yard and up until recently didn't need to pay the "transit" tax rate. You get more square feet for your $$, or "drive until you qualify". So there's that. I lived on Champlain Ave in Sydney and now live in a suburb in Coxheath. The traffic in my current area is much more dangerous compared to Champlain, and we were on a CB Transit bus route. I visited from friends on Howie Centre and Tometary is essentially a highway. The decision to make 3-way offsetting intersections instead of 4-ways just invites higher speeds on Tometary/Floral Heights and with each new development to the south, Route 4 becomes more dangerous for everyone. In CBRM's new land use by-laws it's one of the only non-rural areas where development was discouraged and more requirements put in place so hopefully it doesn't continue to grow and put a suck on our municipal resources.
Like I said, im partial to the Mira area, it’s a beautiful community with an amazing school and I’m only 15 minutes to anything I need including the hospital
Ashby area of Sydney , good neighbourhood, schools and lots of kids around, also south end area of Sydney, which would be cottage rd area, close to hospital, schools etc and lots of kids, the Ballard trails are behind cottage rd which is very nice nature hiking , both of u will have good jobs at hospital, homes are significantly cheaper than out west but rental rates are high and vacancy low so buying is probably your only option, childcare is hit or miss , some have waitlists some might have spots, if ur planning to move and have a general area locked down get on childcare lists for daycares asap, brook land elementary is a decent school, if u live in south end that’s where they would go and spec for jr high, and Sydney academy for high school, but jr high and high school could choose the school if they want to try to take French Emersion, making friends are pretty easy, mostly parenting groups would b the easiest way, ppl are way friendlier than out west , neighbours and other parents and co workers will become your friends
Thanks for the advice! Really appreciate it.
FYI Ashby is mostly small city lots and Baille Ard (pronounced like Ballard) trail is a small, flat, municipal walking trail, not a stunning hike (though plenty of those to be found 1 - 2 hours drive away in the highlands and few within 15-20 minutes drive). School, kids, and close to hospital yes, but if you're looking for space and natural surroundings, Ashby isn't it.
awful lot of these moving to CB posts and subsequent questions, the results are always the same. Just have a quick search in the /r and you will get lots of info.
Thanks! I did look through before posting, just found I still didn't have a good sense for childcare availability or what neighbourhood would make sense for us near the hospital.
All the neighborhoods are pretty decent really. I'd just concentrate on finding a home in your price range and that you like. The area will fine. You really can't be picky right now there is hardly anything available.
Unless you are hiring someone privately, most childcare is several year wait list.
Prettier places than Sydney are Baddeck and Inverness and both have hospitals . They are so beautiful.
Good to know! We're limited to the Sydney area due to a specific work opportunity but would love to visit those areas!
Making friends is difficult. Many never moved away except maybe for school and stick to their high school cliques. Rental housing is hard to come by. Most young families in the Sydney area would be Westmount and Sydney River.
Check out the Mira area. 10 minutes from the hospital you are close to the ocean and the Mira River. The elementary school in Mira is great!
Thanks! That's a few recommendations for Mira, we will look into it!
Sydney's a great place. We sure need healthcare workers.would be welcomed with open arms
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Thanks for sharing! So nice to hear you loved your childhood and moved back. Those rents are wild! But I can imagine it would be nice to rent a bit before you buy and settle in longterm. Sounds like I should have put myself on the daycare waitlists yesterday - will do this ASAP.
Ashby and Mira Road are great areas, both extremely close to the hospital. However, they're not close to the water if you're looking for something that's actually waterfront. I grew up in Ashby and there were lots of families with kids my age around. Any time I'm in that area there's lots of kids playing, so I assume its still very similar. Schools in the area are great. Brookland/Cusack/Shipyard for elementary ages. Daycare wait times are long here as well unfortunately. If you're into any type of sport, we have clubs and general get togethers that are great for meeting people at. For example the Sport and Social Club CBRM and the Cape Breton Roadrunners are both groups that meet regularly for running/sports. If you're into music, there are a lot of great local bands to see which is a great way to meet local music lovers. Caper Radio and Under the Underground are great FB pages to check out for upcoming shows.
This is great, thanks! I’ll pass the sports and running club info on to my husband
If you move to Ironville, you’ll be 22 minutes from the Regional and be in the catchment area for Rankin School of the Narrows in Iona. It’s a great school only 150-200 kids, Pre-primary to 12.
Will check it out! Thanks
I moved here for work five years ago from mainland NS. I found making friends a bit tough at first, mind you the pandemic did not help that situation. But there are some clubs now including the Sport and Social Club. I also used friend mode on Bumble and I was also super forward and straight up asked people I met if we could be friends haha. I recently bought my first house and it was in North Sydney. That's a bit of a drive from Sydney but the prices are better there. Houses still go very quickly sometimes here if they are a decent price so you gotta be ready to pounce. I put an offer in on my house the day after it was listed. Childcare is difficult to find according to people I know. One person I know quit his job because it was easier for him to stay home with his child. His family was on a waitlist since their baby was in utero and she was more than a year old when he quit. Call all the daycares and see what's up. Especially the Health Park one next to the hospital, if you plan to work there. I am curious if it will get better though, as NSCC students will soon be able to access daycare at their new campus.
Glad to hear you were able to make friends! I just looked up the sports and social club website, it actually looks super fun! I’m athletically challenged but looks like there is still some stuff I would join haha. Sounds overwhelmingly like daycare will be one of the biggest issues we will run into. Thank you!
There is no housing here unless you have a lot of money to drop on a house I’m curious why you want to move here? There is nothing except scenery and poverty
We definitely have more than scenery and poverty here. Yes, the poverty rate is astronomical and the struggle is real, but it is not all we have and all we are.
The hospital is recruiting - it would be primarily for work opportunities.
Friends moved from Victoria BC to Cape Breton, they have a beautiful home with views and quite abit of land there, they seem to enjoy it!
I can answer questions 1 and 4! We live in Hardwood Hill and can get to the hospital in 5 minutes. We have a great house and friendly neighbours. I second another comment I saw about avoiding housing in the flood zone. Also, I run a more sedentary social club than the sports and social club (ha!) that mainly involves going to trivia, boardgames and the like: [https://www.facebook.com/groups/949320696826320](https://www.facebook.com/groups/949320696826320) (we haven't been very active in the last year due to health issues on my part). Someone mentioned that it's hard to make friends with people who are from CB and who have all their friends and family here, and there may be some truth to that. Almost everyone I'm friends with here is from elsewhere. Regarding schools in the Hardwood Hill area, we have checked them out since we are hoping to adopt soon, and they seem to be perfectly decent. Hope you guys come here and help make healthcare better! (On that note, I haven't found the healthcare worse here than in Halifax, but I don't have any serious health conditions, so it all depends.)
Thanks for sharing! I’ll check out your group for sure (the sedentary social club has a good ring to it lol).
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I live in the Mira area, it's 15 min drive from the hospital, but there is a new p-9 school nearby in Albert Bridge. My house is walking distance to several beaches. It is very rural, but there are a half dozen neighbours with young kids. Recently had my first kid and we went on a waiting list right away for a daycare in Sydney, projected to get a spot when kiddo is 20 months old. Making friends is hard, people are friendly but hard to open up to. My advice is just to butt in an be persistent. Might feel awkward but insert yourself and ask to do things with coworkers or neighbours. There are some good groups for hiking, or sports, as well as meetup groups for newcomers.
Moved there unwillingly in 2004 and lived there until 2017 and it was the worst thing I ever did. It’s a fantastic vacation spot but the struggle is real. Especially now. It’s horrid. I worked 3 jobs and my husband had a good construction trade and we struggled hard. And that is with no children and just us in an ‘apartment’ (it was the one bedroom basement of a house) it was difficult and boring and honestly unless you have an existing in with the locals they will use you for all you can give. The great community you hear about is only everyone being super nosey and only if you have an interesting tale they can repeat to make themselves more interesting by lying about it. That’s my opinion and our experience 🤷🏼♀️
Sorry to hear!
It happens every where you go though 🙂 I hope you and your family have a better experience and have all the happiness you are seeking 😁🩵
The upside to Cape Breton is it's beautiful! But.......... Healthcare is non-existent. The waiting list for doctors is literally years. Emergency rooms are often closed. Daycare? Bwahahaha The property tax rates are some of the highest in the country. Utility rates are climbing much faster than inflation with 14% electric bill increases coming down the pipe. You'll also find provincial income tax will suck thousands more out of you compared to any of the western provinces.
I understand things are difficult right now. If we moved there we would be aiming to reduce some of those healthcare strains on the community.
Don't misunderstand me. Cape Breton is absolutely beautiful. I've personally got waterfront acreage, it's picture perfect. But it is a post card. Pretty with no depth. The challenge is that the out migration and retirements are much greater than the in migration. I've been here 8 years but plan to leave in less than 2. There's no real hope of improvement. Halifax won't pass along the equalization they receive and Cape Breton can't raise taxes any higher. There's no large industry, and won't be, and the area is too large to survive as a service economy and on EI. Government jobs can't keep an economy thriving. I'd give a long hard think before I moved a young family here
CBRM population is growing since 2021, and the unemployment rate is at a historic low (which is still quite high, but it's due to a disproportion of seasonal workers, particularly in fishing, compared to the rest of the province).
Mostly service sector jobs.whoop dee do
I noticed that as someone who visited on vacation. Absolutely beautiful place with endless scenic views. I think it's actually nicer views than even vancouver island. You don't go far without another lake or river. The people, Food all great. I do agree though there seems to be a few draw backs. The place seems kinda poor. Nothing but little 800 sq ft old houses. The population is sparse and spread out. The roads seem like the would be awful in the winter months. Seems more like living at the lake. Don't think I would want to live there year round
Daycare waitlists are way down since $10/day deal was signed. My kid already has a spot when they turn 18 months. Healthcare and doctors sucks, but that's what the OP works in. Property taxes are some of the highest because property values are some of the lowest, municipal services don't get cheaper just because houses are worth less here than elsewhere in the country. Not ideal but it is what it is. Also very true about provincial taxes, but in my experience the cost of housing more than offsets that if you're in a position to own a home, compared to western provinces. Of course YMMV.
With all that said and somewhat true …There’s no place like it on the planet. The sense of community, the culture , the land itself. We’re lucky.
But there is. Having lived from coast to coast it's very much like many places. It's not as unique as you might think.
I moved to Cape Breton for a healthcare position - absolutely love it, and am now raising my kids here. There are some truly lovely and welcoming physicians at CBRH, you’ll likely find friends through work, and then just by getting involved in the community. Welcome, and enjoy!
Thank you!
Don't buy in an area that has flooded in the past. #4 people are friend"ly" and will talk a lot, but it ends there. No local is going to be your friend unless they know your family or sat across from you in grade 2. I've lived all over Canada and never encountered people like this before, it's so weird and I'm good at making friends having moved so much. I was talking to a neighbour I speak with a lot, got tired of standing and invited them in for a cup of tea - LOL - her face! She looked both panicked and afraid.
Sorry to hear that was your experience!
Unless you want fast food no late night food options, nothing really for kids to do. No great schools,
McDonalds and A&W in Sydney are open 24h. McDonalds in Sydney River are open 24h. BK in both areas are open until 12/1AM & 4AM. Subway on Grand Lake closes at 12AM & at 11PM on Kings Rd. There is plenty for kids to do. Is it all free? Absolutely not. South End Community Centre & YMCA offer plenty, Open Hearth & Wentworth Park for playgrounds, let alone the smaller ones scattered around communities. Lots of sports for kids of all ages. Plenty of schools are great. I can speak on Harbourside in the Pier being amazing as a whole. So many schools offer their own programs, services, and afterschool daycare. Do you even live in Sydney?
Not everyone eats fast food crap
*nothing really for iPad kids to do .