Halifax Regional Municipality Totally Explained

Everything about Halifax Regional Municipality totally explained

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Halifax Regional Municipality is the capital of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada, making it the seat of the provincial Crown. The municipality is commonly called HRM or informally, Halifax .
The population in 2006 was 372,679; the urban area of HRM had a population of 282,924, giving the municipality the largest urban area in the Atlantic Canada and largest population centre in Canada east of Quebec City.
The first permanent European settlement in the area was the establishment of the Town of Halifax in 1749 when the colonial capital was transferred from Annapolis Royal; other towns and villages were established throughout adjacent areas of what would become Halifax County in the decades that followed. In 1996 the provincial government amalgamated all municipal governments within Halifax County to create HRM, a regional municipality comprising approximately 200 individual neighbourhoods and communities (place-names) for civic addressing grouped into 18 planning areas for zoning purposes. HRM's urban area is a major economic centre in eastern Canada with a large concentration of government services and private sector companies. Major employers and economic generators include the Department of National Defence, various levels of government, and the Port of Halifax. Agriculture, fishing, mining, forestry and natural gas extraction are major resource industries found in the rural areas of HRM.

Geography

The Halifax Regional Municipality occupies an area of 5,577 square kilometres (2,353 sq mi), (approximately 10% of Nova Scotia) comparative to the province of Prince Edward Island, and measures approximately 165 kilometres (102.5 mi) in length between its eastern and western-most extremities.
The coastline is heavily indented, accounting for its length of approximately 400 kilometres (250 mi), with the northern boundary usually being between 50-60 kilometres (30-37 mi) inland. The coast is mostly rock with small isolated sand beaches in sheltered bays. The largest bays include St. Margarets Bay, Halifax Harbour/Bedford Basin, Cole Harbour, Musquodoboit Harbour, Jeddore Harbour, Ship Harbour, Sheet Harbour, and Ecum Secum Harbour. The municipality's topography spans from lush farmland in the Musquodoboit Valley to rocky and heavily forested rolling hills.

Urban-rural characteristics

The region is large in physical area, centred on the urban core and surrounded by areas of decreasing density the farther the community is from the core.
   Unlike most municipalities with a sizable census metropolitan area, Halifax Regional Municipality's suburbs are completely incorporated into the entire municipality, with the urban area including the urban core, suburban communities and a rural commuter shed that encompasses almost half the municipality's landmass.
   The urban area of HRM (2006 pop: 282,924) is located in the western end of the municipality, fronting on Halifax Harbour. The dense urban core is centred on the Halifax Peninsula and the area of Dartmouth inside of the Circumferential Highway. The suburban area stretches beyond Mainland Halifax to the west, Cole Harbour to the east, and Bedford, Lower Sackville and Windsor Junction areas to the north.
   This urban area constitutes the most populous urban area on Canada's Atlantic coast, and the second largest coastal population centre in the country, after Vancouver, British Columbia. HRM currently accounts for 40% of Nova Scotia's population, and 15% of that of the Atlantic provinces.
   The north eastern area centred on Sheet Harbour and the Musquodoboit Valley is completely rural, with more in common with adjacent rural areas of neighbouring counties.
   HRM's boundary includes all of Halifax County except for several First Nation reserves. Statistics Canada identifies HRM as a census subdivision while Halifax County is listed as a census division, despite the fact that both geographic areas differ by only several dozen hectares. Statistics Canada also lists the dissolved municipalities of Bedford, Dartmouth and Halifax, describing them as "Dissolved (municipalities) having undergone an amalgamation/dissolution)."

Neighbourhoods and communities

The Halifax Regional Municipality is an amalgamation of four municipal governments in the urban and rural areas, therefore its composition of neighbourhoods and communities is unlike other municipalities such as a city.
   There are over 200 official rural and urban communities within Halifax County that have maintained their original geographic names (including the dissolved cities of Halifax and Dartmouth and the town of Bedford). These community names are used on survey and mapping documents, for 9-1-1 service, municipal planning, and postal service.
   HRM is divided into eighteen community planning areas which are further divided into neighbourhoods or villages. Several communities or neighbourhoods that were amalgamated by the former constituent municipalities in previous decades are starting to see their names gain increased use. The regional municipality has taken steps to reduce duplicate street names for its 9-1-1 emergency dispatch services; at the time of amalgamation, some street names were duplicated several times throughout HRM.
   The urban core of HRM is a term used to roughly describe the urban concentration surrounding Halifax Harbour in the western part of the municipality, and includes the Halifax Metropolitan Area, the Dartmouth Metropolitan Area, and the Bedford-Sackville areas.
   Rural areas lie to the east, west and north of this urban core. Certain rural communities on the urban fringe function as suburban or exurban areas, with the majority of those residents working in the urban core. Farther away, rural communities in HRM function much as any resource-based area in Nova Scotia, being sparsely populated, with their local economies developing around four major resource industries: agriculture, fishing, mining and forestry. It should be noted that the tourism industry is beginning to change how some rural communities in HRM function, particularly in coastal areas such as Hubbards, Peggys Cove and Lawrencetown

Climate

HRM's climate is heavily influenced by its location on Nova Scotia's Atlantic coast. The weather is usually milder or cooler than that of central Canada, with the temperature remaining (with occasional notable exceptions) between about -15°C and 35°C (5°F to 95°F) inland but the coast can be milder in the winter and cooler in the summer with the maritime influence.

Average / Month	Average	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
High temperature Celsius	10.9	-0.4	-0.3	3.3	8.2	13.9	19.2	22.6	22.8	18.8	13.1	7.8	2.3
Low temperature Celsius	2.9	-8.5	-8.3	-4.5	0.4	5.2	10.2	14.0	14.5	10.8	5.8	1.0	-5.5
Precipitation millimetres	year: 1513.3	145.5	113.7	124.8	123.6	118	112.9	104.6	108.9	99.5	135.8	156.7	169.2
Source: Environment Canada Weather Office

Economy

The urban area of Halifax Regional Municipality is a major economic centre in eastern Canada with a large concentration of government services and private sector companies. Halifax serves as the business, banking, government and cultural centre for the Maritime region. Major employers and economic generators include the Department of National Defence, as well as the Port of Halifax. The municipality has a growing concentration of manufacturing industries and is becoming a major multi-modal transportation hub through growth at the port, the Halifax Stanfield International Airport, and improving rail and highway connections. A real estate boom in recent years has led to numerous new property developments, including the gentrification of some former working-class areas.
Agriculture, fishing, mining, forestry and natural gas extraction are major resource industries found in the rural areas of HRM. HRM's largest agricultural district is in the Musquodoboit Valley; the total number of farms in HRM is 150, of which 110 are family-owned. Fishing harbours are located along all coastal areas with some having an independent harbour authority, and others being managed as small craft harbours under the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans.
Other resource industries in HRM include the natural gas fields off the coast of Sable Island, as well as clay, shale, gold, limestone, and gypsum extraction in rural areas of the mainland portion of the municipality.

Government

The Halifax Regional Municipality is governed by a mayor (elected at large) and a twenty-three person council, who are elected by geographic district; municipal elections occur every leap year. HRM has established community councils where three or more councillors agree to form these councils to deal primarily with local development issues. Most community council decisions are subject to final approval by regional council. The current Lord Mayor of the Halifax Regional Municipality is Peter Kelly.
The Halifax Regional Council is responsible for all facets of municipal government, including the Halifax Regional Police, Halifax Public Libraries, Halifax Fire and Emergency, Halifax Regional Water Commission, parks and recreation, civic addressing, public works, waste management, and planning and development.

Education

Halifax Regional School Board, as well as three public schools administered by the Conseil Scolaire Acadien Provincial, whereas the fourteen private schools are operated independently.
The municipality is also home to the following post-secondary educational institutions: Dalhousie University, Saint Mary's University, Mount Saint Vincent University, the Halifax campus of Université Sainte-Anne, University of King's College, Atlantic School of Theology, NSCAD University, and the Nova Scotia Community College. The presence of so many university and college students contributes to a vibrant youth culture in the region, as well as making it a major centre for university education in eastern Canada.

Culture

   The urban area of Halifax Regional Municipality is a major cultural centre within the Atlantic provinces. The municipality's urban core also benefits from a large population of post-secondary students who strongly influence the local cultural scene. HRM has a number of art galleries, theatres and museums, as well as most of the region's national-quality sports and entertainment facilities. The municipality is home to many performance venues, namely the Rebecca Cohn Auditorium, the Neptune Theatre, and The Music Room. HRM also is the home to many of the regions major cultural attractions, such as Symphony Nova Scotia, the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, and the Neptune Theatre.
   The region is noted for the strength of its music scene and nightlife, especially in the central urban core. See List of musical groups from Halifax, Nova Scotia for a partial list.
   HRM plays host to a wide variety of festivals that take place throughout the year, including: The Atlantic Film Festival, The Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo, The Halifax Busker Festival, Greekfest, Gay Pride week, The Atlantic Jazz Festival, The Multicultural Festival, periodic Tall Ship events, and Shakespeare by the Sea, to name a few. Many of these celebrations have become world renowned over the past several years.
   HRM has also become a significant film-production centre, with many American and Canadian filmmakers using the streetscapes, often to stand in for other cities that are more expensive to work in. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has its Atlantic Canada production centres (radio and television) based in Halifax, and quite a number of radio and television programs are made in the region for national broadcast.
   HRM is considered by many to be the cultural centre of the Maritimes. The municipality has been able to maintain many of its maritime and military traditions, while opening itself to a growing multicultural population.

Sport

The Halifax Regional Municipality is home to a number of outdoor recreational opportunities, including numerous ocean and lake beaches, as well as rural and urban parks. The municipality has a host of organised community intramural sports, as well as varsity and intramural sports offered by public schools and post-secondary institutions and has extensive facilities.
   The region is home to several professional and semi-professional sport franchises, such as the Halifax Mooseheads of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League(see also Sports teams in the Halifax Regional Municipality).
   The region has also hosted several major sporting events, including the 2003 World Junior Hockey Championship, 2003 Nokia Brier, the 2004 Women's World Ice Hockey Championships, and the 2007 World Indoor Lacrosse Championship. From 1984 to 2007, the region had been home to the CIS Men's Basketball Championship, however the tournament was moved to Ottawa, Ontario starting in 2008. May 2-18, 2008 - Ice Hockey World Championship. The 72nd championship will be held between May 2 and May 18, 2008 in Halifax, Nova Scotia and Quebec City, Canada.
   Halifax was selected as Canada's bid for the 2014 Commonwealth Games in 2006 but withdrew from the international competition in advance of the November 9, 2007 selection date on March 8.
   The municipality was selected as the host community for the 2011 Canada Winter Games in February 2007.

Media

HRM is the Maritimes' centre for broadcast and print media. CBC, CTV and Global Television all have regional television hubs in the municipality. CBC Radio has a major regional studio and there are also regional hubs for Rogers Radio and various private broadcast franchises, as well as a regional bureau for The Canadian Press/Broadcast News.
HRM's print media is centred on its single daily newspaper, the broadsheet The Chronicle-Herald as well as two free newspapers, the daily commuter-oriented edition of Metro and the free alternative arts weekly The Coast. Frank Magazine provides HRM with a weekly satirical and gossip magazine.
From 1974-2008, HRM had a second daily newspaper, the tabloid The Daily News which still publishes several neighbourhood weekly papers such as The Bedford-Sackville Weekly News, The Halifax West-Clayton Park Weekly News and the Dartmouth-Cole Harbour Weekly News. These weekly papers compete with The Chronicle-Herald's weekly Community Heralds HRM West, HRM East, and HRM North.

Transportation

The Halifax Regional Municipality is served by all modes of transportation. Halifax Harbour is a major Canadian port used by numerous shipping lines, as well as the navy and coast guard and hosts a public ferry service connecting the urban core. Sheet Harbour is the other major port in the municipality and serves industrial shippers on the Eastern Shore.
   The Halifax Port Authority's various shipping terminals constitute the eastern terminus of Canadian National Railway's transcontinental network. VIA Rail Canada provides overnight passenger rail service six days a week to Montreal with its train the Ocean. Halifax Stanfield International Airport serves HRM and most of the province, providing scheduled flights to domestic and international destinations. CFB Shearwater, an air force base, is located in the urban core on the eastern side of Halifax Harbour but is presently being decommissioned for fixed-wing aircraft.
   The municipality's urban core is linked by the Angus L. Macdonald and A. Murray MacKay suspension bridges, as well as a network of 100-series highways which function as expressways. The Armdale traffic circle is a notorious choke point for vehicle movement in the western part of the urban core, especially at rush hour.
   The urban core of HRM is served by Metro Transit, which operates standard bus routes, bus-rapid transit routes, as well as the pedestrian-only harbour ferries. Established in 1752, the municipality's ferry service is the oldest continuously running salt water ferry service in North America. (External Link

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Buildings and structures

Citadel Hill.
Buildings of particular interest in the downtown core include:

Province House (the provincial legislature)
Halifax City Hall
Metro Centre
Purdy's Wharf Towers
Fenwick Tower (the tallest building in the municipality and in Nova Scotia)
1801 Hollis Street
The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia
Saint Marys Basilica
Government House (home of the Lieutenant Governor)
Historic Properties (collection of some of the oldest buildings in the city)
Aliant Tower and Maritime Centre
Granville Mall
Dominion Public Building (rare art deco skyscrapper)
Barrington Street Historic District (collection of old historic buildings soon to be a historic district)

The architecture of Halifax's south end is renowned for its Victorian houses. Dalhousie University's campus is often featured in films and documentaries. Dartmouth also has its share of historic neighbourhoods. The urban core is home to several blocks of typical North American high-rise office buildings, however the waterfront of the Halifax Peninsula is governed by height restrictions which prevent buildings from obstructing certain sight line between Citadel Hill and Halifax Harbour and Georges Island. This has resulted in some modern high rises being built at unusual angles or locations.

Demographics

The Halifax Regional Municipality comprise 372,679 residents (2006 census). Approximately 18% of the population is under the age of 14, while 11% are 65 and older.

Ethnic origins

Ethnic Origin	Population	% of Total
Canadian		37.7
English		34.2
Scottish		29.8
Irish		24.5
French		18.0
German		12.1
Dutch		4.0
North American Indian		3.4
Welsh		2.2
Other British Isles		1.9
Italian		1.8
Polish		1.5
Acadian		1.4
Ukrainian		1.1
Lebanese		1.1

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Religious belief

45.38% Protestant

37.23% Catholic

01.40% other Christian

00.86% Muslim

00.79% Christian Orthodox

00.44% Jewish

00.42% Buddhist

00.27% Hindu

00.05% Sikh

00.10% other Eastern religions

00.17% other religions

12.90% no religious affiliation declared

Sister cities

Halifax, United Kingdom (?)

Hakodate, Japan (1982)

Campeche, Mexico (1999)

Norfolk, United States (2006)

Major parks

Dartmouth Commons

Halifax Citadel National Historic Site

Halifax Commons

Point Pleasant Park

Public Gardens

Shubie Park

Sir Sandford Fleming Park

York Redoubt National Historic Site

Long Lake Provincial Park

Notables

Alexander Keith- Founder of Alexander Keith's Beer.

Sidney Crosby- Famous Hockey player for the Pittsburgh Penguins

Ellen Page- Famous Oscar nominated actress.Further Information

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