Dartmouth

Dartmouth is Halifax’s sister city and is located across the harbor. Dartmouth is spread out over a fairly large area with a population of approximately 160,000 people.

Dartmouth is primarily a residential housing market with a small downtown business core.the exceptions to this are its abundance of retail shopping choices and Burnside Industrial and Retail Business Park. The Park is the largest of its kind east of Montreal and roughly 30,000 people work in the park and many more thousands visit daily.

Dartmouth is called the City of Lakes and features many homes situated on fresh water. There are many activities offered on the water year round, including public beaches, paddling, skating, etc.

Given Dartmouth’s location, across the harbor from Halifax, the only direct driving route to Halifax is via one of two bridges. Traveling around Dartmouth is very smooth, with a well planned and developed road and highway system. There is congestion during the morning and evening rush hours on both the Halifax and Dartmouth approach to the bridges. Most of the time however, the traffic runs very smoothly in both directions. There is also a very good transit system, including several ferry locations, taking people from public parking to Downtown Halifax.

The travel time from Dartmouth to downtown Halifax depends upon where you live in Dartmouth, but will run between 15–30 minutes during regular travel hours and between 20-40 minutes during rush hours.

Some of the best shopping in the metro area can be found in Dartmouth. Both large indoor and outdoor shopping centers are in abundance as well as all the major box chain stores.  Every commercial, automotive, and hardware need can also be met. There is also a new project called The Dartmouth Crossing being developed at one end of Burnside Industrial and Retail Park. It is scheduled to open in the spring of 2007.

There is a great variety of house styles and prices to choose from and there is definitely a house to fit everybody’s needs and price range in the area. You can also find a wide selection of condominiums as well.

If you are considering moving to the Dartmouth area please access any of the following buttons that may be of interest to you:

Shopping
Housing Types
Housing Prices
Commuting Time and Distances

Shopping

There are many shopping choices within minutes of each other in the Dartmouth area:

Penhorn Mall: Featuring around 100 shops including Sears, Wal-mart, and movie theatres can be found in this indoor shopping center.

Mic Mac Mall: The largest shopping center in Atlantic Canada features several chain retailers and around 300 shops. There are several box retailers on the grounds as well including a Chapters and Future Shop.

Burnside Business Park: The largest business/industrial/retail park in Atlantic Canada. A huge assortment of shopping alternatives await he buyer.

Dartmouth Crossing: This is Dartmouth’s newest retail shopping area and should prove to be metros most appealing as well. This area was conceived as an all inclusive shopping district much like Bayer’s Lake Retail Park in Halifax. The difference being that this venture was planned, developed, and sold as one concept. Everything is being built at one time. It will include many large box retailers such as Home Depot, Canadian Tire, Costco, Sobey’s, Empire 18 Theatre ( 18 theaters ), Hilton Hotels, Many Eateries, and many small beautifully designed brownstone retail malls. Once complete it should be among metros most popular shopping and entertaining centers. Scheduled to open spring 2007.

Downtown Dartmouth: There is limited shopping in downtown Dartmouth but most basic needs including banking, groceries, fast food and other dining can be found here. A quick ferry ride will bring you straight to the shopping districts of downtown Halifax.

Housing Types

There is a wide variety of housing options in the area including the following

Downtown: This is an old area of Dartmouth and offers a range of housing alternatives. Most of the houses are over 60 years old with some being well over the century mark. Many of these homes have a tremendous amount of character such as high ceilings, elegant moldings, and unique windows and doors. Many of them have also been refurbished within the last 10-20 years. They frequently feature stone foundations with low ceilings and often have earthen floors. There is also a wide array of condominiums to choose from in this area.

Creighton Park: This is a very desirable area of Dartmouth and features some older homes, but most are between 30 – 50 years of age. Great schools, great shopping, a golf course, some lake front homes, and easy access to water activities are just some of the appealing features in the area. Situated in the heart of Dartmouth; it is within minutes to many desirable activities.

Montebello: Located next to Keystone Estates, Montebello was developed around 20-25 years ago. Every home style is offered here including single family, semi-detached, and condominiums. It is more affordable than its neighbor and offers the same amenities, if not quite so large or grand homes.

Keystone Estates: This is largely a new upscale area featuring 2000 to 3000 square foot homes. The home styles vary but are predominantly 2 storeys and most have brick fronts. It is a 5 minute drive to the major shopping areas in Dartmouth and it has schools in the immediate area including a full French P-12 school.
Close to parks and swimming.

Manor Park: An area of fine homes roughly 20-40 years old. It is within minutes to shopping and swimming. The home styles vary from bungalows, split entries, side splits, and 2 storeys. There are also semi-detached, town homes, and condominiums to choose from.

Portland Hills/Estates: This is a newer area of Dartmouth. Development of Portland Estates was begun about 20 years ago and it offers buyers an array of homes at many price ranges. It is considered among the more expensive subdivisions in the Dartmouth area. The extension to Portland Estates subdivision is called Portland Hills and it offers new homes of many sizes and distinction, including some on lakefront lots. The homes were developed by the same company that built Clayton Park, Clayton Park West, and the Ravines and like it compatriots, Portland Hills residents must comply with various covenants including the need for brick front homes. Even the town homes and semi detached homes must have brick. Condominiums must be constructed of brick or stucco as well. The home styles range from small and large bungalows, executive split entries and side splits, executive semi-detached and town homes, and beautiful 2 storeys (some on lake front lots). There is still opportunity to build a home as there are still lots available and development is ongoing. It is conveniently located next to shopping, dining and entertainment districts. It is also located close to major highways and offers very good public transportation.

Woodlawn: This is a very popular older area of Dartmouth and is very centrally located. It offers primarily smaller bungalows and split entry homes. The average age of the homes in the area is around 40 years and it is very affordable.

Housing Prices:

**Note: The million dollar amount for downtown is rare and applies to several new condominium developments currently under construction. The upper end for homes are around $ 500,000.       

Commuting Time and Distances: