Living in Downtown Halifax

Homes in Downtown Halifax

Housing downtown is mostly apartment and condominium buildings, including mid-rise and high-rise towers built in recent years, such as rental towers of 16 to 21 storeys and condo buildings on Granville Street and near Spring Garden Road. There are also older low-rise buildings in the Old South Suburb and Schmidtville heritage conservation districts, where new construction has to follow heritage guidelines. View-plane rules protect sightlines from Citadel Hill to the harbour, which limits building heights in parts of downtown. Halifax Water supplies the Halifax side from the J. Douglas Kline (Pockwock) water treatment plant.

Who Downtown Halifax suits

People who want to walk to work, restaurants, the waterfront and events, and who prefer apartment or condo living with little or no yard upkeep.

Schools near Downtown Halifax

• Saint Mary's ElementaryElementary (Primary to grade 6; Pre-Primary held at Inglis Street Elementary), 5614 Morris Street, Halifax
• Halifax Central Junior HighJunior high (grades 7-9, English program), 1787 Preston Street, Halifax
• Gorsebrook Junior HighJunior high (grades 7-9; Early French Immersion), 5966 South Street, Halifax
• Citadel HighSenior high (grades 10-12, English and French programs), 1855 Trollope Street, Halifax

Downtown is part of HRCE's Citadel High family of schools. The schools listed are the closest HRCE schools to the downtown core, not confirmed catchments. Families should check the exact school for a specific address with HRCE's School Finder (Home Address Lookup), because boundaries can change.

Parks, lakes and recreation

• Halifax Waterfront Boardwalk, a 24-hour public footpath of about 4 km from Casino Nova Scotia to the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21
• Citadel Hill, a 22.6 hectare star-shaped fort that was the hub of the port's historic defences, with an off-leash dog area
• Halifax Public Gardens, a 6.5 hectare garden and National Historic Site bounded by Spring Garden Road, South Park Street, Summer Street and Sackville Street
• Halifax Common, described as Canada's oldest urban park, including the Emera Oval skating track, about a five-minute walk from downtown
• Victoria Park and Peace and Friendship Park

Shopping, transit and services

• Halifax Transit routes including 1 Spring Garden, 7A/7B Peninsula and 29 Barrington, with Scotia Square as a major stop and the inner terminal for the 320 Airport-Fall River Regional Express
• Halifax Transit ferries to Alderney Landing in Dartmouth and to Woodside
• Shopping on Spring Garden Road, Barrington Street, Park Lane and Scotia Square, plus Historic Properties and the Granville Mall
• Halifax Central Library at 5440 Spring Garden Road (opened 2014)
• Dalhousie University's Sexton Campus (engineering, architecture and planning)
• QEII Health Sciences Centre's Halifax Infirmary on Summer Street, near the edge of downtown
• Scotiabank Centre, the largest arena in Atlantic Canada

Commute from Downtown Halifax

Downtown is the region's main job centre, so many residents walk to work. Halifax Transit ferries cross to Alderney Landing in Dartmouth and to Woodside, and Scotia Square is a hub for peninsula bus routes. Halifax Stanfield International Airport is described as a 28-minute drive from Halifax City Hall, and the 320 Regional Express runs from Scotia Square to the airport.

Downtown Halifax homes for sale

See Downtown Halifax on the map

Downtown Halifax FAQ