u/muddertung

Hi all, my husband and I and our three month old baby girl are still on the hunt for a house in the Valley. After a lot of kind folks on this forum helped us narrow down areas, we've been viewing houses in Falmouth, Wolfville, and Port Williams. Recently, we've come across a couple of houses we really like in Kentville, but I've been told by friends in other areas of the Valley that it's quickly becoming similar to Dartmouth with its struggles of poverty and homelessness, drug use and crime, and just a lesser sense of community. We're currently trying to escape this unfortunate reality where we currently live (downtown), so I'd just like to confirm some facts from folks who actually live IN Kentville or are familiar with the area. Thanks for your help.

My husband and I and our three month old daughter currently live in Downtown Dartmouth. I'm originally from Cape Breton, but I've been in HRM for 12 years and my husband was born and raised in Dartmouth.

Since the 200-bed homeless shelter opened by MacDonald Bridge, along with the men's shelter on Wyse, our neighbourhood has gone to pot. We've had numerous break-in attempts for our cars, sheds, and unfortunately our home with some being successful. Over the past few years, we've lost thousands of dollars in property, but what's worse is we've lost the safety of our community.

We woke up this morning to yet another unfamiliar face on our security camera lurking around our backyard and on our deck at 2AM, and I think we've finally had enough.

Now, with a three month old little girl, we're wondering more than ever about moving out of HRM altogether and having a more rural lifestyle. My husband works remotely and is in tech and I can work virtually and am in healthcare. We're just concerned for her and where she will have her childhood, her friendships, her education, and her home base.

We're looking at the Valley first and foremost, but we also love the South Shore. We're very outgoing, community-oriented people and we just want to know other people's experiences in these areas with children and just in general for quality of life.