Why Halifax is a good place to be in a relationship

We kind of saw this coming. If last year’s Sex + Dating survey taught us anything about Haligonians on the prowl, it’s that the majority want to find a longtime lover. And now we know why. Kind of.

According to the sex lives of this year's survey respondents, yes, Halifax is a good city for longterm relationships—a whopping 81 percent say so. (And then there was that one maroon who snarked, “Halifax is not a good city to be in period. If you find someone try to leave.”)

The reasons for why the city is a perfect breeding ground for serious relationships are pretty contradictory. It’s “big enough that there's loads to do for dates to keep it interesting, but small enough that you can probably walk to each other's house in 15 minutes,” says one reader, echoed by a boatload of “lots to do”s. But then again, says one participant, “It gets cold and boring, so it's nice to have someone to cuddle and cook with.”

And we’re also wishy-washy on the jealousy factor. One survey-taker says its great to date here because there are “no attractive people to distract” —ouch—while another confident soul claims, “We're hotter, smarter and nicer than most. Our dating pool is better. It's a fact.”

“Halifax is PERFECT for a longterm relationship, and that's because there are so few temptations,” writes one Haligonian. “Playful eye contact while walking down the street? Nope. A curious single approaching you at the coffee shop? No way. No distractions, no relationship problems. Kinda sad, though. I hate that flirtation seems to have died in this city.”

Oh Halifax,  you are so many things to so many people.

The folks who say this is not a great place to have longterm partner blame quaintness (“the queer community is so small that it feels like you can't find someone who hasn't already been with your current partner and it's incredibly frustrating and causes a lot of jealousy”) and the lack of jobs (“there is a high chance that one person will have to move in order to find work”). And then there’s this fucking Casanova, who's amped to have a buffet of ladies at his beckon call: “Women outnumber men in Halifax so why limit yourself? Get as much as you can.”

But we're with the one participant who points out, “if you're having a hard time staying in a longterm relationship, it's not Halifax's fault.” Because, what did Halifax do? According to this muddled mix of feedback, the city is hot, but not threatening; fun, but not that fun; unflirtatious, unemployed and incestuous. How could you not want to lock that down?