In The 'Hood

For those not living in Halifax (or if you live in Halifax, but under a rock), we are having a municipal election right now so naturally it's all anyone can talk about. It's quite heated this time around because (in a nutshell) our mayor and city council absolutely SUCK and need to be all thrown out. A "do-over" is in order, and that's what all we citizens are hoping for, including me.

With this "election fever" sweeping the city lately, I have been trying to learn a bit more about my new District. I say 'new' because I only moved here six months ago (I lived in another District at the time of the last election). Not to mention it's a neighbourhood I was not very familiar with previously and (honestly) it was not my first-choice area to live in when the boy and I first planned moving in together. That being said, the area is relatively central and rent is cheap, so here we are! And I am becoming more and more acquainted with the area over time and it's starting to grow on me.

*Did I mention that we live in District 12? When I found that out, I couldn't help but picture me in a ring fighting the guy across the hall to the death*

Anyway, in an effort to become more acquainted with my new neighbourhood, I have been trying to frequent businesses in the area as much as possible. One plus about our location is that we are very central in Clayton Park West - we are basically halfway between two major shopping strips so pretty much any shop or restaurant or clinic or bank we could possibly want is within a 10 minute walk. 

Here are a few of my District 12 favs (so far):

1. Keshen Goodman Library
Before I moved to Clayton Park, I am ashamed to say I had not visited the Library in several years and had developed a bit of an unhealthy addiction to Chapters. Well, considering this Library is literally across the street from my apartment building, and that I am on a tight budget (new books are expensive, y'all) I decided I needed to be a good citizen and start visiting the Library more. 

First of all, isn't the architecture of this place cool?!

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Almost all the walls are lined with windows, which makes for a bit of a hot interior on a sunny day, but still cool to look at. Walking around a library is so soothing, don't you think? It's so quiet and just full of people either reading or browsing books. I love that they have a self check-out here, and they often have neat speakers or events happening in their event room. I particularly love that I can borrow books from here for my Kobo (in case, you know, I'm so lazy that I can't even make it across the road).

2. Canada Games Centre
This building is also directly across the street from my apartment (did I say good location?), and is another new building of modern design. It was built to host the aquatic events of the 2012 Canada Games, so as you can imagine the pool area is pretty bangin'.

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Check out that water slide!

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Ok, so I have to admit - I have never actually visited this place before. However, I plan to take my sister swimming there soon! They have community swims every Tuesday and Thursday night that anyone can attend - it only costs $3! Personally, I can't wait to get my butt in the hot tub with a cocktail (they won't mind if I keep gin in my locker, right?). And I do just like looking at the place, if nothing else; it's nice to see some interesting architecture in a suburban area (breaks up the big box store haze).

3. Restaurants
If I had one major complaint about my new area it's that there are not ANY interesting local restaurants (think Applebee's and East Side Marios and their look alikes). The choices out here are pretty homogeneous, which is something that bugs me and I hope changes. Suburban areas can have fun, fresh food choices too! Here are a few that I like:

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Not to say that burgers and fries are anything special, but although Flipburger is a chain, it at least has a fun, modern vibe and meals that actually use fresh ingredients instead of bites made blah from heat lamps. They actually include local ingredients, such as Oulton's bacon on their menu too, which is also refreshing.

I have written about Happy Sushi on the blog before, but I will say it again - whoever thought up the concept of "All You Can Eat Sushi" AND putting it 2 minutes away from my apartment is a frickin' genius and I want to kiss them.

A big fav is Mexico Lindo, which isn't exactly in my own backyard but it's close enough. It's HANDS DOWN the most authentic Mexican food in the city, everything is really fresh and the prices are reasonable - what more could you ask for?! Don't believe me - check out my review on Yelp. This is a definite "go-to" when we want a fresh but delicious meal.

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Thanks for taking a tour of some of my "so-far" favourites in my new 'hood. Now get out there and explore yours!

Do you like your neighbourhood? What do you like about it? What would you change? Do you try and get out and explore yours or do you prefer to visit other areas?