The new Research in Motion ( RIM) facility in the Halifax area is located in Bedford, just outside of the former city of Halifax. I live a few miles from the new plant location and have been selling real estate in the immediate area of the new Rim plant for over 26 years. The purpose of this page is to provide you with some information you will need about the area so you can make an informed decision on your move here.
(News Stories Written About Rim's move to Bedford)

About the Rim plant location

The new Rim facility is located in Bedford on the Hammonds Plains Road. Below is a map showing the location. Bedford is part of a larger municipality called Halifax Regional Municipality or HRM. This municipality is often referred to as Halifax but actually includes the former communities of Halifax, Dartmouth, Bedford, Sackville, Hammonds Plains, Fall River Waverley, Clayton Park, Timberlea and many miles in either direction of these communities. So if you live in Bedford or any other community close to the plant you will actually be living in HRM. Technically there is just HRM. The communities have no legal status on their own.
The Rim facility is also located on the very edge of Hammonds Plains. It is only a few miles from Lower Sackville, Clayton Park, Fall River Waverley and Timberlea. Some of the areas such as Bedford, Sackville, Clayton Park and Timberlea are city areas with many amenities and municipal water and sewer. These areas have standard city size lots. The Hammonds Plains and Fall River Waverley areas have large country lots of on average one acre or more. These areas have no municipal sewer so they are on septic systems. With the exception of most of Kingswood Subdivision in Hammonds Plains,Capilano Estates and the newer phases of Fall River Village in Fall River, the properties in Fall River and Hammonds Plains have no municipal water. They are on wells. Depending on what kind of property you are looking for whether it be a smaller lot in the city or a larger country style lot, this will determine where you should consider living. For detailed descriptions of many of the areas scroll to the bottom of this page and click on any of the areas.

(click on map to see larger size)


Commute Times

How long will it take you to commute to the Rim Facility? The plant is very well located so commuting will be easy from most of the metro area. There are several areas that would be less than 10 miles from the plant. If you live in Bedford the commute will be a few minutes from anywhere in the community. If you live in Basinview or Bedford Village Subdivisions you could walk there in 10 to 15 minutes. If you live in Hammonds Plains the commute could be anywhere from a few minutes if you live in Kingswood for example to 10-15 minutes if you live a little farther away. The exit to Fall River is about 6 miles away so the commute would be 15-20 minutes. Lower Sackville and Clayton Park are about 5 miles away so the commute would be 10- 20 minutes. Halifax city would be 20-30 minutes depending on where you live and Dartmouth would 25- 40 minutes depending on where you live because you have to deal with the same traffic that is commuting to Halifax via the bridges. It may not be a good idea to live in Dartmouth unless you have some other good reason for living there. Even the city of Halifax would be a longer commute than many of the communities closer to the plant. Below is a break down of commute times. Keep in mind those times can vary depending on where you live in those communities. if you are close to an highway exit the commute time will be lower than if you live in a subdivision that is far from the exit.

Real Estate Prices and other information

Prices vary throughout HRM. Generally the closer you get to the downtown of Halifax city the less you get for your money. The South End of Halifax has some of the highest prices properties in HRM for example.The type of property available in the areas also varies. In Halifax there are many older heritage type properties but very few new or newer houses while in Bedford, Sackville, Hammonds Plains, Fall River and Timberlea there are lots of newer houses but few older properties. There are fewer larger executive style houses in Sackville and Timberlea but many available in Bedford and Clayton Park. Sackvile and Timberlea have more moderate sized and priced properties. Prices are slightly higher in Clayton Park than in Bedford and the lots tend to be smaller. Prices in Hammonds Plains are lower than in Fall River generally.
So in summary there is many differences between the various areas. For more details on house prices go to my house price page at HOUSE PRICES in HRM

Schools
There is excellent public and private schooling throughout HRM. There are two french schools in the area, one on the edge of Bedford towards Halifax and one in Dartmouth. For more information on francophone schools in the metro area see the Francophone schools page. French Immersion is available in all areas in all schools from grades 7 to 12 but Early Immersion from grades Primary to Grade 6 is only available in a limited number of schools throughout HRM. Early Immersion is available in Bedford at Fort Sackville and in all elementary schools in Hammonds Plains for example. There are several excellent private schools in HRM.. Bedford Academy is only about a mile from the new RIM plant in Bedford. This school offers grades primary to grade 9 education. For private schools in the metro area see the Private Schools page.
For specific details on the schools in the individual areas click the specific areas at the bottom of this page.

Recommendations

The areas that I would recommend for easy commute to work and good quality of life would be as follows. If you are looking for an urban area with city services and amenities I would recommend Bedford, Sackville and Clayton Park. If you want a large country lot and don't mind well and septic and I would recommend Hammonds Plains, Fall River/Waverley and the outskirts of Lower Sackville in Beaverbank and Middle and Upper Sackville.

House buying package

If you would like me to send you a house buying package please click below, fill in the request form and I will send you a package of homes. I thank you for viewing this information and hope that you will consider using me as your realtor should you choose to relocate here.