One of Halifax’s most famous roads has become the dividing line between rich and poor.
Quinpool Road, the 2.5 km long stretch of pavement at the heart of the Halifax peninsula, has long been considered the traditional barrier between the working class North End and the more affluent South End.
But according to an analysis of data from Canada’s 2011 National Household Survey (NHS), the most recent data available, Quinpool Road now serves as the intersection between two economic groups.
By analyzing Halifax’s census tracts, geographic areas established by Statistics Canada, data shows the stark difference on either side of Quinpool Road. In the North, the average median household income is $53,372. In the South, the average median household income is $79,727.
Jennifer Watts, Councillor for Halifax Peninsula North, whose district takes up much of the northern peninsula, said she’s more interested in what might have changed in the last five years.
She points to the number of smaller businesses growing throughout her district as a reason for change.
Watts says while businesses may be creating job opportunities, and possibly raising the median income, she is afraid it may not be benefiting everyone.
“There can be new businesses and new jobs but they’re not necessarily employing or coming out of the historic groups living in the communities,” she says.
In the last five years she has noticed a trend where it has become harder for people to actually live on the Halifax peninsula.
Watts is afraid people who were represented in the 2011 survey have now been priced out of the area.
“There might in fact be a higher income [in the peninsula] now,” she says. “But if that’s true then we’re losing the diversity of people which represent various income levels.”
The NHS was a voluntary survey which means that some areas on the peninsula did not have enough data to be properly assessed by Statistics Canada. As a result, two tracts in the South End have a $0 value and have been removed from the analysis.
For now, the 2011 NHS indicates that there is a very clear divide.
Once mapped out, the data shows only one of the tracts in the North End has a median household income of more than $75,000. In the South End only two tracts are below that figure.
But for some, the unique nature of Quinpool has come to represent an opportunity.
“Any great city always has a main street that has an edge to it,” Laura Draeger, owner of Dilly Dally Coffee Cafe, says about Quinpool.
In the seven weeks her shop has been open, business has exceeded what she planned for. She says her stores position on Quinpool is the reason why.
“We have everybody come through here,” Draeger says. “Soccer moms park here to quickly grab a coffee, students come through for a bite to eat and people come by pushing a cart with 4,000 bottles in it. But that’s the neighborhood.”
While the 2016 Census may change the divide found in the 2011 NHS, Watts is pessimistic.
“Maybe with the new census data coming out… it may look positive,” she said. “But is it really helping the people who have been marginalized in the community or is it just indicating new people have moved in?”
According to Statistics Canada, data from the 2016 Census is scheduled to be released throughout 2017