Olde Town Hills master plan: A new mixed-use community for rural Nova Scotia

The Olde Town Hills master plan combines historical character with contemporary best practices in sustainable, walkable urban design.

Digital rendering of a bustling street scene with modern townhouses, people walking, and dense greenery.

While most of rural Nova Scotia is losing population, the town of Bridgewater is growing, in part because it still offers a cohesive, human-scale town core.

Olde Town Hills is a planned new mixed-use community on the site of a former golf course in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia. Bridgewater is a historic community that was originally built around the needs of people who travelled by river and by foot. As the car gained dominance over Canadian cities, homes in places like Bridgewater have become harder and harder to find. That’s why the Olde Town Hills project is so valuable: It will provide more homes and amenities for a growing population. It will be a complete neighbourhood, where residents can get together with friends, host events, shop, run errands, and play. And it will provide a social heart that inspires pride and attachment, a place where people want to stay, be young, and grow old.

The Olde Town Hills site was once a golf course. Today, we envision new homes and a vibrant town centre for Bridgewater on the vacant site.

Happy Cities was brought on board to review the existing site plan, and create a new master plan for the project — one that will better support affordability, health, economic sustainability, and social connection. As part of this process, we are leading community engagement, master planning, strategic visioning, and design approvals.

With Olde Town Hills, we seek to anchor a community around a traditional Nova Scotian town centre. We believe that Olde Town Hills can demonstrate that it is still possible to build vibrant and iconic communities that maintain their historical character, while incorporating contemporary best practices in sustainable, walkable urban design. Local residents have expressed enthusiasm for this approach, and feel that creating a new, beautiful neighbourhood for all ages can bring renewed energy and economic activity to the town.

Urban design can transform human wellbeing for the better. In Olde Town Hills, we aim to design a resilient, thriving and happy community that helps people stay social and connected.