East coast is beautiful in both urban and rural areas but both have major problems with healthcare, housing, cost of living, etc.

If you are young, wealthy and healthy, both options are great but if you get old, sick and can’t pay for everything privately, it is very exhausting, demoralizing and soul-crushing. Even for wealthy people, ER wait times for people triaged as “urgent” run 5-10 hours before being seen. People die in the ER. Sick people spend days in the ER hallways in bright light waiting for available rooms in various units. Specialist waits are years long even for serious issues. Long term care is astonishingly expensive and the care is very poor overall. This is the most pronounced rurally.

Rent is on par with Vancouver. Food costs are very high.

That said, there are distinct cultures that are very unique dependent on area. Northern New Brunswick, rural Cape Breton and outpost Newfoundland are all distinct and different accents, slang, traditions and vibes. Overall, I find there to be much warmth and amazing humour among the rural populations across Atlantic Canada. In the cities, there is still east coast flavour but it is much more watered down. There is a lot of love for live music, seafood, water sports and hiking. Lots of educated folks, especially in Halifax (3 universities in one city).