The A. Murray MacKay Bridge opened in 1970, furthering growth and leading to the economic integration of what many were terming Nova Scotia's "twin cities".
Bedford was organized as an unincorporated rural community in 1921 and underwent rapid suburban growth during the post-war years.
Politicians were equally divided on the merger, as many saw the influence of their local constituencies being reduced in a larger municipality, which would be dominated by the former cities of Halifax and Dartmouth.
The awkward name of the municipality was quickly shortened by media, residents and politicians to the informal "HRM," which is commonly heard.
Some savings to be achieved by eliminating duplicate jobs were offset by the fact that staff from rural areas now demanded to paid at the same rate as their urban counterparts, forcing the cost for amalgamation to double from initial estimates.
Halifax was repeatedly referenced as a scenario to avoid when the Government of Ontario was looking at amalgamating municipalities in the Greater Toronto Area during the late 1990s.
Since amalgamation, there have been attempts to apply the term more broadly to all residents of HRM, but most citizens in Dartmouth, Bedford and other communities in the municipality tend to avoid its use.
In 2004, there was some discussion in the Eastern Shore area of applying to the province of Nova Scotia to form their own municipality because of the perceived lack of services to and representation from that part of HRM.