Sooo I want to move to Ottawa

Jean

I'm getting sick of Québec and want to GTFO of that stupid province. I want to move to Ottawa. The price of appartments is pretty crazy tough .. what's an affordable neighbourhood not too far from Ottawa's downtown? Any sectors to avoid, either due to ghetto-ness or over-priceness?

I'm not searching for anything big... just 1 bedroom

Thanks in advance for your help.

shutz

I can't help you with your question, but I am curious: what's your beef with Québec? Also, which city do you currently live in right now?

What I've heard from people who've lived in Ottawa (and then elsewhere, such as Montréal or Toronto) is that it's a pretty boring place. Basically, it's a place for government officials and office workers to work and sleep, and not that much else. I know that's kind of oversimplifying it, and there are some interesting things to do there, I'm just relaying the impressions of people who've lived there.

Jean

My beef with Québec? I have many...

We loose way too much time debating if we should separate or not
Too much obsession over french
Our roads suck / stupid drivers
Our healthcare suck
Our taxes are too high
Way too many whiners protesting the slightest economic project

Ontario dont waste time on that separation garbage and is run much better. The only thing I like more here compared to Ontario is the more permissive alcohol laws. And the Montréal Canadiens.

Anyway I'm derailling my own thread so I'll stop here :P

vonPoonBurGer

shutz wrote: »

Basically, it's a place for government officials and office workers to work and sleep, and not that much else.

I don't live in Ottawa, but I have friends that do. From everything they've told me, if you're young, Ottawa really isn't the city for you. If you're looking to stay relatively close to Quebec, I'd recommend looking at Toronto, or cities in that area really.

Dread Pirate Arbuthnot

On top of that - Ottawa was originally four smaller cities that merged into one, which mean that there are huge gaps between neighborhoods. If you don't have a car you're right fucked in terms of job hunting, etc.

physi_marc

I have to disagree with the previous assertions that Ottawa is boring. Admittedly, I never did the whole bar scene, but the Ottawa area is wonderful and there are tons of things to do and see. You've got a plethora of museums (National Art Gallery, War, Aviation, Science & Technology, Civilization museums). You have the National Art Centre with lots of good plays, concerts, shows. There's the Rideau Canal that turns into a giant skating rink in the winter. You've got all those festivals and events (Jazz, Bluesfest, Winterlude, hot air balloon). There's also the Gatineau Park very close by, with sooooo many biking and hiking trails. In the Fall, it's pretty awesome. You've got the Ottawa River for boating/canoeing/kayaking.

Unfortunately, I don't live in Ottawa, so I don't know about cheap but nice places to live in.

Though you may want to look in the area around Carleton University. There are lots of students there, so you may find something comfortable and affordable.

MisterAlex

I've lived in Ottawa for most of my life, and while it's not Montreal or Toronto in terms of nightlife, it does indeed have a ton of festivals, and many, many sights worth seeing. And I strongly, *strongly* disagree with any transportation woes if you don't have a car - OC Transpo is one of the best transit systems in North America. www.octranspo.com has a travel planner option that'll tell you the most optimal routes for wherever you want to go - it's very, very rare that you'll have to transfer more than twice to get anywhere in the city (in fact, I don't think i've ever had to) - and besides, the bus transfers are valid for over an hour and a half.

The only place i'd really avoid living in would be Vanier (which has gotten much better as of late, i'll admit, but still has a fairly high crime rate as opposed to the rest of the city).

I know you're looking to move out of Quebec, but the place that best fits the criteria of a decent, cheap place close to downtown Ottawa would be Gatineau. You can take the STO buses into downtown Ottawa, and transfers are valid with OC Transpo. Alternatively, the Elmvale Acres area has fairly decent apartments, and is about 20 minutes away by Bus from downtown Ottawa.

Here's the website of two companies who have buildings in the Elmvale area (I'd recommend Osgoode over Glenview, though - i've known some shady characters living in the Glenview complex)
http://osgoodeproperties.com/ottawa/pleasantpark_e.php
http://www.glenview.ca/listings.php?list=rr&id_rr=20

Evil Multifarious

I live in Ottawa, have lived here for about twelve years, and it's not that bad. It's not as good as Montreal, but it's a good city if you're living in the right place. The real problem with the city is the aforementioned separation between the various sections, leading to looong transit times. OCTranspo is pretty good considering the multimillion dollar fuckup that happened a few years back, but it still takes two hours and two buses to get from my parents' new place in Bells Corners to my place near downtown.

Good places to live that you might be able to find relatively cheap spots:

-Hintonburg, which is between Little Italy and Chinatown; it's near Mechanicsville, which is sketchtown, but it's actually fairly nice. This is where I live, and I'm paying 938 for a two bedroom with heat included. Heat included is really really really good when you have to live through an Ottawa winter and intend to keep your fingers and toes.

-Edges of the Glebe or Westboro. These are the expensive places with lots of great stores and social spots, but on the outskirts you can still get cheaper apartments.

-Sandy Hill is the simultaneous expensive part of downtown and the student ghetto part of downtown. You can usually find decent housing there for not too much if you time it for the end of student leases but before the student rush.

-There are a few places in downtown core, like in the market or around the University of Ottawa, that are cheap holes in the wall.

-Vanier isn't actually that bad if you're on the edge. It's definitely cheaper.

Finally, it really doesn't matter where you go as long as you are on the transitway. I can't stress it enough: if you're not within walking distance of downtown, live on the transitway, or really close to it. If you're able to hit the transitway in a ten minute walk or so, you can usually take one of five or six different buses that come ever five minutes to get downtown with no trouble. When I lived with my parents in the boring asscrack of south Ottawa, I could get downtown in fifteen or twenty minutes, and that was with only two buses that went that far on the transitway.

Last summer, when I was looking for apartments, prices for 2 bedrooms were all around $1000, usually in the range of 800 to 1200 dollars a month. Bachelors/1-bedrooms were usually 500 to 800.

Jean

Thanks for the recomendations, Alex and Evil

I dont care tbh if Ottawa have a boring night life or not, I just want to live a quiet life now. Anyway I wont exactly have money to waste on expensive booze once i'll live on my own.

I know you're looking to move out of Quebec, but the place that best fits the criteria of a decent, cheap place close to downtown Ottawa would be Gatineau.

Ironically, Gatineau is where I live right now I have a job here I want to keep, hence why I dont want to live too far away from the provincial border, but besides that i'm done with Québec.

roywhitby

"The Glebe" area around Carleton is a good place to live as has been recommended here. I used to live in an apartment building by the Bayshore shopping centre which was a great location since I worked in Kanata but I was still reasonably close to downtown. I think downtown would be a 20-30 minute ride or so. It shouldn't be too bad especially with Bayshore as part of the express bus route. There are a bunch of apartment buildings on Carling and Richmond in that area and my wife and I liked it fine. Hope you find a nice place. We loved living there but we decided to move home with family.