Moving to Ottawa

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by YOWetal

Getting to the Museum of Civilization from Ottawa on public transport can be inconvenient.

I'd say it's probably not so bad. I see OC Transpo (Ottawa) buses lined up near the museum all the time, and quite a bunch of them stop at Portage (in the pseudo-tunnel) which is just a few blocks away. Downtown Hull near the river is actually walking distance from Rideau Street in Ottawa as well, which is a major transit hub.

Originally Posted by YOWetal

Depending on your income you are looking at a few hundred dollars more in income tax if you live in Quebec, but the lower rents will make up for this.

If Flar is coming for a job that is worth moving cities for, then he is probably looking at a few thousand dollars difference in income tax by living in Quebec. But as YOWetal said, the rents would make up for most of this (on an annual basis), plus child care - if you are using it - at $7 a day also is a big plus in Quebec.

[Aylmer]

There really arn't any ''Dangerous'' residential areas in Ottawa. You can pretty much go walking anywhere where people live day and night without much worry.
Crime here is alot more underground than in some other cities.
(ex.: I have lived in Ottawa my whole life and have never seen a drug transaction, yet I've seen a douzen in Montréal)

[rodionx]

Originally Posted by AylmerOptimist

There really arn't any ''Dangerous'' residential areas in Ottawa. You can pretty much go walking anywhere where people live day and night without much worry.
Crime here is alot more underground than in some other cities.
(ex.: I have lived in Ottawa my whole life and have never seen a drug transaction, yet I've seen a douzen in Montréal)

Coming from the West Coast, I've always been amused by what Ottawans consider a bad neighbourhood. In Vancouver it means break-ins, street robberies, and junkies shooting up in your garden shed. In Ottawa it means poor lawn maintenance and the occasional shabby-looking guy with his hat out.

[p_xavier]

Originally Posted by AylmerOptimist

There really arn't any ''Dangerous'' residential areas in Ottawa. You can pretty much go walking anywhere where people live day and night without much worry.
Crime here is alot more underground than in some other cities.
(ex.: I have lived in Ottawa my whole life and have never seen a drug transaction, yet I've seen a douzen in Montréal)

I've been assaulted many times and you can see many drug users in the Byward Market and Vanier. These are probrably it for dangerous areas. It seems like the dealers are in bed at 8pm too!

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by d_jeffrey

I've been assaulted many times and you can see many drug users in the Byward Market and Vanier. These are probrably it for dangerous areas. It seems like the dealers are in bed at 8pm too!

Assaulted *many* times? In Ottawa? Geez, how many times exactly?

[YOWetal]

Originally Posted by Acajack

I'd say it's probably not so bad. I see OC Transpo (Ottawa) buses lined up near the museum all the time, and quite a bunch of them stop at Portage (in the pseudo-tunnel) which is just a few blocks away. Downtown Hull near the river is actually walking distance from Rideau Street in Ottawa as well, which is a major transit hub.



If Flar is coming for a job that is worth moving cities for, then he is probably looking at a few thousand dollars difference in income tax by living in Quebec. But as YOWetal said, the rents would make up for most of this (on an annual basis), plus child care - if you are using it - at $7 a day also is a big plus in Quebec.

Yes, it will be a few thousand per year (at $70K it is about 3k more tax in Quebec), I meant to say a couple of hundred dollars per month.
Thanks!

[p_xavier]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Assaulted *many* times? In Ottawa? Geez, how many times exactly?

3, two of them was one week after another...

[p_xavier]

Originally Posted by YOWetal

Yes, it will be a few thousand per year (at $70K it is about 3k more tax in Quebec), I meant to say a couple of hundred dollars per month.
Thanks!

As someone who's living in both. For me it's 3200$ for that salary. Hydro is much cheaper though, about half the costs, and groceries are unbelievably cheaper too. It costs me about 40% more when I'm in OTT for food. QC has reduces the income taxes two years ago, and it really shows. Overall my expenses are about the same in both.

[harls]

Originally Posted by d_jeffrey

It costs me about 40% more when I'm in OTT for food.

Wha...? are you buying groceries at 7/11?

I've done my grocery shopping at Loblaws in the Market (on Rideau) and in Gatineau, it's pretty much the same.

[Ottawade]

Grocery stores vary pretty significantly around town. For example one of my friends gets his groceries delivered by the Loeb in the Glebe and even after the $11 charge its still cheaper than Hartman's. Anyway, the savings on beer alone makes crossing the bridge to Hull to go grocery shopping worth it if you have a car.

My friends picked up a 1200sqft condo for a mere $200k in Hull not to long ago. Totally floored me as something that size is easily $300k+ in Centertown.

Also most of Ottawa is really safe. Although there are few grimy looking areas in West Centertown/China town, Vanier has a few characters and so does the market, its overall extremely safe here.

Very much worth living as central as possible however. The burbs are a real snoozer.

[p_xavier]

Originally Posted by harls

Wha...? are you buying groceries at 7/11?

I've done my grocery shopping at Loblaws in the Market (on Rideau) and in Gatineau, it's pretty much the same.

I buy at Loeb. When in MTL, I have it delivered by IGA.

[flar]

The burbs are a snoozer everywhere, but I could end up in some older suburbs. I'm definitely looking to stay inside the greenbelt.

I'm not too worried about crime, Ottawa's crime stats are similar to those of other Ontario cities. Drug deals go down in any large city. Plus I doubt there are really any areas as sketchy as you'd find in Hamilton (not that I'd live in those sketchy areas). Usually it only takes a couple junky houses for people to consider a neighbourhood sketchy.

Thanks for the continued input

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by flar

The burbs are a snoozer everywhere, but I could end up in some older suburbs. I'm definitely looking to stay inside the greenbelt.

I'm not too worried about crime, Ottawa's crime stats are similar to those of other Ontario cities. Drug deals go down in any large city. Plus I doubt there are really any areas as sketchy as you'd find in Hamilton (not that I'd live in those sketchy areas). Usually it only takes a couple junky houses for people to consider a neighbourhood sketchy.

Thanks for the continued input

Since others have focussed on centre and west side, I would suggest Flar that you check out Manor Park East and Cardinal Glen. Well inside the Greenbelt, both have easy access to downtown and Market and housing and schools are good.

[highdensitysprawl]

Originally Posted by Ottawade

Anyway, the savings on beer alone makes crossing the bridge to Hull to go grocery shopping worth it if you have a car.

I got a 12 pack of St Ambroise Blonde for $11.99 + tax + deposit (10 cents per bottle) at Rapide Dep or something like that in Alymer this afternoon (ah the joys of getting out of the office and having to go to Aylmer for work).

They had some swill (Coors Light) etc for $20.99/24 and other mainstream beers in the $24/24 range.

[flar]

^^now that'll be a real benefit of living up there

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by flar

^^now that'll be a real benefit of living up there

Yeah, that's one good thing about living in a border region is that you can often take advantage of the best aspects of both sides.

[rodionx]

Originally Posted by flar

The burbs are a snoozer everywhere, but I could end up in some older suburbs. I'm definitely looking to stay inside the greenbelt.

If you want to go suburban, you could try Alta Vista. I've never lived there, but they say it's nice. The number 8 bus will take you all the way to the Museum of Civilization - no shivering on Lebreton Flats waiting for a transfer.

[ikerrin]

Originally Posted by flar

I'm moving to Ottawa in the next few weeks. I'll be looking to rent something with three bedrooms.

Good areas?
Areas to avoid?
Is it realistic for a non French speaker to live in Gatineau?
What are rents like?
Anything else I should know?

Hi Flar, Its good to have another Hamiltonian in town. Welcome.

I think Centretown is a bit tricky for a three bedroom, but just West of Centretown might be doable. The area around Booth Street and Preston are nice and a bit like Aberdeen in Hamilton. A lot of thirty-something families are moving there.

It is realistic to live in Gatineau without French, but you will enjoy it more if you take a French class. Actually, there is a great neighbourhood in Gatineau near downtown where a lot of young families are updating some of the older houses and there are pubs within walking distance. Its just West of Blvd St. Joseph and just North of Blvd St. Raymond. Its a great little neighbourhood and a lot of young French couples are repopulating it.

If you can stretch your funds a little, Sandy Hill is great and it has one of the top elementary schools in the province (in French). Also, I have friends who swear by the area East of King Edward and North of Rideau. Its close to the market but more affordable.

I'm sorry that I don't know the rents for three bedrooms, but the Saturday Ottawa Citizen has great property listings.

[Aylmer]

Originally Posted by flar

^^now that'll be a real benefit of living up there

Watch it, though! Milk in Québec is significantly more expensive than in Ontario.

If you are looking to buy a house in a Ubarn-suburban place, Manoir-Des-Trembles (5km from Downtown, or a 10 minute walk according to Google). I grew up there and it's a very nice place. Quiet, but a good place to raise kids.
On the rue Marcel-Chaput, you can get a duplex for 100-150 thousand.
The community there is very nice: There's a community fair every beggining of June (or end of May) where firetrucks, petting zoos, climbing walls and other activities are hired for a day. During that time, there is also a great garage sale on the street (every person is selling something).

Nice place, but after 10years of age, I found it to be a little small, so we moved to Aylmer, which is also a beautiful place to live.

[eemy]

Originally Posted by rodionx

If you want to go suburban, you could try Alta Vista. I've never lived there, but they say it's nice. The number 8 bus will take you all the way to the Museum of Civilization - no shivering on Lebreton Flats waiting for a transfer.

I lived in the Elmvale Acres area, and thought it was quite a nice neighbourhood to grow up in. It doesn't have any of the nice commercial streets that an older more central neighbourhood would have; however, the Elmvale mall functioned well as a neighbourhood retail centre (banking, groceries, convenience store, library, video, etc.) and it had excellent bus service.