OT: Moving to Ottawa

[BonkTastic]

I still think Centertown offers the best value for your buck in the downtown area - 15/20 minute walk to Parliament, 5 minute walk to Little Italy/Preston, 20/25 minute walk to the market, 10 minute walk to Lebreton Station for the largest train/bus hub in the city... it's central, and inexpensive. You can still get 1-bedroom places for $700-900/mo in nice buildings/duplexes if you look hard enough.

Prices are down because there is still a lot of stigma about the area south of Gladstone (which is still not great, avoid the infamous Fairview Towers like the plague OP, that place is a great building to either buy drugs in or get stabbled over a drug deal), but everywhere north has been massively re-gentrified in the last 10 years, and prices still haven't gone up in kind with the rest of the downtown core.

 

[MiscBrah]

I still think Centertown offers the best value for your buck in the downtown area - 15/20 minute walk to Parliament, 5 minute walk to Little Italy/Preston, 20/25 minute walk to the market, 10 minute walk to Lebreton Station for the largest train/bus hub in the city... it's central, and inexpensive. You can still get 1-bedroom places for $700-900/mo in nice buildings/duplexes if you look hard enough.

Prices are down because there is still a lot of stigma about the area south of Gladstone (which is still not great, avoid the infamous Fairview Towers like the plague OP, that place is a great building to either buy drugs in or get stabbled over a drug deal), but everywhere north has been massively re-gentrified in the last 10 years, and prices still haven't gone up in kind with the rest of the downtown core.

This. *centertown for life crew*

Also: make sure you check the bed bug report website to see which places have infestations and which places are clear. Lots of that going around.

 

[PoutineSp00nZ]

I still think Centertown offers the best value for your buck in the downtown area - 15/20 minute walk to Parliament, 5 minute walk to Little Italy/Preston, 20/25 minute walk to the market, 10 minute walk to Lebreton Station for the largest train/bus hub in the city... it's central, and inexpensive. You can still get 1-bedroom places for $700-900/mo in nice buildings/duplexes if you look hard enough.

Prices are down because there is still a lot of stigma about the area south of Gladstone (which is still not great, avoid the infamous Fairview Towers like the plague OP, that place is a great building to either buy drugs in or get stabbled over a drug deal), but everywhere north has been massively re-gentrified in the last 10 years, and prices still haven't gone up in kind with the rest of the downtown core.

I'll vote for this option. If you want to live downtown in an afofrdable as possible place, centertown is your best bet. You can get some decent deals in retrofitted old houses as walkups, or low rise complexes. I lived near Mcloed and Bank for a few years and paid around 1k with everything included for a decent sized 2 bedroom.

Just gotta be careful with older buildings, ask your potential neighbours about the place that kinda thing, but you can find some very charming apartmens in that area for a good price.

I loved it, would still be living there if i wasnt going back to college in the fall and wanted to be closer to the school.

 

[pepty]

Here, take a look at these.

They are small, but fit just right into your budget, and are in an absolutely awesome location.

http://vertica.ca/en/ottawa-apartments/clarendon-lanes/suites/studio

My friend lived in one, very nice apartment - everything was stainless, granite countertops etc. Nice place.

These look great-short walk to the Hill and right in the market.

 

[FunkySeeFunkyDoo]

I'll vote for this option. If you want to live downtown in an afofrdable as possible place, centertown is your best bet. You can get some decent deals in retrofitted old houses as walkups, or low rise complexes. I lived near Mcloed and Bank for a few years and paid around 1k with everything included for a decent sized 2 bedroom.

Just gotta be careful with older buildings, ask your potential neighbours about the place that kinda thing, but you can find some very charming apartmens in that area for a good price.

I loved it, would still be living there if i wasnt going back to college in the fall and wanted to be closer to the school.

I lived in Centertown - around Lisgar and Bay - for about 5 years back in the late 90's. Bottom half of a duplex, for about $800 / month.

Best years of my life.

 

[El Diego]

I lived in both those Vertica buildings and Centretown. Would recommend both for what you're looking for. Centretown would be my recommendation, like a previous posted said check for the streets in between Elgin/Metcalfe/Bank etc. Cool location just off main streets so quiet but very short walking distance to stuff.

 

[KnuckChuckinTkachuk]

I live in an apartment off Loretta and Beech which is pretty much Little Italy. Rent is 1100ish WITH HYDRO etc included and is a 2 bedroom (been there for 5 years, rent cant inflate). Bus to downtown is about 10-15 mins max (parliament is closer). Lots of good food and entertainment and its out of the downtown core which is nice, but not too far to be inconvenient. Me and my roommate love the location, worth checking out if you can find something off Preston or that region.

 

[Sensored]

Hey guys,

*If this thread is in the wrong area feel free to move it*

I will be moving to Ottawa by the end of this month until the end of the year. Never been to Ottawa before. I am going to be working (Co-op) near Parliament Hill, I am currently looking for a place. I am a young student so I was thinking of finding a place in Sandy Hill, but as you can imagine its hard to find a place especially since most students are subletting for only summer. I was wondering if anyone had recommendations on other areas to live or even areas to stay away from. I would also love suggestions on places to visit and places where I can meet new people


Any help would be appreciated (ignore avatar and fav team )

There's a few here in your price range:

http://www.fpm.ca/sandy/

I lived in an apartment in sandy hill that was managed by them. They were the best landlords i ever had they always sent someone right away to fix things and were flexible with moving out.

 

[Valois]

For a young student place, I think you'll do fine with that price range and I wouldn't recommend going too far out from UOttawa if you're into walking or biking - the city is very compact downtown and you can probably find something where you won't have to drive (but if you're into driving specifically then don't worry about it). I've only lived where I do now (I pay under your price range but I'm closer to Little Italy) in the city, but when I was looking it seemed like there were a lot of solid older apartments that were not flashy but not dumpy either in that range. I'd be vigilant about checking out the area and the apartment though. There's some pockets of downtown that are a lot more cut off from everything than you'd expect if you just saw them on a map, and there's often a big range in my experience between qualities of dwellings within the same neighborhood.

 

[SlyDawg]

If you don't mind doing a commute on a bus, the west end beyond Bayshore near Kanata (Try looking around Nepean) has pretty solid housing. We live here and for a three bedroom house, 1k mortgage. (Condo fees are brutal though so we're considering a move out.)

I take an Express bus and it takes me about 40 minutes to get from here to downtown to where I go so it's not so bad. You get used to the trip.

 

[Stone Valley]

I highly recommend Vanier

GOAT neighbourhood

I recommend Ledbury and Banff...

 

[CTC]

My two cents, Google the address you are thinking of renting. Headlines for bedbugs, scams, etc. Also when checking out a neighborhood use Ottawa police services crime state page. Interactive map that shows you all the types of "reported" crime in the city.
As for the plateau, cheaper rent but in your price range you could rent a semidetached or brand new townhome. Sto has express buses from 6am-9am and 3pm-6pm that travel up bus lanes on allumetiere, makes for 15 minute trips with getting a better quality home/safer neighborhood, IMO.

 

[NyQuil]

Here, take a look at these.

They are small, but fit just right into your budget, and are in an absolutely awesome location.

http://vertica.ca/en/ottawa-apartments/clarendon-lanes/suites/studio

My friend lived in one, very nice apartment - everything was stainless, granite countertops etc. Nice place.

I lived in this building for 8 years - from 2004 to 2012.

The quality went downhill near the end but it's a great location because it's not directly on York or George (it's in between) so there's some sound insulation. (it's in a courtyard) You get the odd drunken argument between a couple in the courtyard at 2 AM.

There was a bit of a problem of street people sneaking into the building and doing "stuff" in the laundry rooms at times.

Also, the attached underground lot is also a public lot and my car was broken into 3 times. You certainly don't need a car because it's walking distance away from virtually everything. I had one for sports.

You take the good with the bad.

But I can't really imagine a better location as far as living in the Market goes. There were communal BBQs and a sitting area on the roof and it was always crowded for the fireworks on Canada Day.

 

[StittsvilleJames]

I recommend Ledbury and Banff...

There is a wonderful group of young entrepreneurs there who can take you under their wing and help you establish your own franchise in their organization.

 

[bert]

You can get an alright place downtown for 1200 that won't be a dump and isn't in a high rise. You just won't get a ton of room.

You can get a bachelor dt for 1200 that wont be bad at all.

If you get up to 1400 you can get a really nice 1 bedroom condo. I have one for rent right now actually.

Little italy is an option too, the o train can link you up with busses that go directly to Parliament.

There is also a 'walk score' app that lets you know about restaurants, transportation, entertainment etc.

 

[BonkTastic]

Just use Pad Mapper to find an apartment, seriously.

Takes all of the hard work out of it.