Hello , moving to Ottawa from England Oct 2nd, looking for somewhere to live? any no go areas or great one's??..need to be down town ish central? Thanks

Hi, we moved to Ottawa 2 months ago and are really enjoying it here. We've been told over and over again that there aren't any 'no go' areas.....although we've seen a few places we'd probably choose not to live. We stayed at McKellar Park Suites ( www.mckellarpark.com ) when we first arrived because it was one of the only reasonably priced furnished places we could find that would let you rent by the month without signing a lease. They're basic, but well placed with the 85 bus running frequently from the front door and Carlingwood Mall just a short walk away. It's also a short bike ride down to the Ottawa River and the cycle path network. You could always consider renting by the week or month until you find somewhere more suitable. The Glebe is lovely and central and Westboro is nice with a good coffee shop and close to the OC Transit Way....depends what you're looking for.

Feel free to PM me if I can help any further.
Best wishes,
Jen

After being here almost 9 months, I haven't seen many areas I absolutely wouldn't want to live. I might've been lucky, though. The one area I definitely would steer clear of, is on the east side of downtown, between Montreal Road and Beechwood Av., stretching as far east as hmmmm... not quite sure how far east it stretches, really.
I live further east than that, and really enjoy it. Bus leaves for downtown every 6-7 minutes during rush hour, so if you're working downtown, it's no problem.

If you can be more specific about what you need/want - size, price and so on, it might be easier for us to guide you in the right direction.

Welcome to Ottawa!

Okay so i'll stay clear ha ha..thanks for the tip! Would like a 2 bed apartment with balcony max price around $1200 and hoping to get some views..just some where really nice and safe and easy to get around..been contacting agents but to be fair they havent been that helpful...you would think they didnt need my money ha ha ...but only have two weeks to get things sorted..staying in a hotel for a couple of weeks when I get there, while i look around so fingers crossed..

I'd have thought that was do-able It might be easier when you're here and can arrange to view apartments and sign paperwork. If you haven't already, try:

www.rentboard.ca
http://www.sublet.com/area_rentals/C...ea_Rentals.asp
www.minto.com
www.viewit.ca
www.247apartments.com
www.frastell.rentmaps.ca
http://www.ottawa.craigslist.org/apa...=printFriendly
http://www.osgoodeproperties.com/ott...akeview_e.html
http://www.paramountapts.com/ourprop...x?listingid=12
www.clvgroup.com
www.mls.ca

We just signed a lease with a private landlord. We had minto recommended to us, but maybe someone else could give you their opinions on them. You can also use mls.....we saw a really nice one with a view of the ottawa river there through an agent....it had gone, but he had another one with a view for 1275 a month.....I'm sure you'll find something. Keep in mind that it's normal for a lease to be for a year, so if you don't know the area very well you might want to consider looking at sublets. The bus system is very good and anywhere with access to the transitway will make getting around pretty easy. I spent two days just walking around the areas we wanted to live in and seeing what was available...we signed a lease on the 3rd day.

Good luck,
Jen

Wow thank you so much for you help..it's all very well reading books and searching on the net but to talk to people with knowledge about the place is priceless, thanks you very much..I'll keep you updated with the new adventure ha ha