Moving to Montreal (1 Viewer)

[Chad Ferguson]

Coming up soon i'm moving to Montreal from Regina, Saskatchewan. I dont know where to begin here so I'll just ask away I guess. First off, I kinda want to live Downtown, apartment, where is a good place to search? Secondly I'll be looking for work, and my french will not be fleunent when I get there. How much of a problem is that? Basically, can anyone tell me what too look for and any suggestions?
Thanks you

 

[Scott McGillivray]

Chad!

Don't leave us! We need as many good
HTF addicts as we can get in Sask.!

Why, oh why, would you go to Quebec!?

 

[Francois Caron]

First step, find this weekend's Montreal Gazette in your town. It'll contain apartment rental listings. However, it won't necessarily tell you what are the best neighbourhoods to live in.

One good place to start if you want to simply move into town without killing yourself finding a place to live or speaking French would be Nun's Island. It's located next to the Champlain bridge (find a city map) and it has a highway that leads directly downtown. The rental buildings are all owned by a single company, and many of them are still in very good condition despite being forty years old. Their Web site is http://www.structuresmetropolitaines...ult.asp?msi=EN .

How do I know Nun's Island is a decent place to live? My mother lives there!

If you want to live right downtown, there are possibilities. However, downtown is a mixture of private housing, student housing and a few slums, sometimes one next to each other. So it's difficult to know if a particular rental is decent without knowing the exact location first.

Just outside downtown, your best bet would be to find a place that's near a métro station (that's French for subway). The Plateau district is extremely convenient for this. And I should know. I live there. It's more French speaking than English speaking however. And the rentals can cost you a lot especially if you need a lot of room.

Towards the west, you do have predominantly English language neighbourhoods such as Westmount, N.D.G, Hampstead and so on. Westmount is especially nice with its old buildings. N.D.G. is more mainstream but has severe road maintenance problems in both summer and winter. Plus, Karla Homolka plans to move there after she's released from jail which frightens the current inhabitants like you wouldn't believe.

That's all I can think of for now. If you have any questions, do post them. I'm not the only "local" who posts here.

However, I am curious about one thing. Why the move to Montreal to find a job especially if you don't know how to speak French? If you plan to find a job that involves contact with the public, you have a big problem on your hands. In this town, unilinguism -- no matter your spoken language -- can be a HUGE obstacle.

 

[brentl]

"my french will not be fleunent"

What about written english??

I kid, I'm a kidder

Brent

 

[Chad Ferguson]

My girlfriend brought up moving there and personaly I thought it was an amazing idea. I've tried a little bit to find a job there. I work in Film in Saskatchewan and I've tried emailing their film union but nothing in return yet. I'm slowly relearning my french here, but this may sound bad. I think someone would just learn the language in a short time cause you have to. Kind of like sink of swim type deal. I'll keep searching, and I think in the end I'll probably just stay somewhere like a hotel until I find a place, but it would be nice to move into something nice right when I get there.
Thanks for the help so far!

 

[Chad Ferguson]

So I've been checking out these Nun's Island places and it sounds very nice. I take it the neighbourhood is good and all? Bascially what I'm looking for a a either 1 1/2 or 2 1/2 apartment/condo for myself, round the 600 or below price tag. Very close to the Metro so I could get to downtown quickly. Appliances included. Not sure if I'm asking too much, I'm soon realizing this is not an option for Downtown at that price tag. What else should I look for?
Thanks

 

[Francois Caron]

That MIGHT be a little difficult, but it's not impossible. You will need to look around a bit to find something decent at that price range. BTW, I believe Nun's Island starts at over $750 for a studio apartment, but that does include heat and electricity.

Here's an idea! Find out where Karla Homolka will live in Montreal and move near by! The rents will be dirt cheap the moment she arrives!

 

[Philip Hamm]

I hope you're not a baseball fan..........

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

Don't mean to burst your bubble Chad... but you will not find a condo anywhere on the island for $600 a month rent or under. Most really NICE higher-end one and a half apartments go for around 850-1.5k depending on location and the building, etc. I had a few suggestions for you but to be honest, condo living seems to be out of your range right now. You can still get a nice place on the Plateau for around $700 a month, but if you're coming with high expectations of living in a condo or upscale apartment for the price, you will be dissapointed my friend.

 

[Chad Ferguson]

Alright here's pretty much exactly what I'm looking for. A living room for my 51'' Widescreen TV and enough room to sit a decent amount of away from it. Kitchen, Dishwasher, Fridge, etc... A nice small bathroom, no tub is needed. And whatever for the bedroom, enough room for a small dresser or something. Just a basic 1 bedroom apartment, or in this case, they would call it a 2 1/2 room place? As for location, a decent area, nothing fancy, and perhaps a 5 minute bus ride away from the metro or downtown?
Where should I look for this? I guess I can afford to spend a little more money cause it seems with most places that bills are included in the rent. I will admit, a lot of those Nun's Island places looked great.
Thanks for the info so far

 

[Chad Ferguson]

Well the move has been great so far. My gf found a 3 bedroom for a grand just by the Villa Maria Metro. Beautiful city and surprising the language barrier hasn't been much of an issue. Now I was just curious, has anyone taken any language schooling here. The Y offers a program but its very expensive and I would like to go a little cheaper. Also, why is there no 7 11's out here?
Thank you