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| Subject: To Olek from Montreal |
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First of all, sorry to be late in replying. I had not access to internet for a few days.
About living in Montreal, there are a few things that are useful to know:
1. Here, the leases are USUALLY (in this posting, you must always read usually) for 1 year, from the 1st of July. Of course, people can move anytime during the year. But this means that, at this time of the year, there are less people who need a new apartment, specially that the university students are already living somewhere.
So the landlord may have some difficulty to rent their apartment. This could be good for you.
2. As you already know, Mtl is an island. The first people settled in the South part of Mtl. That is why the houses and apt. in the South of Mtl are older and more decrepit that the North part (again, it is always "usually"). So the areas called South-East, Hochelaga-Maisonneuve are less interesting. But the West part, around and West of Dorval is very nice but may be a bit too far from Un. of M.
Some of the houses in the South part of Mtl have been renovated. Then they could be very interested. But most of them have not and they can be kind of slums. But of course they are cheaper and close to a metro station. The houses are about 75 to 100 years old.
3. You probably already know about www.mapquest.com. You can check on this site. Once in Mtl., buy a little book called Montreal et les environs (I don´t know the Eng. title). About 12$. 225 pages. You will know all you need about the territory and streets of Mtl. BTW if you have time, you can order it at Chapters bookstore. The editor is Rand McNally. You can have it in Engl.
4. About Le Plateau. BTW, the real name is Le Plateau Mont-Royal because this is close to the street Mont-Royal and close to the mountain whose name is Mont-Royal.
This is an old area. If the houses have been renovated, it is wonderful. If not..., see #2. The streets are a bit narrow and the building lot is very small. The houses are very close to the street. There is no space between the houses. The reason why SOME people like to live there is that it is close the downtown and you will find absolutely anything you need on Mont-Royal Street. The area is from St-Laurent St. to Papineau St. (W-East) and from Rachel to Rosemont (S-North). The rent could be very expensive for a lovely house or very low for a kind of slum.
5. Ahuntsic and New Rosemont are newer areas. Built about 30 to 40 years ago. The building lot is bigger so that there is place for flowers in front of the door and a nice garden at the back of the house. The house usually are not too close, there is space between them. The resident are more educated and richer. It is close to metro stations. Around 30 min. by metro to the university. You are also close to everything you need. The area is less populated. More trees everywhere. It is north of Metropolitan Highw. for Ahunt. New-Rosem.: East of Iberville to Langelier, North of Rosemont to Metropolitan High.
6. If you can afford it, and I think you can with your 40K, the best place for you, knowing you will be working at the UoM, would be to find a place around the un. A little more exp., but it would be money well spent. The area is very nice, very green and you can walk to the mountain. Full of students. Close to Cote-des-Neiges street where you can find many ethnics restaurants, bookstores, etc. We can feel the "brain" with all those people. South of Cote-des-Neiges is a very ethnic area but I think it is very "energetic" to see people coming from everywhere in the world.
What you could do is walk the street because usually the signs for renting are on the door. It is always poss. to meet a landlord that will find you very sympathetic and will lend you an apt. quite cheap... if you are lucky. But it is worth a try.
If you rent an apt., usual. they provide the fridge, stove and was. and dry. and it is heated. If you are in Ahunt. and N-Rosem., usual. there are no such appl. If you want to buy them, go to Brick or Brault et Martineau. Best stores where you can "ask" for a better price.
6. About food, you can eat with 50 to 100$ a week for 2 people. 50$ if you are very careful and do your cooking.
7. About winter, the children here play outside in the coldest days and enjoy themselves if they have the proper clothes. They are not cold. If you do the same, you will love our winter days. It could be very nice.
So that´s all I can think of. If you need some other inf., just ask.
Good luck again. (I hope it was not too long).
[18-09-2005,15:25]
[**.203.127.75]
Less worried husband |
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(in reply to: To Olek from Montreal)
what a wonderful and helpful post.
[18-09-2005,16:43]
[***.20.170.23]
sharon |
(in reply to: To Olek from Montreal)
Yes indeed what a wonderful and helpful post. I already love that place. Thank you,
Less worried husband!
[18-09-2005,23:12]
[**.75.240.52]
Olek |
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