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Leareth

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Nov 11, 2004
1,569
6
Vancouver
So I am thinking of moving to Montreal next Fall to do a Post Doc at McGill.

I know the school , I know the person I would be working with but have no idea about the city itself.

Where to live, where not to live, what to do, cost of living etc

so can you share you experiences and thoughts about living there.

I am planning on visiting first to get feel of the city but would like more info

thanks
 

Surely

Guest
Oct 27, 2007
15,042
11
Los Angeles, CA
My wife is from Montreal..... she even went to McGill.

I'll see if I could hit her up for some info for you later tonight or tomorrow.

How about some more info about yourself? Age? Single? What types of restaurants do you like? Bars? Clubs? Lounges? Are you looking for an apartment? Condo? House? That would be helpful......

The one thing I can tell you from my visits: It is the coldest place I have ever been (in the winter, of course).
 

yn28

macrumors newbie
Nov 14, 2008
1
0
I'm an old french Canadian (60) from Montreal, depending on your age and the type of life you like, there is a lot of different things here. If you speak french or would like to learn and practice the language, living in the center east is the place (Plateau Mont Royal), but almost all the french speaking Montrealers speak english at some level.

St Denis street is the in place for cafés and all kind of bars.

The spanish community is more located in the St-Michel, Montreal North area.

Chinatowm (not as big as Vancouver's) is St-Laurent "The Main" from René Lévesque street to the south end of St-Laurent where you'll find the Port De Montréal, this area has been refurb and is very nice now.

If you're a hockey fan, you won't have long distance to travel.

If you like the night life and where mostly english people, you're at the right place near Mc Gill; west of St-Laurent towards Atwater.

You can get almost anywhere by métro in minutes, to cross the entire city won't take you much more than an hour.

There's free wireless internet at most of the public parks and cafés, they're talking of setting-up a total free access throughout the whole city.

J'espère t'avoir été util. à bientôt à Montréal.

Bye. Norm.

So I am thinking of moving to Montreal next Fall to do a Post Doc at McGill.

I know the school , I know the person I would be working with but have no idea about the city itself.

Where to live, where not to live, what to do, cost of living etc

so can you share you experiences and thoughts about living there.

I am planning on visiting first to get feel of the city but would like more info

thanks
 

Leareth

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Nov 11, 2004
1,569
6
Vancouver
My wife is from Montreal..... she even went to McGill.

I'll see if I could hit her up for some info for you later tonight or tomorrow.

How about some more info about yourself? Age? Single? What types of restaurants do you like? Bars? Clubs? Lounges? Are you looking for an apartment? Condo? House? That would be helpful......

The one thing I can tell you from my visits: It is the coldest place I have ever been (in the winter, of course).

Age : 25-64 :D
Single :(
not into nightlife stuff ,
chinese, good steakhouses, late open food and coffee places
looking for studio/1br apt
walk everywhere so central to everything, especially groceries
looking to be there for 2years
 

Iscariot

macrumors 68030
Aug 16, 2007
2,627
3
Toronteazy
I'm not a Montrealer, but Montreal is like my second home.

Montreal is cheaper to live in than the other major cities in Canada like Toronto and Vancouver. You can score a very decent studio for around $600-800 and a nice 1br for $700-900. Most of the buildings are low-rise. McGill is pretty much downtown, and the neighbourhood it's in is nice, and a street/neighbourhood nearby that's strongly recommended to me is Rue St-Viateur Ouest and the surrounding area.

The main "downtown" streets of Sainte-Catherine and René-Levesque are about three and five blocks South of McGill, respectively. I tend to spend more time around the area of Concordia University, which is more South, so I can't vouch for the area too strongly. Montreal is a beautiful city, probably my favourite one in North America; there's a strong chance I'll move there some day, and I'd be there already if not for family ties. It's a great place, and it has a fantastic subway system, which is really essential for students.
 

Surely

Guest
Oct 27, 2007
15,042
11
Los Angeles, CA
Iscariot gave some good advice. Living around the McGill campus is a good idea. The Metro system is extremely good, and you can get around quite well without a car.

Lots of good restaurants, but because of the age range you decided to provide :confused:, it's hard for me to determine if you're looking for good, trendy places, or the early-bird specials.

For me, Montreal is a great place to visit, and maybe to live for a short period of time (like in the spring/summer months), but is not a place I would ever want to live permanently. It's just too damn cold in the winter, and there's too much snow.

Oh, and smoking is still cool there.
 
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