Questions about Ottawa

[OTSkyline]

The two cities aren't as integrated as they should be - transit wise.

Yes, rent is cheaper in Hull but sometimes the hassle of getting back and forth can eat away at those savings pretty quickly. Some routes only have frequency every half hour and it drops off even worst evenings/weekends.

I would suggest going further away (geographically) but staying close to the confederation line. If you do, you can find some decent options and have easier (and faster) access to campus even though you're technically farther. Places around Hurdman, Cyrville or Blair come to mind. I lived in apartments off Riverside Drive (Lycee Claudel) when I went to school and I had an easy 10min commute to class.

[Tesladom]

I would recommend either walking distance to UOttawa (Sandy Hill area) or along Confederation Line LRT, the cost/benefit of Gatineau is just not there IMO

[OTownandDown]

Try to use the travel planners, or Google Maps to see what the commute time might be on public transit from the address of your cheap place.

Keep in mind that connections rarely work as planned, especially bus-to-bus. If she's going to take a single bus to connect to the Confederation line, getting to school will be relatively straightforward, because of the frequency of trains.

[passwordisnt123]

As a person who lived on the Quebec side for 6 years, I second the people who say that the transit connections between the two cities aren't what they ought to be.

That said, I think if I had it to do over again or if my child were a student, particularly a student at Ottawa U, I would very seriously consider living on the Quebec side. The savings, particularly at lower income levels are substantial. Even if she does have to take a bus with the sub-par inter-city connections, I think she'd wind up ahead. Though obviously the longer the commute is, the less attractive that living arrangement becomes.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by OTSkyline

Yes, rent is cheaper in Hull but sometimes the hassle of getting back and forth can eat away at those savings pretty quickly. .

In terms of "costs", how does spending more time on the bus cost you move if you have a monthly pass? You spend exactly the same whether you use it for 30 minutes a day or 2 hours a day.

Plus STO (Gatineau) passes are cheaper than OC Transpo (Ottawa) passes. And STO monthly passes are valid on the entire OC Transpo system in Ottawa.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by OTSkyline

Some routes only have frequency every half hour and it drops off even worst evenings/weekends.
.

The main Rapibus route 400 runs at a minimum 15 minute frequency until about 1:30 am even on Saturday and Sunday nights.

Other major boulevards like St-Joseph, Gréber-Fournier or Alexandre-Taché generally have 15-minute service either due to a single or multiple routes. This is also true of most anywhere in the Vieux-Hull.

If you're within walking distance of any of the above, you won't ever need to transfer in order to get to downtown Ottawa (Confederation Line or Rideau Centre).

[RegionalRoad31]

Originally Posted by Tesladom

I would recommend either walking distance to UOttawa (Sandy Hill area) or along Confederation Line LRT, the cost/benefit of Gatineau is just not there IMO

+1 to this.

Maybe it’s a different conversation if we’re talking young professional working in Ottawa who wants to live alone. But for a student attending to Ottawa U, I would imagine costs would be relatively similar living with 1 roommate in Gatineau v living with 3 in Sandy Hill.

Further to that - and everyone will value this differently - being able to walk home after (or even between) between classes is a huge benefit, particularly as a tired student on an inconsistent schedule. On top of that, there’s the added social benefit of being able to go for a late coffee, grab a late beer, stay at a party just a little longer, Uber home with friends instead of alone etc. I’m baking some assumptions in here, but in my time in University I don’t recall knowing many people who lived in Gatineau.

In strictly quantifiable monetary terms Gatineau might be cheaper (and with the roommate situation, only maybe). But the drawbacks of commuting - social and otherwise - wouldn’t be worth it in my mind. Of course, only you know your situation best.

[lrt's friend]

If someone is transit dependent, I would not select a location that requires more than one transfer to reach the university. Also, most university students have night classes, so make sure that evening service has decent frequency. Check those last trip times too. Some routes end early and if socializing is important, then restrict yourself to locations that offer transit service after midnight. Not many routes run after midnight. Or consider living within walking distance of campus.

[OTSkyline]

Originally Posted by Acajack

In terms of "costs", how does spending more time on the bus cost you move if you have a monthly pass? You spend exactly the same whether you use it for 30 minutes a day or 2 hours a day.

Plus STO (Gatineau) passes are cheaper than OC Transpo (Ottawa) passes. And STO monthly passes are valid on the entire OC Transpo system in Ottawa.

I was referring more of costs in terms of time. People sometimes forget that time is valuable. For office workers, you might only need to commute once in the morning and once in evening to get to/from work, but for students, sometimes you have 1h30 or 3h classes spread out between the day. The farther you live (or harder it is to get home), you set stuck either having to spend hours on campus (because going home is a hassle) or get very creative with your planning.

[Dengler Avenue]

In GTA, many go to school in York U (Keele Campus) and live in Brampton, which isn’t exactly close. If they can manage, Djeffrey’s daughter should be fine.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by OTSkyline

I was referring more of costs in terms of time. People sometimes forget that time is valuable. For office workers, you might only need to commute once in the morning and once in evening to get to/from work, but for students, sometimes you have 1h30 or 3h classes spread out between the day. The farther you live (or harder it is to get home), you set stuck either having to spend hours on campus (because going home is a hassle) or get very creative with your planning.

I don't necessarily think that living in Gatineau for a uOttawa student is the best choice. Just pointing out that getting to and from the campus from mainline streets in Gatineau isn't that bad on transit.

[Djeffery]

Thank you everyone for your advice on this. It's really invaluable. We have at least a year before we have to give it serious thought, but with my unfamiliarity with the city (and the fact I'm off this week so have a little extra time to be thinking about stuff like this lol), I wanted to do some research. My wife and kids are going up there on March break to tour the university and see some sites. My daughter has gone up there several times for various events that she signed up for, like Forum for Young Canadians, Commonwealth youth forum, and the like. She was even "Minister for the Day" on International Day Of The Girl 2 years ago where she worked with a Cabinet Minister for a day. She totally loves it there. I tried to get her to go to Western instead and she was like "Hell no, I'm out of this place" lol.

[danishh]

Originally Posted by Djeffery

Thank you everyone for your advice on this. It's really invaluable. We have at least a year before we have to give it serious thought, but with my unfamiliarity with the city (and the fact I'm off this week so have a little extra time to be thinking about stuff like this lol), I wanted to do some research. My wife and kids are going up there on March break to tour the university and see some sites. My daughter has gone up there several times for various events that she signed up for, like Forum for Young Canadians, Commonwealth youth forum, and the like. She was even "Minister for the Day" on International Day Of The Girl 2 years ago where she worked with a Cabinet Minister for a day. She totally loves it there. I tried to get her to go to Western instead and she was like "Hell no, I'm out of this place" lol.

minister for a day, commonwealth youth, sounds like your daughter is an ottawa person. If she stays interested in government or governance there's really no better place for young students to get their hands dirty.

I'd look along the confederation line LRT, which has stations at both main campus and lees (health sciences mostly, but there are other classes there)

All the stations close to the core on the west side are going to be way more expensive, so i'd look east, around St. Laurent, Tremblay, Cyrville, and Blair. Will have to be careful about the actual building as there are more low income areas around that side. If she's good with a transfer, anything south of Hurdman station along the transitway is good - there's a bunch of apartments by the Smyth/Lycee Claudel transitway stops with frequent service to Hurdman, and in the summer she could probably bike to campus if she wanted.

One last place i'd suggest is the "Golden Triangle" across the canal from uOttawa, as there is a pedestrian footbridge there. Probably more expensive but close to a lot of food/recreation on Elgin.

[Djeffery]

Originally Posted by danishh

minister for a day, commonwealth youth, sounds like your daughter is an ottawa person. If she stays interested in government or governance there's really no better place for young students to get their hands dirty.

I'd look along the confederation line LRT, which has stations at both main campus and lees (health sciences mostly, but there are other classes there)

All the stations close to the core on the west side are going to be way more expensive, so i'd look east, around St. Laurent, Tremblay, Cyrville, and Blair. Will have to be careful about the actual building as there are more low income areas around that side. If she's good with a transfer, anything south of Hurdman station along the transitway is good - there's a bunch of apartments by the Smyth/Lycee Claudel transitway stops with frequent service to Hurdman, and in the summer she could probably bike to campus if she wanted.

One last place i'd suggest is the "Golden Triangle" across the canal from uOttawa, as there is a pedestrian footbridge there. Probably more expensive but close to a lot of food/recreation on Elgin.

Yep, she loves it there. She's also on the youth council that our local MP has, was student council president at school last year, she went to the UN Youth Assembly in New York, and did youth model parliament in Toronto 2 years ago. She was accepted to go to a youth summit in Malaysia next week but we kiboshed that with all the concerns about travel to Asia right now lol. She's taking poli sci and communications at Ottawa. Really excited.

[danishh]

Originally Posted by Djeffery

Yep, she loves it there. She's also on the youth council that our local MP has, was student council president at school last year, she went to the UN Youth Assembly in New York, and did youth model parliament in Toronto 2 years ago. She was accepted to go to a youth summit in Malaysia next week but we kiboshed that with all the concerns about travel to Asia right now lol. She's taking poli sci and communications at Ottawa. Really excited.

Just make sure she gets a real job before she tries to become our Prime Minister. We've had enough guys with a couple months experience as an insurance broker.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by Acajack

In terms of "costs", how does spending more time on the bus cost you move if you have a monthly pass? You spend exactly the same whether you use it for 30 minutes a day or 2 hours a day.

Plus STO (Gatineau) passes are cheaper than OC Transpo (Ottawa) passes. And STO monthly passes are valid on the entire OC Transpo system in Ottawa.

But as a University student she would get a uPass. I don't know if the uPass only applies to students residing in Ottawa or all University students.

[Catenary]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

But as a University student she would get a uPass. I don't know if the uPass only applies to students residing in Ottawa or all University students.

The uPass was expanded a few years back to include residents of both the STO and OC Transpo service areas.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by Catenary

The uPass was expanded a few years back to include residents of both the STO and OC Transpo service areas.

Thanks for the confirmation. So the price of a transit pass doesn't need factor in to the decision of Ottawa vs Gatineau in this case.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

Thanks for the confirmation. So the price of a transit pass doesn't need factor in to the decision of Ottawa vs Gatineau in this case.

Thanks for the clarification everyone.

I also did some checking and if you're a UOttawa student living in Gatineau you still get an OC Transpo UPAss, but it's valid on all STO routes at all times.

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by OTSkyline

Yes, rent is cheaper in Hull but sometimes the hassle of getting back and forth can eat away at those savings pretty quickly. Some routes only have frequency every half hour and it drops off even worst evenings/weekends.

Stick close to the Rapibus system and you'll be OK. After STO worked out the kinks in that system, it became pretty comparable to the former (and existing rump) OC Transpo transitways.