Good Areas to Live in?

[TheRealLegallyBrunette]

I am in the process of looking for rentals. Where would be a good area to reside in? I definitely would prefer everything to be within walking distance

[Goblin King]

UO former undergrad here. Lots of students will live in Sandy Hill (on average a 5-10 minute walk to the university, but I wouldn't recommend this. While the rent is reasonable, the buildings and landlords are often of poor quality. I'd highly recommend the Golden Triangle neighbourhood. A bit of a farther walk, but much nicer. Also, if you can find anything in the city that's close to the O-Train, it'll take you less than 10 minutes to get to school. Note that the O-Train has had problems in the past with reliability. 

Best of luck with your search. 

[LegalQueen]

Especially this year with a max of one in person class per semester I would say good location over close location. I lived in Sandy Hill in 1L and 2L then moved elsewhere for 3L and while it wasn't awful, and the closeness to school was incredible for the really intense 1L schedule (as it was all in person pre-COVID) I definitely didn't feel totally safe leaving my apartment at night, there was always a lot of screaming outside for some reason, and while my landlord was great I know of a dozen other people who did not like their landlord at all. Golden Triangle is generally better, and there's a bridge that connects this area to campus so it's a short walk or if you live close to an LRT its a short ride for your single in person class.

Also would not recommend anything in Byward, I won't go there cause I am too scared to walk around. When it's really busy with people its a fun place to go and the food is great, but during the pandemic it is not a place I like to go especially alone. I would avoid Byward and Lowertown much more than Sandy Hill but Golden Triangle is best and Downtown and Centretown are good options too! 

[dimsum1]

Middle of Centretown to UOttawa is about a 20-30 min walk.  Centretown is hit and miss in some areas (particularly as you go south) but the streets north of Somerset are generally good.  

Golden Triangle is also a good area.

[g.t._]

Would recommend Golden Triangle, Byward Market, or Sandy Hill if you really want to be within walking distance. 

If you're willing to live a little further (you can bike!) and in much nicer neighbourhoods, would recommend New Edinburgh or the Glebe. 

[luckycharm]

Winter can be brutal in Ottawa.

I stayed at Sandy Hill. The 10 minutes walk was tough for me during some winter days.

[AtALaws]

I recommend the Golden Triangle, it's a pretty quick walk to school (about 20 minutes from my place to FTX) but you don't have to deal with loud neighbours or the general uncomfortableness of Byward. I do recommend living relatively close to downtown, I did my undergrad at Carleton and living out by it meant that I never really bothered to experience downtown Ottawa which is awesome!