Finding Housing

[Guest BROKA]

Hi everyone!!

 

I've decided to study medicine at Ottawa. You have all been wonderful in helping me reach this decision.

 

Now I'm wondering where I should live. I may also be looking for a roommate who is also studying medicine at Ottawa, so if anybody's interested please pm me.

 

Finally, I've been dealing with a huge case of puppy fever lately and I've been thinking about buying a baby golden retriever. I realize that it may be harder to find housing/roommates with a dog and I also realize that the life of a med student is quite busy. Any suggestions?

 

Thanks!! Can't wait until September

[Guest satsumargirl]

Hey!

 

Congratulations on choosing Ottawa!! Great choice!

 

Where you live depends on whether you will have a car or not.

 

There are a bunch of apartments in the AltaVista/Riverside area which are pretty close to school. People who live there can walk to RGN. But in my opinion that is the only pro of living there as it is far from most other things and nothing much to look at. (and that is a stretch of a pro since I am not sure being close to school is really a pro ...I like to get away)

 

If you have a car you can pretty much live anywhere since Ottawa is pretty small.

 

There is a free shuttle that goes from Main campus to Lees Ave to RGN. Someone who takes the shuttle may be able to tell you if there are other stops, those are the only ones I know of (but I drive so I've never had to take it). So you could reasonably live near main campus (which is closer to stuff than RGN) or there are a bunch of apartments in the Lees area (when I was house/apt hunting I did look at some apts there, 2 buildings at least were clean but I didn`tlike the location right on the higway 417 - but it is convenient for transportation and I think there are several med students who live there.

 

If you can find a place on the canal it is really great. I chose to be on the canal for ease of study breaks...great for walks, bike rides, skating in the winter.

 

But where you live is so personal depending on your priorities. If you haven't been to Ottawa I would suggest coming in person to do your apt hunting to get a feel for the different areas etc...

 

 

Puppy fever!! I completely understand. But honestly if you are single and don`t have anyone to help you take care of your dog, I would probably advise holding off. Your life in clerkship will get irregular and then there is residency!! I completely love my 2 cats but a dog would just be so great...and I recently applied to the humane society to be a dog walker to help me deal with the dog thing. That is just my opinion. Dog owners on the board may be able to share their experiences. Of course, if you think you can afford a dog sitter/dog walker/doggie daycare while in school/residency then that is a different story!

 

Congrats and see you next year!

Sats

[Guest Talon01]

Howdy,

 

Great decision coming to Ottawa, you will not regret it.

 

The shuttle bus goes from main campus, south of King Edward (which turns into Lees avenue). It then turns left on Main St (which eventually turns into Smyth) and ends at the Med School - confusing I know, try looking at Google maps. The shuttle bus will stop basically anywhere along that route even though there's only the 5 'official' stops (Main Campus, Lees, St Pauls, RGN) you will just need to wave him down the first few days so he knows but he makes many 'unscheduled stops' along the way.

 

I live on Lees avenue. There's 3 very nice apartments and 1 somewhat sketchy looking building. There's many med students who live in the Lees apartments. The advantage I feel is that the only 2 city buses which stop at RGN both stop at Lees and the shuttle bus also stops here (1-2min walk from the building). It's a 30 minute walk from downtown. I live right on the Rideau River so it's close to the bike paths. It's a ~7 minute walk to the Hurdman bus stop (which is one of the main OC Transpo bus stations so if you need to go somewhere in the city it's likely a bus that goes to that place also stops there.

 

Although there are convience stores in each of the buildings which sell coffee, rent movies, etc I find it's not really within walking distance of any stores/shops (Timmies, blockbuster, groceries etc).

 

If you have any more questions, feel free to post them or PM me if you'd like.

 

Congratulations and welcome

[Guest Talon01]

You'll also be able to access this housing website once you receive your student info package.

 

www.uottawa.ca/students/housing/OCH/

[Guest OttawaMeds2008]

If anyone is thinking of moving to 1541, 1551, or 1591 Riverside Drive please send me a message. If that is where you decide to move, we can each get $250 off of our rent in your first month. Happy house hunting!

[Guest g22g]

There is a specific remax realator whose wife is a UofO Meds 2007. He has really supported the medical students both in terms of sponsorship and service (about 15 properties). He can point you in finding a house to rent (which is what I did my first year) or buy a house or townhouse (which is what I did my second year). Because he knows medical students he will likely be able to link you with other medical students who are selling or buying. And he has access to all the MLS listing of all Rentals and homes in the area.

 

His name is Denis Spooner and his e-address is spooner7111"At"rogers"Dot"com. Ez message me if you need further contact information.

 

Sincerely,

g22g

 

p.s. if you think this support for a particular person is inappropriate then ezmail me that too. Ian likes to keep this site non-comerical.