I need a place to live in Ottawa

Anybody out there living in Ottawa (It’s in ‘Canada’, folks), or just familiar with the city?
Come September, I’m going to be a second-year university student (at UO) but I need somewhere to live. I could pitch a tent, but it gets cold and rainy…

I don’t really know anyone in town, so I don’t have many options right now. I can’t get into the school’s residences because there’s little space. I do have relatives that I could move in with, but they live forty minutes (at best) away. The student services people haven’t helped much. So, I’m asking the Millions:

Does anybody here know where there’s affordable lodging for students? Does anyone want to rent me a room? I’m quiet, and I won’t track mud on the carpets. :slight_smile: If anyone has any information on how to get a place around Ottawa, please share. (Or you could e-mail me.)

Thanks,
wolfStu.
(The quiet, tidy, non-threatening guy who’ll even shovel your driveway… :slight_smile: )

Live?

in Ottawa?

I thought people were only interred there.

:wink: [d & r]

Actually, you know, I don’t think I’ve seen a cemetery since I’ve been here. But that would be a good place for a tent- it’s a quiet place, with level ground and some shelter form the wind…

My sister used to live in Ottawa. Great city, not too big, lots of scenic touristy stuff, bilingual, wouldn’t mind moving there myself…

<warning for southerners>

…but don’t even THINK of trying to live there in a tent during the winter. Ottawa has non-wimpy Real Canadian winters, away from the debilitating effects of the Great Lakes. Expect several months of -20ish, and lots of snow.

</warning for southerners>

Re: the OP. Unfortunately I don’t know anyone close to the university. My acquaintances live in Gloucester and Nepean.

Living in a tent for the winter is no big deal. Some of my students at Laurentian University (which is north west of Ottawa and has slightly harsher winters) did this due to lack of funds, and when I was a student at the University of Toronto I spent a winter in a shell of a building.

The problem with tenting in Ottawa is that there is nowhere on or near campus to do it.

Now if you ever transfer to LU, I can give you the GPS coordinates for some fine wintering sites. :slight_smile:

Well, I was joking about the tent. I don’t have one, and there were enough days of <-30C, even in this most recent, and relatively mild, winter to convince me otherwise.

:eek: I take it they were in the Human Kinetics program? (No other way to keep warm in wintry Sudbury.)

That’s neat. I don’t have a GPS unit, but I can get topographic maps.
Of course, IF I wanted to go to Laurentian, and IF they had my program, I’d probably just live with my parents. Or my grandparents. Or… (guess where wolfstu’s from. :)) But I’ll take the co-ordinates anyway- they might make good places to take a stroll.

wolfStu
(Who thinks it’s time he got familiar with the ‘Mission for Men’ down the street ;))

http://www.minto.com/ottawa/residentialrentals/default.html

This is the website for one of the largest rental corporations in the city.

Hrmm, I live in Ottawa. I don’t know how the student housing situation is, but the rental availability here in general is beyond scarce. What price range are you looking at / month? I can keep an eye out for you…

**

Close. They were in the Adventure Leadership (ADVL) program.

Just take the trail out back of the stadium and follow it about Lake Laurentian. First south east to 69 near the radio tower, then on high ground south west to the bypass (which has cut off part of the trail), then east toward a hydro line (don’t take the line, just head north along a long beaver dam), and then north and north east back to the campus. It’s about 10km or so – a 45 min run or a 1.5 hike, and quite lovely, but count on taking half a day or more your first time through, for depending on the time of year the trail can be hard to find in places. I’ve run (literally, for it was my running trail) into bears, moose, deer, porcupine, more beaver than I can count, and quite a few birds there. Roger Couture (an ADVL prof) can direct you when you are in town. I don’t know if they still have the marked maps, but the trail used to be used as part of the students’ intro orienteering classes, so perhaps Roger could set you up.

Cheers,
Richard Culpeper
(Once of Sudbury, but now in TBay)

Don’t know about U of O, but at Carleton University (across town) there’s a list of people that wish to rent out to students. I don’t know if you can go to Ottawa to take a look around at the listings available, though. I know that there’s not many places for rent but hopefully you can find something.

Stupendous Man, thanks for the link. They claim to have some places close to the university. I’m going to look into that.

I don’t have much rent money to work with- I’m expecting make enough this summer to cover $500/mth for the school year- and there’s a chance I can bump that up to $700. And thanks- don’t go out of your way, but if you do happen upon something, well, that’d be grand.

Lockz: Good idea. It’s a long walk to Carleton, but I’ll see what else UOttawa has available- this place is famous for keeping students’ services very hush-hush. And heck, maybe I will head out to Carleton.

Muffin: I’ll check that out sometime. Sounds like quite the trail.

Ideally, I’d love to find a cheap, single-resident place near the school. Or an elderly person who wants to rent a room or a basement to a student.

Thanks everyone.
wolfStu,
Who thinks the woodpecker’s got it easy…

Try tossing out some price ranges…
If you’ll use the OC, there are alotta places around Westboro to check out. Just hop on the 2 or the 85 (or maybe even the 16?) and you’ll get to Rideau Centre which is within walking distance.

There are 2 huge apartment buildings just off Island Park Drive near Latchford road (?) by the River. Don’t look too pricy and easy access to the transit way from there.

Well, thanks, all.

I’ve found a place after all- a few blocks from the university. I’m renting a room in an ancient house for $400 (Canadian, of course) per month. There was a really nice, and cheaper, place in Gatineau, but it’s a long way to go each day.

Thanks for your help.

wolfStu,
who no longer has to worry about where to store himself at night.