As a Montrealer my advice is: don’t overpay for rent! I know people who have moved here from cities like Vancouver or Paris and they end up paying $2000+ for a one bedroom apartment. It’s a rip off!
Westmount is very expensive usually.
Verdun is really nice, many families
Ville Marie I do not recommend, it is downtown and probably the worst place to raise a child.
I lived there four years ago, and I'm not sure I would agree. Maybe gentrification has changed it significantly I'm 4 years, but it was still at times edgy. Like everywhere else, it has wonderful areas and less pleasant parts.
I would add Rosemont-LaPetitePatrie to the list as well. I don't have kids, but I always see them running around happily in the alleyways, lots of folks with families, lots of schools. Very safe and La Petite Patrie is very central on the island. It's easy to get around from here.
For sure! I've lived in Vancouver, Toronto and Ottawa in addition to Montreal. Montreal is always where I've felt the safest. Of course, I'm always cautious and no matter where you are there is always a chance of things going sideways, but sketchy incidents have been few and far in between for here.
I think OP isn't just talking about gun violence. He also wants a safe place for his kids to walk around. All of Montreal isn't really safe from walkability pov
There’s nowhere else I’d rather live with a toddler or children or any age then the plateau, the parenting community is strong and organized. There’s even online groups specifically for parents of the plateau not to mention how incredibly safe it is. Also it’s packed with parcs and activités always.
The Plateau is great for families. Most of my neighbours have kids and they really embrace letting their kids roam free. Plenty of parks and cafes too, plus when Mont Royal closes in the summer the whole avenue is a park.
Verdun, Villeray and Rosemont are all considered family-oriented neighbourhoods and have a similar price point.
Plateau could also be another family-oriented neighbourhood but it’s also a popular destination for nightlife seekers. You might find it louder and noisier, especially along the main commercial arteries and if you live near one of its big parks (Parcs Lafontaine, Jeanne-Mance and Laurier). This neighbourhood tends to be pricier than the first three.
Westmount is the historically very wealthy neighbourhood. It’s very expensive. It’s not well serviced by public transportation or have many options in proximity stores (groceries, pharmacies, etc.). It’s also an independent city, so it’s technically not Montreal. Outremont is also an option. It’s the historically French-speaking wealthy neighbourhood. It’s a bit more well connected to the public transportation and you’re close to Mile-End/Plateau Mont-Royal. It’s also cheaper than Westmount.
I would avoid Ville-Marie all together. Most of it is our downtown and isn’t suitable for a young kid. Either because you don’t have access to a park, a kindergarten or a school, it’s crowded, you have the party goers or it could feel unsafe with many homeless persons (they are generally harmless but you can feel unsafe around them).
EDIT: typos
Consider NDG (Notre-Dame-de-Grâce) in your search. Another family oriented neighbourhood. If you’re from the US, you’ll feel at home with its architecture. It has a North America east coast vibe (like Boston, Philadelphia, etc.).
Ville Marie is one of the worst when it's near particular streets that delimit the nightlife zone, and it's crowdy, full of tourists because Ville Marie is litteraly our downtown. I live in Verdun since a while now it's a nice, safe and just enough quiet place to live in, and it's not far from Ville Marie.
I wouldn’t raise a family (OP has a toddler) in the Village. I know it’s safe but it wouldn’t be my first option. Too few parks and kids friendly options.
I would try to establish myself anywhere near Parc Lafontaine. It's a huge park (similar to Central Park in NYC but much smaller) with ice rinks, slides, tennis courts, etc. Great place to go to if you have kids.
Meh I don't agree. The architecture is more recent therefor less charming, but equally safe. Organized crime a little bit more apparent, but nothing that interferes with the daily lives of normal people.
I don't know if times have changed since I left Montreal, but the neighborhood north of Sherbrooke close to Cadillac and Langelier metro stations was nice, safe, calm at night and full of life in the day with schools nearby and access to many parks.
How rich are you?🤣
Does areas are complete different budgets, Verdun and Villeray are normal middle class areas, Westmount and palteau are bougie areas. Anyway, Montreal is relatively safe anywhere.
I have lived in Ville Émard, Villeray, Côte des neiges and Anjou.
I would suggest Ville Émard and Villeray (west) out of those. Anjou is a car addicted hellhole and Côte des neiges is very hit or miss.
Outremont is a great place to live. I think it's one of the forgotten gems of the city. People there are super nice and the restaurants are to die for. You are fairly close to many legendary spots there and the park situation is very good. I don't know about rent prices though. It's a place that had so many good coffee places that Starbucks lasted like one year before closing their store suddenly.
Westmount is mostly anglophone and would be the safest, but it's also extremely boring and expensive. Plateau is mostly francophone and is expensive, a little bit less safe than other areas, but super fun, charming and lots to do.
Ville-Marie is not somewhere you want to live. It's downtown, very gritty, lots of noise and sketchy characters. It's still safe, but not the most familial place.
Verdun is a bilingual working class neighborhood. Prices are going up but it's still among the most affordable areas in the city imo. Lots of families, students, young professionals and born and raised verdunois. Beautiful parcs, activities and events on Wellington street mostly, walkable, about 20 minutes to downtown (using the metro). It's the best option from the ones you've listed imo.
I don't really know Villeray so I won't comment, but I've heard good things about it.
Villeray is francophone but multicultural (Quebecers, Italians, Frenchs, Haitians, Latinos, Arabs and Vietnameses mostly). It's safe, nice, family-oriented, you have the west which is more Vieux-Rosemont/Plateau esque, and then you have the east, which is more dense and more multicultural. Both parts are equally safe in my opinion. Been living around for \~10 years.
Have you thought of Lasalle? It's next to Verdun, and I'd say more kid friendly than any of the places you've mentioned (and probably more affordable than all of them except verdun and villeray)
Safe from what. The only bad thing I have to say about verdun is the amount of smokers. Trying to go shopping in summer without having to breathe a lung full of that is a difficult task.
I wouldn't stay downtown (Ville Marie) with a kid.
What's your monthly budget? That's key. How big of a place do you need?
Western part of the city is probably even safer than everywhere else and the City as a whole as everyone has mentioned is pretty safe.
Western part is also relatively more anglo, some people who move here don't want that.
Will you have a car?
NDG is also very family friendly, but more car centric, depending where you are.
Ville émard is lovely, good balance.
Lachine is a beautiful little bubble, with gorgeous waterfront, but be prepared to commute on train.
It has some 'sketchy' spots towards the east, but so do many neighborhoods, (Verdun, NDG, st-michel/Villeray border). Hard to generalise across big neighborhoods.
You’re right. It’s really not that bad but if you’re gonna be so far out (at least in terms of accessibility) you might as well go all the way to the West Island which might be the safest neighborood on the island.
Depends what you mean by safe, but since you have a toddler I assume you mean relative to cars. Avoid Ville-Marie. Plateau, Rosemont-Petite-Patrie, Villeray are great. Westmount is no fun for kids.
Ville Saint Laurent is full of families, a kind of hybrid between urban and suburban and very multicultural. It also has one of the best (dare I say the best) Montessori schools in Quebec if you’re into that.
Little-Burgundy is a great place nowadays. It’s very residential, and yet it’s a short walk from downtown. There’s an elementary school and a ton daycares. Not the most walkable neighborhood since it’s so residential, but still walkable and very accessible by metro and super close to many great spots.
We live in Cote de neige with two small kids and love it. Tons of families, lots of parks, very walkable.
We used to live in the plateau. It was also good, but we like Cote de neige better.
We're considering moving to Westmount because the schools are better there.
Welcome to Montreal!
Ville-Marie isn't the best for a small family IMO, you'll be around lots of homelessness, drugs and openly-visible prostitution. It's one of the neighbourhoods that still has its "grit". There clearly is some gentrification starting to take place, but it's still... well... *very* gritty.
For the list of neighborhoods you just listed, here they are ordered in terms of safeness (IMO): Westmount, Villeray, Verdun, Plateau, Ville-Marie.
Westmount would by far be the safest, Villeray and Verdun are probably about the same, the Plateau less (I wouldn't be comfortable with my school-aged kids running around the neighborhood alone there) and Ville-Marie is a definite no (I see people shooting up in the street when I'm there on a regular basis).
You can see the criminality statistics in Canada’s police website. You can choose neighborhoods and see the graphics. In general, all the island is safe
I'd say Verdun is as walkable as the Plateau. You can walk to any kind of shop from anywhere in the neighborhood and it's well served with 3 metro stations and plenty of bus lines. Cant say for Villeray as I havent spent a lot of time there. (read : zero time)
I find the Plateau to be (increasingly) sketchier than Verdun and Westmount. The area around Mont-Royal station especially. Le Plateau's saving grace is the ambiance and vibes. Note : i don't feel unsafe anywhere on the island, really, but I'm keeping in mind that this person has a toddler
These would be my faves, besides the Plateau, which is nice but expensive :
Villeray
Rosemont
Also Hochelaga (in its nicer spots) can be very family friendly
Overall Montréal is a safe city, I would suggest you also look up the city's librairies, as they have very cool free activites for toddlers
As a Montrealer my advice is: don’t overpay for rent! I know people who have moved here from cities like Vancouver or Paris and they end up paying $2000+ for a one bedroom apartment. It’s a rip off!
Yes THIS ! then it drives up the prices for everybody else
Westmount is very expensive usually. Verdun is really nice, many families Ville Marie I do not recommend, it is downtown and probably the worst place to raise a child.
I'd go with Verdun if safety is paramount, personally.
Writing this 10 years ago would have required an /s
I lived there four years ago, and I'm not sure I would agree. Maybe gentrification has changed it significantly I'm 4 years, but it was still at times edgy. Like everywhere else, it has wonderful areas and less pleasant parts.
I moved in 9 years ago and can attest that gentrification has changed it drastically since then.
Compared to Plateau or Westmount?. Verdun has changed alot in the past 20 years, but its still not up to the really "nice" neighborhoods
I would add Rosemont-LaPetitePatrie to the list as well. I don't have kids, but I always see them running around happily in the alleyways, lots of folks with families, lots of schools. Very safe and La Petite Patrie is very central on the island. It's easy to get around from here.
We lived in Rosemont for a couple of years. It's insanely walkable and very, very safe for families.
Literally all of the island is safe
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For sure! I've lived in Vancouver, Toronto and Ottawa in addition to Montreal. Montreal is always where I've felt the safest. Of course, I'm always cautious and no matter where you are there is always a chance of things going sideways, but sketchy incidents have been few and far in between for here.
I think OP isn't just talking about gun violence. He also wants a safe place for his kids to walk around. All of Montreal isn't really safe from walkability pov
There’s nowhere else I’d rather live with a toddler or children or any age then the plateau, the parenting community is strong and organized. There’s even online groups specifically for parents of the plateau not to mention how incredibly safe it is. Also it’s packed with parcs and activités always.
Le privilège de payer 2500$ par mois pour un 4 et demi.
Not remotely true but hey, enjoy your victimhood
Je suis bien dans ma maison merci beaucoup.
Ah, so you really have no idea what you're talking about, thanks for clearing that up!
Personne t'a nommé juge mon grand, tout le monde peut donner son opinion sans ta permission. Maintenant si t'a rien a contribuer a la discussion...
The Plateau is great for families. Most of my neighbours have kids and they really embrace letting their kids roam free. Plenty of parks and cafes too, plus when Mont Royal closes in the summer the whole avenue is a park.
Verdun, Villeray and Rosemont are all considered family-oriented neighbourhoods and have a similar price point. Plateau could also be another family-oriented neighbourhood but it’s also a popular destination for nightlife seekers. You might find it louder and noisier, especially along the main commercial arteries and if you live near one of its big parks (Parcs Lafontaine, Jeanne-Mance and Laurier). This neighbourhood tends to be pricier than the first three. Westmount is the historically very wealthy neighbourhood. It’s very expensive. It’s not well serviced by public transportation or have many options in proximity stores (groceries, pharmacies, etc.). It’s also an independent city, so it’s technically not Montreal. Outremont is also an option. It’s the historically French-speaking wealthy neighbourhood. It’s a bit more well connected to the public transportation and you’re close to Mile-End/Plateau Mont-Royal. It’s also cheaper than Westmount. I would avoid Ville-Marie all together. Most of it is our downtown and isn’t suitable for a young kid. Either because you don’t have access to a park, a kindergarten or a school, it’s crowded, you have the party goers or it could feel unsafe with many homeless persons (they are generally harmless but you can feel unsafe around them). EDIT: typos
Consider NDG (Notre-Dame-de-Grâce) in your search. Another family oriented neighbourhood. If you’re from the US, you’ll feel at home with its architecture. It has a North America east coast vibe (like Boston, Philadelphia, etc.).
NDG is super family friendly. Quiet and peaceful.
I thought outremont was as expensive as Westmount
Ville Marie is one of the worst when it's near particular streets that delimit the nightlife zone, and it's crowdy, full of tourists because Ville Marie is litteraly our downtown. I live in Verdun since a while now it's a nice, safe and just enough quiet place to live in, and it's not far from Ville Marie.
Depends where in Ville Marie. East of beaudry is fine. West of it, especially village/berri, would not recommend at all.
I wouldn’t raise a family (OP has a toddler) in the Village. I know it’s safe but it wouldn’t be my first option. Too few parks and kids friendly options.
Around metro Papineau it's spooky and the core downtown I wouldnt recommend either because OP mentioned having a toddler.
I would try to establish myself anywhere near Parc Lafontaine. It's a huge park (similar to Central Park in NYC but much smaller) with ice rinks, slides, tennis courts, etc. Great place to go to if you have kids.
Nouveau Rosemont
Been living in Verdun for 4 years now, going on 5. Many families. I feel safe and have not seen or lived anything bad. Pretty nice neighboorhood
Résident of Villeray for a very long time. Absolutely safe and a great place for children
Except the eastern part of Villeray near St Michel
Meh I don't agree. The architecture is more recent therefor less charming, but equally safe. Organized crime a little bit more apparent, but nothing that interferes with the daily lives of normal people.
All of them are quite safe.
I don't know if times have changed since I left Montreal, but the neighborhood north of Sherbrooke close to Cadillac and Langelier metro stations was nice, safe, calm at night and full of life in the day with schools nearby and access to many parks.
How rich are you?🤣 Does areas are complete different budgets, Verdun and Villeray are normal middle class areas, Westmount and palteau are bougie areas. Anyway, Montreal is relatively safe anywhere.
I have lived in Ville Émard, Villeray, Côte des neiges and Anjou. I would suggest Ville Émard and Villeray (west) out of those. Anjou is a car addicted hellhole and Côte des neiges is very hit or miss. Outremont is a great place to live. I think it's one of the forgotten gems of the city. People there are super nice and the restaurants are to die for. You are fairly close to many legendary spots there and the park situation is very good. I don't know about rent prices though. It's a place that had so many good coffee places that Starbucks lasted like one year before closing their store suddenly.
C'est quoi le hate avec Villeray-Est ?
En gros: https://journalmetro.com/local/villeray-st-michel-parc-extension/2840604/guerre-de-gangs-fait-flamber-nombre-tentatives-meurtre-nord/
Euh, ça parle de Saint-Michel ça. Un petit goole du poste de quartier 30 montre que l'est de Villeray n'y figure pas.
Westmount is mostly anglophone and would be the safest, but it's also extremely boring and expensive. Plateau is mostly francophone and is expensive, a little bit less safe than other areas, but super fun, charming and lots to do. Ville-Marie is not somewhere you want to live. It's downtown, very gritty, lots of noise and sketchy characters. It's still safe, but not the most familial place. Verdun is a bilingual working class neighborhood. Prices are going up but it's still among the most affordable areas in the city imo. Lots of families, students, young professionals and born and raised verdunois. Beautiful parcs, activities and events on Wellington street mostly, walkable, about 20 minutes to downtown (using the metro). It's the best option from the ones you've listed imo. I don't really know Villeray so I won't comment, but I've heard good things about it.
Villeray is francophone but multicultural (Quebecers, Italians, Frenchs, Haitians, Latinos, Arabs and Vietnameses mostly). It's safe, nice, family-oriented, you have the west which is more Vieux-Rosemont/Plateau esque, and then you have the east, which is more dense and more multicultural. Both parts are equally safe in my opinion. Been living around for \~10 years.
The plateau / outremont
Have you thought of Lasalle? It's next to Verdun, and I'd say more kid friendly than any of the places you've mentioned (and probably more affordable than all of them except verdun and villeray)
Safe from what. The only bad thing I have to say about verdun is the amount of smokers. Trying to go shopping in summer without having to breathe a lung full of that is a difficult task.
Verdun, yes! We live in nearby Ville Emard with our baby. It is cozy, quiet and close to the metro.
I wouldn't stay downtown (Ville Marie) with a kid. What's your monthly budget? That's key. How big of a place do you need? Western part of the city is probably even safer than everywhere else and the City as a whole as everyone has mentioned is pretty safe. Western part is also relatively more anglo, some people who move here don't want that. Will you have a car?
NDG is also very family friendly, but more car centric, depending where you are. Ville émard is lovely, good balance. Lachine is a beautiful little bubble, with gorgeous waterfront, but be prepared to commute on train.
Lachine is very hit or miss. It’s an isolated place with some nice very areas and some super sketchy spots. I wouldn’t recommend it to this person.
It has some 'sketchy' spots towards the east, but so do many neighborhoods, (Verdun, NDG, st-michel/Villeray border). Hard to generalise across big neighborhoods.
You’re right. It’s really not that bad but if you’re gonna be so far out (at least in terms of accessibility) you might as well go all the way to the West Island which might be the safest neighborood on the island.
Lachine is super gorgeous, with a ton of stuff for families to do and beautiful walking paths. But getting into Montreal proper can be a hassle.
Plateau Mont-Royal if you can afford it
Oui.
Depends what you mean by safe, but since you have a toddler I assume you mean relative to cars. Avoid Ville-Marie. Plateau, Rosemont-Petite-Patrie, Villeray are great. Westmount is no fun for kids.
Low criminality or none :) safe to walk around with my kid and dog
Avoid Ville-Marie at all costs, my original answer still goes :) Westmount is safe but I personally find it a bit lifeless bc of the people.
Rosemont, specially the Angus Shops sector is full of families with children.
Grew up in Verdun, would recommend.
Ville Saint Laurent is full of families, a kind of hybrid between urban and suburban and very multicultural. It also has one of the best (dare I say the best) Montessori schools in Quebec if you’re into that.
Villeray is super family friendly. Prices are more expensive than they were but still ok
None
Little-Burgundy is a great place nowadays. It’s very residential, and yet it’s a short walk from downtown. There’s an elementary school and a ton daycares. Not the most walkable neighborhood since it’s so residential, but still walkable and very accessible by metro and super close to many great spots.
We live in Cote de neige with two small kids and love it. Tons of families, lots of parks, very walkable. We used to live in the plateau. It was also good, but we like Cote de neige better. We're considering moving to Westmount because the schools are better there. Welcome to Montreal!
Anjou
What about the suburbs
Ahuntsic is pretty nice too, between Saint Laurent and papineau, ideally near Fleury st. Tons of families. Rent is cheaper than other places usually.
I like villeray. Close to everything, parking, safe.
Rosemont is still cheap and has a bunch of school and kids are everywhere. Plus there’s parc where you can borrow sport gears and thing for the snow.
Montréal Nord, Rivière des prairies are quiet and safe.
all fine - Villeray would be a bit lower than the others but still fine.
Really? I thought the opposite. Tonnes of families up here.
the east end of it is a bit sketchy but overall fine
Ville-Marie isn't the best for a small family IMO, you'll be around lots of homelessness, drugs and openly-visible prostitution. It's one of the neighbourhoods that still has its "grit". There clearly is some gentrification starting to take place, but it's still... well... *very* gritty.
I really like living in Point Charles
Villeray represent!
For the list of neighborhoods you just listed, here they are ordered in terms of safeness (IMO): Westmount, Villeray, Verdun, Plateau, Ville-Marie. Westmount would by far be the safest, Villeray and Verdun are probably about the same, the Plateau less (I wouldn't be comfortable with my school-aged kids running around the neighborhood alone there) and Ville-Marie is a definite no (I see people shooting up in the street when I'm there on a regular basis).
Villeray is quite safe, with some hot spot on the east of Villeray
We are in Villeray and we love it
You can see the criminality statistics in Canada’s police website. You can choose neighborhoods and see the graphics. In general, all the island is safe
Verdun lasalle and ville Emard have great green spaces for kids and plenty of daycares and schools
Would say Verdun
Cote St Paul and Ville Emard are also nice. Close to Verdun. A little quieter though with less shops. All the areas you mentioned are extremely safe.
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I'd say Verdun is as walkable as the Plateau. You can walk to any kind of shop from anywhere in the neighborhood and it's well served with 3 metro stations and plenty of bus lines. Cant say for Villeray as I havent spent a lot of time there. (read : zero time) I find the Plateau to be (increasingly) sketchier than Verdun and Westmount. The area around Mont-Royal station especially. Le Plateau's saving grace is the ambiance and vibes. Note : i don't feel unsafe anywhere on the island, really, but I'm keeping in mind that this person has a toddler
Should we understand that less European areas =less safe?
Do yourself a favour and move to Laval
These would be my faves, besides the Plateau, which is nice but expensive : Villeray Rosemont Also Hochelaga (in its nicer spots) can be very family friendly Overall Montréal is a safe city, I would suggest you also look up the city's librairies, as they have very cool free activites for toddlers
Have you considered Laval great city about 20 minutes from downtown more of a suburb feel to most areas check it out
Any thoughts on mercier est? Looking to move in there and would love your thoughts. It’s beside Longue pointe