By Laura Byrne Paquet

First-timers, I assume, are concerned mainly about price. If a neighbourhood offers lots of housing close to or under the average February 2012 sale price, that caught my attention. But price doesn’t mean merely the price of the house. If it’s a steal but it’s so far out that you have to spend hundreds of dollars a month on gas just to get to work and the grocery store, it’s a bit of a false economy. So I also took into account such variables as car use and nearby amenities.

One thing is clear: if you’ve been renting with three roommates in Centretown and you dream of buying a place where you can still walk home from Elgin Street, your options are limited. Forget about a house unless you have a trust fund. You could get a condo apartment, but if you’re hoping to spend under $300,000, it will probably be so small that you’ll have to keep your cat on the roof and store your winter clothes in the oven. But if you’re willing to trade urban glamour for a bit of elbow room in a safe neighbourhood, here are five spots to consider.

Borden Farm/Stewart Farm/Carleton Heights/Parkwood Hills
Where: Bordered by Merivale Road, Meadowlands Drive, Viewmount Drive, Coolspring Crescent, Valley Ridge Street, and Fisher Avenue
OREB code: 7202
Condo prices: $157,900-$379,900
Condos available: 6
Non-condo prices: $294,900-$989,500
Non-condos available: 10
People who got to work by car: 72.3 percent

It’s easy to make fun of the hideous stretch of Merivale Road from Baseline Road to Hunt Club Road and beyond. While it’s true that it’s never going to win any design awards, the strip is chock full of useful stores. If you move to this collection of neighbourhoods east of Merivale, they’ll be on your doorstep — and Hog’s Back Park and Mooney’s Bay will be in your backyard. The main attractions of this area for first-time buyers are the condo apartments along Meadowlands Drive, along with a smattering of small townhouses throughout the area. It’s far from the richest community in Ottawa, but crime rates are low and only five percent of the houses need major repairs, lower than the city average. Direct — if somewhat pokey — buses link the ’hood to Carleton University, the University of Ottawa, and downtown. It’s a reasonably priced choice for budget-conscious buyers who think anything beyond the Greenbelt is practically Mars. And if you’re an empty-nest pensioner rather than a 20-something, you won’t be the only Zoomer reader in the neighbourhood: 25 percent of the locals are 55 or over.

If not here, then … On the other side of the Rideau, Riverside Park/Mooney’s Bay also has a good selection of condos at somewhat higher prices — that nice view of the water will cost you.

Glen Cairn/Hazeldean
Where: Bordered by Terry Fox Drive, the Greenbelt, Fernbank Road, Eagleson Road, and
Hazeldean Road
OREB code: 9003
Condo prices: n/a
Condos available: 0
Non-condo prices: $225,000-$384,900
Non-condos available: 16
People who got to work by car: 76.3 percent

If you have your heart set on a freehold house rather than a condo, Glen Cairn/Hazeldean gives you a lot of bang for your buck. The post-war neighbourhood — 70 percent of the housing stock was built between 1960 and 1980 — boasts leafy streets, good-sized lots, and access to decent shopping along the Hazeldean Road strip. The Ron Maslin Playhouse, home of the Kanata Theatre, is located just north of the neighbourhood in Katimavik. And you can take the back route home from Scotiabank Place, avoiding the Queensway pre- and post-game traffic jams. Though it’s a fairly car-centric neighbourhood, there is a park-and-ride Transitway station at Eagleson Road and the Queensway, offering direct service to downtown. One note of caution: do be sure to do your due diligence and get a house inspector before buying. Parts of the neighbourhood have been bedevilled by leaky basements ever since an epic flood in 2009.

Added bonus: You’re a stone’s throw from Stony Swamp Conservation Area with its popular Old
Quarry Trail.

Hunt Club Park/Greenboro
Where: Bordered by Albion Road, Hunt Club Road, Conroy Road, and Johnston Road
OREB code: 3806
Condo prices: $162,900-$279,900
Condos available: 10
Non-condo prices: $280,000-$649,900
Non-condos available: 16
People who got to work by car: 73.8 percent

To the west and north, the surroundings aren’t encouraging: South Keys and Heron Gate are two neighbourhoods with a bad rep for crime (property crimes were 125.1 per 1,000 in 2006). But once you cross Albion Road, things improve considerably on that score. In this relatively young neighbourhood — 90 percent of the houses were built after 1970 — you’ll find a good range of condos and freehold townhouses. It’s a short drive or bus ride to the big-box stores, cinemas, Transitway stations, and O-Train station at Greenboro/South Keys. If you’re planning to drive downtown daily, however, you’ll likely find traffic an issue.

Added bonus: Animal lovers love Pine Grove Park. As well as Conroy Pit, a popular off-leash dog park, Pine Grove also has almost 10 kilometres of equestrian trails. After your walk or ride, O’Grady’s Outpost at Albion and Johnson has some of the best pub grub in the city.

Orleans Wood/Convent Glen North
Where: Bordered by Orleans Boulevard, Highway 174, Champlain Street, and the Ottawa River
OREB code: 2003 and 2005
Condo prices: $147,900-$269,900
Condos available: 16
Non-condo prices: $284,900-$639,900
Non-condos available: 5
People who got to work by car: 62.5 percent

Orleans Wood (north of Jeanne d’Arc Boulevard) has more condos and slightly lower prices than the section of Convent Glen North immediately south. But both offer a lot of advantages for the price. A quick drive or bus ride takes you to Orleans Town Centre and Place d’Orleans, where you’ll find the 28,000-square-foot Ruddy Family Y, a Mayfair rep cinema, and the busy Shenkman Arts Centre. The Transitway station at Place d’Orleans offers direct bus service to downtown. It’s also one of Ottawa’s more bilingual neighbourhoods, with 52 percent of residents speaking both English and French. And if you’re looking for a newish house that isn’t a handyman special, you’re in luck. Just two percent of the housing stock here was built before 1970, and the area’s owners are largely house-proud. According to the Ottawa Neighbourhood Study (www.neighbourhoodstudy.ca), only 2.2 percent of the houses need major repairs, compared with the city-wide average of 5.9 percent.

If not here, then … Queenswood Heights, on the south side of Highway 174, is even closer to the amenities at Place d’Orleans but has fewer condos (just five were for sale when we checked in March) and slightly higher prices.

Riverside South/Gloucester Glen
Where: Bordered by the Rideau River, Mitch Owens Road, Limebank Road, and the Black Rapids Locks
OREB code: 2602
Condo prices: $235,000-$249,900
Condos available: 5
Non-condo prices: $299,900-$1,899,900
Non-condos available: 45
People who got to work by car: 87.3 percent

This is the most car-centric area in our first-timers list. Transit access to this far-flung neighbourhood is — how should I put this? — atrocious. As a result, almost nine out of 10 residents get to work by car. So why did it make the cut? Because if you want an almost new condo townhouse for under $250,000 and you value green space over urban amenities, you’ll find a lot to like in Riverside South. It’s growing by leaps and bounds — it can feel as though the paint is barely dry on most of it — but the Rideau River is lined with parks. The drive south from the airport still has a rural vibe — for now, anyway. The project is in flux, but residents hope 2012 brings the opening of the bridge over the Rideau, which will link Earl Armstrong Road to Strandherd Drive in Barrhaven. To the big-box stores!

If not here, then … On the other edge of the city, Avalon on the southeast side of Orleans has a similar range of almost new condos at similar prices, but not the adjacent riverfront — you’ll have to drive about six kilometres north along Trim Road to get to Petrie Island Park.

The post 20 Best Neighbourhoods: Five great options for first-time home buyers appeared first on Ottawa Magazine.

By Laura Byrne Paquet | Photograph by Dwayne Brown

The Glebe

So you’re looking to buy a house. Good on ya. keep the economy rolling and all that. But you’re finding yourself overwhelmed by location choices. This neighbourhood has great schools but not much in the way of shopping. That one has great nightlife, but you’re a bit worried about crime. Then there’s the area where the prices are reasonable, but the commute — not so much.

So you check with your friends and family, but they’re not much help. Sure, they’re happy to extol the virtues of their own ’hood. The only problem is, they have kids and you don’t, or their budget runs to champagne and caviar, while yours is more of a beer and pizza thing.

Feeling frustrated? Fear not, intrepid homebuyer. I’ve crunched the numbers so that you don’t have to, to recommend Ottawa’s top five neighbourhoods (in alphabetical order) for four types of buyers: those for whom cost is no issue, DINKs (double income, no kids), families, and first-timers (and others on a limited budget). In doing so, I’ve made a few assumptions about my theoretical buyers. Yeah, they’re based on a few stereotypes. So sue me. When trying to impose order on a mountain of statistics, a girl’s gotta
start somewhere.

Cost Is No Issue

For the cost-is-no-issue crowd, I tried to find a range of neighbourhoods — urban, suburban, and semi-rural — where money might not buy you happiness but could score you original Tiffany chandeliers, an indoor saltwater pool, or floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking a Gatsby-like estate. Heritage house, mid-century modern pad, or 21st-century McMansion: there’s something for everyone in this category, as long as you have a million or more to spare. I assumed most folks in this crowd have kids. Heck, they can certainly afford them. Read Cost Is No Issue »

Appealing to the DINKs

DINKs were possibly the hardest group to classify. For every couple sans kids that fits the yuppie paradigm — lattes, yoga, art galleries, and posh restaurants — there are countless others who would rather be hiking, woodworking, or watching the complete works of Jim Carrey on DVD than at the symphony. For the purposes of this article, I focused on central neighbourhoods where DINKs’ extra disposable income could buy easy access to urban pleasures — even if they rarely take advantage of them. Read Appealing to the DINKs »

Hot real estate picks aimed at the family demographic

For families, my main focuses were good schools and community services. Neighbourhoods with arenas, pools, community centres, parks, a library branch, and other kid-friendly facilities scored highly here. Reasonably priced single-family houses also factored into the mix — I suspect most families of four aren’t interested in squeezing into a 600-square-foot apartment. When you’re paying for braces and hockey school, it never hurts to save a bit of money on gas, so I’ve also noted the percentage of people in each neighbourhood who go to work by private vehicle (the rest walk, cycle, or take transit). Read Hot real estate picks aimed at the family demographic »

First Timers

First-timers, I assume, are concerned mainly about price. If a neighbourhood offers lots of housing close to or under the average February 2012 sale price, that caught my attention. But price doesn’t mean merely the price of the house. If it’s a steal but it’s so far out that you have to spend hundreds of dollars a month on gas just to get to work and the grocery store, it’s a bit of a false economy. So I also took into account such variables as car use and nearby amenities. Read First Timers »

The post Twenty Best Neighbourhoods 2012 appeared first on Ottawa Magazine.

By Laura Byrne Paquet | Photograph by Dwayne Brown | Statistical graphics by
Aesthetic Intelligence

Old Ottawa South

For families, my main focuses were good schools and community services. Neighbourhoods with arenas, pools, community centres, parks, a library branch, and other kid-friendly facilities scored highly here. Reasonably priced single-family houses also factored into the mix — I suspect most families of four aren’t interested in squeezing into a 600-square-foot apartment. When you’re paying for braces and hockey school, it never hurts to save a bit of money on gas, so I’ve also noted the percentage of people in each neighbourhood who go to work by private vehicle (the rest walk, cycle, or take transit).

Carlingwood
Where: Bordered by Woodroffe Avenue, Carling Avenue, Sherbourne Road, and Richmond Road
OREB code: 5103
Condo prices: $274,900
Condos available: 1
Non-condo prices: $420,000-$589,000
Non-condos available: 4
People who got to work by car: 53.5 percent

Carlingwood gives you easy access to some of the choicest west-end family amenities without the sticker shock of some other inner-west neighbourhoods. For instance, it’s in the catchment area of Ottawa’s third-ranked elementary school, École élémentaire catholique Terre-des-Jeunes. It’s also within a kilometre or two of both the Ottawa Family Cinema and the Dovercourt Recreation Centre, which offers a huge range of fitness, aquatics, dance, sports, and arts programs for the whole family. You can walk to Carlingwood Shopping Centre, and Westboro Beach is a stone’s throw away.

If not here, then … McKellar Park is even closer to many of the amenities that make Carlingwood attractive, but that proximity comes at a price: available non-condo properties ranged from $479,900 to $1,468,000 in March.

Chapel Hill West
Where: Bordered by the Greenbelt, St. Joseph Boulevard, Heritage Park, Orleans Boulevard, and Innes Road
OREB code: 2008
Condo prices: n/a
Condos available: 0
Non-condo prices: $336,000-$449,500
Non-condos available: 10
People who got to work by car: 70.3 percent

Chapel Hill gives you the advantages of Orleans without the need to slog all the way across to Trim Road and beyond: in fact, you can easily skip the Highway 174 commute altogether, taking the scenic Rockcliffe Parkway from downtown. Once you get home, you’ll be surrounded by lots of greenery — the area is honeycombed with parks, and since about two-thirds of the houses were built in the 1980s, there has been lots of time for the trees to grow. Chapel Hill has a well-ranked elementary school, École élémentaire catholique L’Étoile-de-l’Est, and your kids will have lots of potential playmates — at the last census, 19 percent of the residents were under 15. Finally, there’s usually a good selection of three-bedroom, three-bath houses on the market for under $400,000.

If not here, then … Chapel Hill East offers similar advantages and a somewhat greater range
of townhouses.

Kanata Lakes
Where: Bordered by the Queensway, Terry Fox Drive, Richardson Sideroad, Goulbourn Forced Road, the CNR line, Walden Drive, Weslock Way, and Knudson Drive
OREB code: 9007
Condo prices: $799,000
Condos available: 1
Non-condo prices: $308,900-$899,000
Non-condos available: 33
People who got to work by car: 81.3 percent

As the old saying goes, Kanata Lakes has something for the whole family. For small children and preteens, the Kanata Wave Pool is just across the Queensway and the Beaverbrook library branch isn’t far. For teens, there are the AMC cinemas at Centrum — although Mom and Dad will probably be more swayed by the fact that Kanata Lakes is in the catchment area for Earl of March Secondary School and All Saints Catholic High School (ranked fourth and fifth in Ottawa, respectively). There are acres of parks and walking trails, and the neighbourhood surrounds a golf course. The two main drawbacks are the somewhat high house prices for a suburban location and the need to plan your driving life around the Ottawa Senators’ schedule. On game nights, the Queensway can turn into a parking lot as it hits Kanata.

If not here, then … Beaverbrook, next door, offers almost all the same advantages; the houses are generally a little older.

Old Ottawa South
Where: Bordered by Bronson Avenue, the Rideau River, Main Street, Riverdale Avenue, and the
Rideau Canal
OREB code: 4403 and 4404
Condo prices: $1,750,000
Condos available: 1
Non-condo prices: $495,000-$1,750,000
Non-condos available: 11
People who got to work by car: 58.7 percent

In the last census, children and youth made up almost a quarter of the population of this central neighbourhood. OOS, as the locals call it, has lots to offer families — from a small but lively Ottawa Public Library branch to the recently renovated community centre in a former fire hall. There’s skating on the Rideau Canal, skating and swimming at Brewer Park, and tennis at Windsor Park. Budding musicians can learn anything from bongos to the ukulele at the Ottawa Folklore Centre, and the Mayfair Theatre often runs big-screen family movies. But perhaps the strongest draw is Hopewell Avenue Public School, the sixth highest ranked elementary school in Ottawa (according to the Fraser Institute’s annual School Report Card). The school, which marked its 100th anniversary in 2010, is noted for its French immersion and music programs. Teens head to Glebe Collegiate Institute or Immaculata High School, 16th and 17th place among Ottawa high schools since amalgamation.

If not here, then … The Glebe, just north of OOS, has the even better-ranked Mutchmor Public School. New Edinburgh offers similar housing stock, along with a prized address in the catchment area for Lisgar Collegiate Institute, the city’s fifth-ranked high school.

Pheasant Run (Barrhaven)
Where: Bordered by Fallowfield Road, Greenbank Road, CNR rail line, Jockvale Road, and
Cedarview Road
OREB code: 7701
Condo prices: $179,900-$205,000
Condos available: 2
Non-condo prices: $295,000-$569,900
Non-condos available: 15
People who got to work by car: 76.7 percent

Just about anywhere in Barrhaven fits the dictionary definition of a “family neighbourhood”: spacious houses, quiet crescents, lots of parks. So what makes Pheasant Run stand out? For one thing, it’s in the catchment area of the former Nepean’s two top high schools: John McCrae Secondary School and St. Joseph’s Catholic High School (ranked 15th and 2oth in the province, respectively, by the Fraser Institute, and second and third in Ottawa). Second, it’s home to the excellent Walter Baker Sports Centre, where the whole family can swim, skate, play squash, take a dance class, or just generally let off steam. In the same building, you’ll also find an Ottawa Public Library branch. The area offers a pretty wide range of fairly new houses at good prices. And all the shopping you could possibly need is available at the nearby Barrhaven Town Centre and RioCan Marketplace.

If not there, then … It has a totally different vibe, but the older Beacon Hill North neighbourhood is worth a look if a top high school is on your wish list. Colonel By Secondary School ranks sixth in the province and first in Ottawa.

The post 20 Best Neighbourhoods: Hot real estate picks aimed at the family demographic appeared first on Ottawa Magazine.

By Laura Byrne Paquet | Photograph by Dwayne Brown | Statistical graphics
by Aesthetic Intelligence

ByWard Market: If you dream of living in a city that never sleeps, this is as close as you’ll get in O-town

DINKs were possibly the hardest group to classify. For every couple sans kids that fits the yuppie paradigm — lattes, yoga, art galleries, and posh restaurants — there are countless others who would rather be hiking, woodworking, or watching the complete works of Jim Carrey on DVD than at the symphony. For the purposes of this article, I focused on central neighbourhoods where DINKs’ extra disposable income could buy easy access to urban pleasures — even if they rarely take advantage of them.

ByWard Market
Where: Sussex Drive, Boteler Street, King Edward Avenue, and Rideau Street
OREB code: 4001
Condo prices: $227,500-$1,075,000
Condos available: 44
Non-condo prices: $279,000-$395,000
Non-condos available: 4

In Ottawa, the ByWard Market is pretty much synonymous with shopping and nightlife, whether you want fresh rosemary at 7 a.m. or martinis after midnight. If you dream of living in a city that never sleeps, this is as close as you’ll get in O-town. There’s a trade-off for being able to walk home from dinner at Kinki and a night of soul jazz at the Mercury Lounge, though: the crime rates are highest here, so consider a well-guarded condo apartment or invest in a serious alarm system. If you must have a house, go north. There are some nice properties north of St. Patrick and a little-known square at the end of Cumberland Street. Wherever you go, you likely won’t be attending any children’s birthday parties: the last census found that 97.3 percent of the locals were over 15.

If not here, then … Montreal?

Golden Triangle
Where: Elgin Street, Laurier Avenue West, and the Rideau Canal
OREB code: 4104
Condo prices: $255,000-$1,250,000
Condos available: 13
Non-condo prices: $489,000-$2,250,000
Non-condos available: 8

It’s a small neighbourhood that offers a lot, including easy access to the Rideau Canal, Elgin Street, the NAC, and the Rideau Centre. Many of the condos are clustered along Somerset Street West and Waverley Street. Heritage houses that have managed to escape the wrecking ball often boast such architectural details as original hardwood floors and stained-glass transoms. Like the ByWard Market, this neighbourhood is prone to noise issues from nearby bars — especially when the Senators make the playoffs and Elgin Street turns into Sens Mile. But it does offer the perfect DINKs weekend morning: pick up the latest international papers at Mags & Fags, then stroll down to The Manx pub for brunch.

Added bonus: You can walk home from the jazz festival, Winterlude, or Canada Day festivities.

New Edinburgh/Lindenlea
Where: Bordered by the Rideau River, the Ottawa River, Maple Lane, Acacia Avenue,
and Beechwood Avenue
OREB code: 3301 and 3302
Condo prices: $380,000-$699,900
Condos available: 5
Non-condo prices: $519,000-$1,395,000
Non-condos available: 21

Not as busy as the Golden Triangle or as trendy as Westboro, New Edinburgh is like that sleekly groomed woman in your book group who rarely draws attention to herself but is probably the smartest person there. For decades, New Edinburgh has prospered based on its enviable location, snuggled between the Rideau River, the Ottawa River, and Rideau Hall. Rockliffe denizens, denied any shopping in their own ’hood, come here to buy gourmet crackers and comestibles at Jacobsons or to browse for novels at Books on Beechwood.

A fire gutted the ’hood’s hardware store and a number of other businesses in March 2011, but the retail strip has slowly rallied. Outdoorsy types can cycle just about anywhere along the nearby recreational path network, and arts lovers can take a painting class or go to a poetry slam at the Crichton Cultural Community Centre. Looking for more? The non-stop nightlife of the ByWard Market is just across the St. Patrick Bridge.

Added bonus: New Edinburgh Park hosts the Lumière lantern festival each August.

South Hintonburg
Where: Bordered by Parkdale Avenue, Wellington Street, Somerset Street West, the O-Train line, and the Queensway
OREB code: 4203
Condo prices: $689,900
Condos available: 1
Non-condo prices: $374,500-$448,500
Non-condos available: 2

I was initially considering this neighbourhood for the first-timers section. Fat chance. South Hintonburg — distinguished from the grittier side of the neighbourhood, close to Mechanicsville, north of Wellington — has finally come of age, with prices to match. While some people mourn the loss of the bingo parlours and pawnshops that once studded Wellington Street, others have welcomed with open arms the arrival of chic restaurants and quirky shops. From the high-end fare at Back Lane Café to the luxury yarns at Wabi Sabi, Hintonburg is definitely moving on up. The Hintonburg Community Association has worked tirelessly both to promote the area as an arts district and to reduce the drug and prostitution problems that once plagued the neighbourhood. It has succeeded dramatically on both scores. The age of the latest available census statistics really does Hintonburg a disservice: a lot has changed here in the past half decade or so. Crime is falling and prices are rising. Can Starbucks be far behind?

If not here, then … Wellington Village, just down the road. Home to the popular Parkdale Market and the GCTC, it caught gentrification fever a few years earlier than Hintonburg — and prices reflect that.

Westboro/Hampton Park
Where: Bordered by the Ottawa River, Island Park Drive, Dominion Avenue, Richmond Road, Churchill Avenue, Carling Avenue, and the Queensway
OREB code: 5001, 5002, 5003, and 5102
Condo prices: $249,900-$874,000
Condos available: 36
Non-condo prices: $284,900-$1,175,000
Non-condos available: 35

Truly, no two people seem to agree on what constitutes Westboro, so I’m going with the Ottawa Real Estate Board’s definition. (According to OREB, the area west of Churchill and south of Richmond is Highland Park. So there.) Moving on: If your dream home is a sleek condo apartment with all the bells and whistles and a stone’s throw from all the gourmet chow you can eat, you can’t do much better than Westboro. All the usual urban perks are here: MEC, Lululemon, Bridgehead, two Transitway stations (yeah, I know, some of those are west of Churchill). And if you want more than an apartment, there are well-maintained houses galore. But here’s one goodie few other neighbourhoods can boast: a local beach.

Added bonus: Westfest rocks the ’hood for three days each June.

The post 20 Best Neighbourhoods: Appealing to the DINKs appeared first on Ottawa Magazine.

By Laura Byrne Paquet | Photograph by Dwayne Brown | Statistical graphics by
Aesthetic Intelligence

Alta Vista

For the cost-is-no-issue crowd, I tried to find a range of neighbourhoods — urban, suburban, and semi-rural — where money might not buy you happiness but could score you original Tiffany chandeliers, an indoor saltwater pool, or floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking a Gatsby-like estate. Heritage house, mid-century modern pad, or 21st-century McMansion: there’s something for everyone in this category, as long as you have a million or more to spare. I assumed most folks in this crowd have kids. Heck, they can certainly afford them.

Alta Vista/Faircrest Heights
Where: Bordered by Alta Vista Drive, Smyth Road, Lynda Lane, Pleasant Park Road, Fairbanks Avenue, Thessaly Circle, Grasshopper Hill Park, and Kilborn Avenue
OREB code: 3606
Condo prices: n/a
Condos available: 0
Non-condo prices: $568,000-$1,975,000
Non-condos available: 11

On first glance, this neighbourhood doesn’t come across as showy at all. A pleasant, central, post-war development, it’s famed for its low-slung houses set far back from quiet streets. About half the houses were built between 1946 and 1960. You probably know someone whose parents live here. But take a closer look, and you’ll see that more than a few of the ranch houses and bungalows in the section known as Faircrest Heights have been replaced by fancier pads replete with indoor pools and media rooms. What’s the attraction? The neighbourhood is blessed with a range of services few others in the city can match. Within a walk or a short drive are Rideau River parkland, four hospitals, several grocery stores, and a couple of Transitway stations.

Added bonus: Your kids can walk to Lycée Claudel, a highly ranked private French school where they can study for their international baccalaureate. (Alumni include Brian Mulroney’s kids.)

Glebe
Where: Bordered by Bronson Avenue, The Queensway, and the Rideau Canal
OREB code: 4401 and 4402
Condo prices: $229,000-$1,345,000
Condos available: 36
Non-condo prices: $339,900-$1,249,900
Non-condos available: 22

Perhaps no other neighbourhood in Ottawa suffers quite so much from its stereotype as does the Glebe. Ask anyone from outside the area to describe a Glebite, and you’ll probably get some variation on “granola-munching, Volvo-driving, CBC-listening, NIMBY-spouting yuppie.” But if you actually visit the Glebe, you’ll find everyone from Carleton students and young families (there are lots of row houses) to singletons and seniors. Also, the neighbourhood’s prices are nowhere near the stratospheric heights of some of the others in this section. So a cool million or so might buy you a heritage centre-hall-plan house, an ultra-modern infill house, or a spacious condo. Perks include easy access to the Rideau Canal and downtown and possibly Ottawa’s highest concentration of coffee shops per capita. Drawback: You will be forced to discuss the pros and cons of Lansdowne Live for the rest of your natural life.

Added bonus: The Glebe Neighbourhood Activities Group organizes everything from art classes and live theatre to jewellery shows and speaker series, most offered in what is arguably the city’s most eye-catching community centre.

Manotick East to Manotick Station
Where: Bordered by the Rideau River, Roger Stevens Drive, Snake Island Road, Manotick Station Road, Mitch Owens Road, Spratt Road, and Rideau Road
OREB code: 8005
Condo prices: n/a
Condos available: 0
Non-condo prices: $289,000-$2,800,000
Non-condos available: 35

Dreaming of wide-open spaces? Looking for an estate where you can stable your horse? The semi-rural eastern edge of Manotick is where Ottawa’s house builders have let their imaginations run riot. If you can customize it, enlarge it, or cover it with marble, someone in this exclusive enclave has probably done it. Properties along the Rideau River usually command a premium. When you crave some fresh-baked gingerbread or gift-shop retail therapy, the charming village of Manotick is just a short drive away, and the Emerald Links Golf and Country Club is close enough for a spontaneous nine holes.

If not here, then … If you need to be close to Kanata, try Carp or Dunrobin Shores. Like rural Manotick, these two areas are near a river (the Ottawa) and a golf club (Loch March) and offer an appealing mix of high-end houses and country solitude.

Rockcliffe
Where: Bordered by Princess Avenue, Lisgar Road, Maple Lane, Beechwood Avenue, Hemlock Road, Birch Avenue, and the Ottawa River
OREB code: 3201 and 3202
Condo prices: $799,000
Condos available: 1
Non-condo prices: $579,999-$4,500,000
Non-condos available: 32

Mingle with ambassadors, captains of industry, and the governor general! Moor your boat at the Rockcliffe Yacht Club! Live in a Georgian mansion with a nanny suite and formal gardens! Send your children to top-drawer private schools! Really, the ad copy for Rockcliffe’s priciest mansions writes itself. While not every house in the area has seven bedrooms and a granite kitchen, a sufficient number do to make Rockcliffe the pinnacle of local luxury aspirations. But don’t let the Old World charm of some of Rockcliffe’s heritage houses blind you: according to a 2007 study, 11 percent of the houses here and in neighbouring Manor Park need major repairs (almost double the city-wide average).

Added bonus: The Pond, a one-time gravel pit on the eastern edge of Rockcliffe, is now a lovely little lake with a beach. It’s open for public swimming from June to September.

Rothwell Heights
Where: Bordered by Blair Road, Montreal Road, Rothwell Drive, Delong Drive, Kaymar Drive, and the Ottawa River
OREB code: 2101
Condo prices: n/a
Condos available: 0
Non-condo prices: $599,000-$4,600,000
Non-condos available: 10

If you need a suitable setting to display your Eames chairs, Heath ceramics, George Jensen tableware, and other mid-century modern goodies, Rothwell Heights is your ’hood. Many of the post-war houses are custom-built bungalows that would delight the editors of Dwell. Despite that overriding vibe, there’s actually quite a wide range of housing styles here. Most houses have three key attractions: enormous treed lots, unique design, and great views (the name “Heights” isn’t a misnomer; the neighbourhood is slung along a ridge overlooking the Ottawa River). Big-box shops and cinemas are just down Blair Road at Silver City. Outdoors types head in the opposite direction for acres of beautiful riverfront parkland.

If not here, then … In the west end, just within the Greenbelt, the neighbourhoods of Crystal Bay and Crystal Beach (which sits just east of Crystal Bay) are even closer to the river. The former offers multi-million-dollar stunners with river views, while the latter boasts a good choice of mid-century houses at much lower price points.

The post 20 Best Neighbourhoods: Cost is no issue appeared first on Ottawa Magazine.