Are you thinking about living in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce? The condos NDG offers can provide a great lifestyle for a young adult or even a family. To make a more measured decision, consider the pros and cons of taking up residency in this neighborhood:
Pros
Many people who live here cite various reasons for wanting to stay in this neighborhood:
- The shopping options are many. Neighborhood shopping spots include the Quartier Cavendish, the Côte Saint-Luc Shopping Centre, Monkland Village, Decarie Square, and Sherbrooke St. W. You’ll also find shops in the Queen Mary Rd., Victoria Ave., and the Côte-des-Neiges Rd. Of course, downtown Montreal is so accessible as well.
- Getting to downtown Montreal is downright easy. If you have a car, there’s Route 136 and you can choose among the many arterial roads. If you plan on commuting, there are lots of buses and metro stations.
- If you get sick or injured, you have plenty of healthcare locations to help tend to your needs. There are about half a dozen hospitals within easy reach.
- If you’re raising children, you get your pick of schools as there are about 20 of them in or around the neighborhood. You can choose between public and private, English and French, or even between Catholic, Muslim, and Jewish schools. You can have your child go to the famous Loyola High School, and you yourself can go to Lower Canada College nearby. There are vocational schools too, along with schools for the disabled.
- Are you a foodie? Then you may want to try the B&M restaurant or Notre-Boeuf-de-Grâce. For a nice time with friends, you can go to Atlas Pizza, Ernie & Ellie’s, the Côte Saint-Luc Bagel, or the Monkland Tavern.
Of course, there’s the downtown Montreal area where the food is really diverse and terrific. You do know that Montreal is a hub for foodies, right? You can prove that yourself with visits to the best dining establishments in downtown Montreal, which you can easily get to from NDG.
- Your family can enjoy plenty of parks so that you’re not always surrounded by walls all the time. Parks include Loyola, NDG, Trenholme, and Georges Saint-Pierre. Your kids can frolic on the splash pads while you can just sit in the shade of beautiful trees to relax.
- If you want a more athletic time, there are fields for soccer and baseball, and you can try the tennis clubs. The Meadowbrook golf course is open as well.
Cons
Yes, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce is a great place in which to live and raise a family. But that’s not say there aren’t issues.
- As real estate values and rents increase steadily, there’s the thorny issue of “gentrification” to consider. As a practical matter, this can means that prices for goods can increase across the board for everyone.
- Just recently, there’s been a mold problem on splash pads in the neighborhood. Various parks have mold growth that turns the concrete surfaces into slippery slopes. That such a problem was allowed to develop is a cause of concern.
- There’s been an issue regarding a bike path on Grand Boulevard. The street is narrow with parked cars on the sides and the painted lines denoting the bike paths aren’t clear. That has made the bike paths more dangerous for cyclists and pedestrians. But city officials are reluctant to take away the parking privileges, since parking spaces aren’t all that many in the neighborhood.
Conclusion
It’s easy to see why Notre-Dame-de-Grâce is so popular with so many real estate investors and homebuyers right now. The problems are minor, yet the advantages are clear and undeniable. If you’re looking for a new home, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce is a great neighborhood to start your search.