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Me and my girlfriend are moving to Ottawa for a year. We are from India and studying in BC. We both got internships in Ottawa. Mine is in Kanata (Research In Motion) and hers is in Riverside (IBM). I wanted to know what area should I get an apartment in so that it is equidistant from both these areas (via public transport). As its an internship and temporary I don't want to get a car now.
I really don't want to have a long commute, considering I have never experienced temperatures lower than -5 C. Is it brutally cold from November to March? or just the months of Jan and Feb? Thanks in Advance
You would have to do a study of the bus routes to figure out the best spot, which are available online. Going west to Kanata will be against commuter flow, so faster. Getting over to Riverside will be tricky, as she will have to get over the river, and there are limited crossingpoints re busses. Route 118 through College Square might be your base route which comes close to both locations with one transfer.
Probably somewhere along Baseline, like just across from College Square Loblaws for walkable groceries and services, or Carling around Carlingwood Shopping Centre.
Last winter was very warm, but if it returns to normal, and you intend to be waiting at bus stops in January, you must get very warm waterproof boots, thermal underwear longjohn bottoms, a thick heavy coat, and a hat that has flaps that cover your ears, and a big scarf to cover your face when it's so cold that your nose freezes. This is not a joke. The peak of cold is on average first week of February. It is generally only really bad, like, -20C, for a couple of weeks, which can happen anytime December to March.
The upside is that the skies are bluer than west coast and you can try skating.
You might like Westboro (lots of young professionals, I believe), or as the previous poster said the Baseline/Nepean area is along the transit line so it would be convenient for both of you. Tunney's Pasture or Lebreton Flats could also be convenient but I'm not sure how exciting those neighbourhoods are...
If you're living in the west end of downtown, you can expect at least a 20 min commute to Kanata (going opposite normal traffic).
In terms of cold - Ottawa starts cooling down in mid-October and there's usually frost by late November/early December (although the past few years have been less predictable). When winter hits it gets very cold, especially in January/February. As kroeran said, you should definitely invest in warm waterproof footwear and warm clothes. Snow starts melting in March, but it takes a long time to completely warm up and melt so you'll be dealing with slush and occasional cold snaps until mid-to-late April.
In terms of cold - Ottawa starts cooling down in mid-October and there's usually frost by late November/early December (although the past few years have been less predictable). When winter hits it gets very cold, especially in January/February. As kroeran said, you should definitely invest in warm waterproof footwear and warm clothes. Snow starts melting in March, but it takes a long time to completely warm up and melt so you'll be dealing with slush and occasional cold snaps until mid-to-late April.
Average first frost date for Ottawa is around October 6. Of course, that can just be one day. But generally, you won't see temperatures constantly below freezing as you said, by late November-early December.
Real winter weather with fairly persistent snow cover generally arrives around Dec. 15 but this is extremely variable and in the last 10 years the first snow that stays has come around Nov. 20 some years, some years it hasn't been until the first days of January. You can also have freakish years when snow falls and stays as of Nov. 1. Other freakish there can be no snow until Jan. 15.
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