If you’re wondering where to live in Montreal, there are plenty of great neighbourhoods to choose from — but some come with more trade-offs than others.
Let me be clear from the outset: I don’t think there are any truly bad Montreal neighbourhoods. But whether you’re choosing a place to live in Montreal or deciding where to stay during a trip, some areas are definitely easier and more pleasant to live in than others.
Montreal is still my favourite city, and there are plenty of reasons why. Compared to other cities of comparable size around the world, Montreal remains a safe, clean, vibrant place to live.
But life here has changed since the pandemic. Montreal rent has climbed sharply, housing has become harder to find and pressure on public services is much more visible in some parts of the city. Plus, a lot of vulnerable people have fallen through the cracks in public infrastructure, leading to a larger unhoused population that has left many Montrealers very uncomfortable in certain neighbourhoods.
My intention isn’t to rag on the neighbourhoods in this article. They all have good points. Heck, I grew up in one of them and chose to live in another.
There are also plenty of people who genuinely love living in every Montreal neighbourhood on this list. But if you’re thinking about moving to one of these areas, it’s worth knowing the downsides before you pull up with the moving van.
OK, enough qualifying. Here are the six Montreal neighbourhoods I’d be most hesitant to live in — based on my own experience as a local.
Griffintown
Pros: Griffintown is one of the trendiest areas of the city. It’s extremely walkable, full of great restaurants and positioned right between downtown and the gorgeous Lachine Canal.
Cons: Griffintown wasn’t built to sustain its recent population growth, so local infrastructure is still catching up. The city itself notes that the neighbourhood’s existing infrastructure wasn’t designed to serve so many people and is currently being upgraded.
It can be hard to find nearby schools, daycares and grocery stores. Public transit is limited in parts of the neighbourhood, while traffic and parking can be frustrating.
On top of that, the rapid development means there’s still a lot of construction, which can make the area noisy and disruptive. Condos in the area are infamously expensive for their relatively compact size.
I’d say Griffintown is a fun place to stay when travelling to Montreal, but it can be surprisingly inconvenient in the long term.
Parc-Extension
Pros: I personally love Parc-Extension. It’s home to a lot of students, artists and newcomers, which means its arts, culture and food scenes are amazing. Public transit is also great, and it remains one of the more affordable neighbourhoods in the city.
Cons: Housing is one of the biggest drawbacks. Between 2023 and 2025, rental costs in the Villeray-Saint-Michel-Parc-Extension borough rose by 71%. Renovictions and displacement have also become major concerns in the area.
It’s also densely populated, with cramped apartments that can make parking difficult and put pressure on services like waste removal. Sandwiched between several busy thoroughfares, noise pollution is hard to avoid. The lack of tree cover on many streets also makes it a heat island in the summer.
It’s one of the most culturally significant neighbourhoods in Montreal, but far from the most comfortable to live in.
Centre-Sud
Pros: I used to live in Centre-Sud. Being in such a central location, with ample public transit, gorgeous parks and the cultural hub of the Gay Village within walking distance, was amazing. The street fashion is phenomenal, and the neighbourhood is full of artists and bohemians.
Cons: Rent prices have become untenable, especially for the 17% of residents who are low-income. On top of that, many people feel unsafe in the area due to petty crime and open drug use.
While I don’t personally mind passing people using drugs while grabbing my morning coffee — it was their neighbourhood as much as it was mine — I’ll admit I decided to move the day two people overdosed outside my front door.
I decided I shouldn’t be paying that much in rent and still have to keep Narcan in my mailbox, you know?
Lachine
Pros: It’s an affordable area with great green space and suburban amenities. It’s also a relatively short commute from downtown by car.
Cons: In my lifetime, Lachine has always felt like a neighbourhood in decline. Parts of it seem rundown, and the area can feel relatively isolated due to limited public transit access. On top of that, some streets and apartment buildings look surprisingly rough.
Let’s put it this way: basically everyone I’ve ever known who’s moved to Lachine has regretted it within a matter of months.
Rivière-des-Prairies
Pros: It’s a cozy, affordable, working-class neighbourhood with tons of green space along the river it’s named after.
Cons: It’s isolated. Commuting downtown can be long and difficult, and the area isn’t very walkable. Public transit is limited, which can make having a car feel necessary. The lack of nightlife, cafes and restaurants can also make it feel completely different from the Montreal many people picture.
Pierrefonds
Pros: On the opposite side of the Island, Pierrefonds is also full of green space. It’s a suburb with excellent schools and big yards, and it has historically been an area where francophones and anglophones intermingle easily.
Cons: Like RDP, Pierrefonds is a long commute from downtown — plus, traffic is a constant issue, so even driving locally can take a while. That said, limited public transit still makes having a car feel necessary.
And while property lots are large compared to other boroughs, much of Pierrefonds experiences frequent flooding, which can make insurance more expensive.
I lived near Centennial Park as a kid, so I have a ton of nostalgic fondness for Pierrefonds. But for whatever reason, those of us who grow up on that border of Dollard-des-Ormeaux and Pierrefonds always seem to end up a lot scrappier than other West Islanders.
These days, whenever you hear about a tussle in a suburban grocery store west of Décarie, for example, there always seems to be someone involved who lives in my childhood stomping grounds. I’m not exactly sure why that is, but it’s so common that it’s become a running joke in the West Island.
At the end of the day, every Montreal neighbourhood comes with trade-offs, and what feels inconvenient to one person might be exactly what someone else is looking for. These are simply the areas that, in my experience, come with the biggest compromises when it comes to day-to-day life.
And despite everything on this list, I’d still choose Montreal over just about anywhere else.
The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Narcity Media.
This article’s cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.