Which Ottawa suburbs have the best bus service to downtown Ottawa?

We are looking into relocating to the Ottawa area but don't know too much about the suburbs. We want to find a nice detached house (NOT a townhome or unit home) in the 2K-3K area but we want to be within 30 minutes drive AND have very good bus service to downtown Ottawa. We were looking into Embrun but i found out there is only one bus a day going into downtown Ottawa. We would need a place that has regular bus service all day long. What are some safe residential areas to consider?

Hi,
You have a dilhemma that exists between the 2K-3K price of a single home and the level of bus service that exists.
I'm also going under the assumption that you'll need the bus service for working in the downtown area.
The housing market here has driven the price of a single detached home above your 3K limit for much of the "bus friendly" suburbs (Stittsville, Kanata, Barrhaven, Orleans, and Glocester). You may find something in your range on the outer limits of Barrhaven, Orleans and/or Glocester, but you'd likely not be getting a decent home.
That being said, you do have options:
1. Consider living in Gatineau. If you don't mind living in the province of Quebec, you'll find affordable housing, and you'll have adequte bus access to Ottawa.
2. Live in outer-burbia- Embrun and other places like it (Carp, Richmond, Navan, Vars, Cumberland) and look into car-pools etc. There are lots of folks who commute from the outer areas. Many use the parkandrides that exist in the South, East, and West of the city.
3. Rent - You can easily find single homes for rent all over town (and in the Suburbs). You can then get to know the area better, and not commit to a morgage in a place you don't like.
4. Increase you housing budget - for just over 3K, you can likely find single homes in the above mentioned suburbs.

I hope this helps. You'll find that most residental areas are quite safe (I can really only think of Vanier as a place to avoid), so it's just a matter of finding out what your budget can handle.

Good luck!

Check out the link below it is for OC Transpo who run the bus service in the Ottawa/Carlton area. For my money I would look at Orleans on the transit way or a little further out Rockland but I don't know if the bus goes to Rockland. As for housing prices you are on your own there.

Embrun isn't considered to be a surburb of Ottawa, it's too far outside the city. You want to look at areas like Orleans, Kanata or Barrhaven. These are actual suburbs and have regular OC Transpo bus service.

You will be lucky to rent a nice detached home that's not a townhouse or condo unit for $2 000-$3 000 a month within 30 minutes drive to downtown. You can try the Manotick, Baarhaven areas but again the price range you are looking at you'll only get a townhouse, or condo. For comparison the average new house prices outside of the city 30-1hr away is $239 000

The two main suburbs would be Kanata in the west and Orleans in the east. Orleans is closer to downtown than Kanata and has better transit to the downtown core (I've lived in the east end and worked in the west end). Orleans is also considered better value for the money (Kanata is more expensive). You should be able to rent a single family home in the east-end market for under $3k/m easily (assuming you are looking for a standard 3-4 Bdrm/2 bthrm 1700-1800 sqr ft type of home).

Here's a link that might be helpful in looking for a rental in the Ottawa area:

http://orleans.rentershotline.ca/