Anonymous wrote:I am an Anglophone Montrealer (I live in Ottawa now, but I am not the previous poster from Ottawa). I also speak French fluently by virtue of growing up in Quebec.
Montreal is a lovely city. These are the neighbourhoods I would recommend:
1) West Island (Pierrefonds, Pointe Claire, Kirkland, Dollard-des-Ormeaux). They are suburban neighbourhoods, but public transportation in Montreal is very good, so you and your kids will be able to get around fairly easily without a car.
2) Montreal West
3) NDG
4) Westmount (very expensive though)
5) Cote-de-Neiges
All of these neighbourhoods have lots of English speakers and you will be able to get services in English.
Your kids will become fluent in French very fast in the French schools. They will also be fluent in English, so they will be bilingual very quickly. The schools are very multi-cultural in general.
With regard to government services (including medical care), you may not be able to get services in English. That means that if you end up in the ER, the doctor or nurse may not speak English. So if your spouse is not bilingual, he/she would need to think about that.
With regard to the political situation, the Quebec government is trying to prevent Quebec from turning in Louisiana, where the French language has all but disappeared. Their methods are quite heavy-handed and controversial. However, day-to-day life in Montreal is peaceful. There is no sectarian violence like in other multi-cultural societies. It is quite a nice place to live.
OP here. Thank you so much for taking the time to type all this up; it’s very helpful to read and think about. I’ll look into the neighborhoods you mention.