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Comment by ArcticCelt | Hacker News Reader

To anyone interested to learn the cost of living in different places, I live in Montreal (Canada) and think it's a god damn cheap place to live. I pay $405 for a spacious 3 1/2 with parking (+$45 electric bill). There is plenty of entertainment in this city too. Also as a Canadian I don't have to worry about health care. So if you ask me, I think I am in a good spot for a start up.

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Do you know any U.S. tech types who've made the move up there, and what their experience has been like?

I spent a week in Montréal for the 2001 Yet Another Perl Conference (YAPC) followed by some sightseeing, and while it was sweltering and they had us stuffed in the McGill dorms (no A/C; needed to keep the window open) while Katie Holmes' latest movie was filming night scenes all night long outside (wishing I could close the window), it was still a great week and a wonderful city experience.

I was a bit clueless, and I really owe it to the local Perl community for being gracious enough to put up with me. If any of you are on here, cheers!

Edit: More than a bit, really.

In comparison to urban BC, where a studio costs $850 (in a nice building in a nice suburb), and $15 electric. I just checked craiglist, and it seems like your rent is at least $200 cheaper than everywhere else. Rent has gone up by several hundred dollars everywhere in canada it seems.

What does 3 1/2 mean?

I believe he means three and a half bedroom, though normally they also give the number of bathrooms too. Eg: 3 bedroom, 2 1/2 bathroom apartment.

No, the half is the bathroom. So 3 1/2 is 3 rooms and a bathroom. The three rooms could be 2 bedrooms and a kitchen but it's more likely a bedroom, a living room and a kitchen.

It's Montreal for 1 bedroom, 1 kitchen, 1 livingroom and a bathroom.

Ah. Thanks. In Japan they do nLDK: n Bedroom + Living/Dining/Kitchen (1LDK, 2LDK).

Is it important to be able to speak French there?

Not essential, but does not hurt to know common phrases

Correction: No, not essential but someone will eventually treat you like shit because you don't speak french, and it's going to be offensive and feel like overt racism, but it'll happen rarely. </rant>

Not as bad as being in France, even when you just have a connection at the international airport and have to get somewhere it is very common to have people look down on you because you are trying to get their attention in English.

Never had a problem personally. If you're going to France, just learn five words and you're good:

"Excuse-moi, parlez-vous anglais?" ("Excuse me, do you speak English?")

(phonetically that's roughly "ex-cues-eh-mwah, par-lay-voo an-glays" with a little emphasis on the "glays", just say it fast and it'll sound recognizable)

You might get no. Then you say, "Oh... no parlez-vous francais... do you know where xyz thing is... xyz thing... xyz thing... y'know xyz thing..." Eventually they'll get it. The two-second politeness of addressing someone in French has always been enough for me.

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