Hi everyone!
I will be moving to Hamilton and I was wondering which are the good neighbourhoods near McMaster and where to look for a housing. I hope you have some advise for me.

Anything westwards of HWY 403 is decent/semi-decent (Dundas and anything North of Main Street being the best areas to live). Anything eastwards HWY 403 is basically a mine field.

What program are you doing?

In my 4 years at Mac, GENERALLY, many of the houses to the East of campus are actual families with children and seniors. The majority of off campus students are in the houses on the West and South of campus. Take this with a grain of salt as this is just what I noticed having lived on both sides and walking around the area.

If you're not aware, check out the Mac Off Campus Housing website as a resource to find nearby housing https://macoffcampus.mcmaster .ca/classifieds/category/student-rentals/

Also be sure to check out Mac's official off campus resource centre for general information, landlords to avoid, tenant rights, etc. (https://macoffcampus.mcmaster .ca/)

Do you drive or need bus route

Thank for the answers! That's really helpful.

Most of the rooms I have looked into are within walking distance to campus so it should be OK I guess.
I noticed that there are quite a few rooms available in Ainslie Wood at a reasonable price. On Google Street View it seems to be OK. Do you have any advice concerning this neighbourhood?

Just out of curiosity, is it really that bad eastwards HWY 403? I have read some articles which were not very encouraging...

@GeorgeLucas: Mechanical Engineering

Just out of curiosity, is it really that bad eastwards HWY 403?

Yes, it's pretty bad. Strathcona is alright, can be hit and miss, but you can find something semi decent.

Other than that, anything northwards of King Street, is pretty much a dumpster. Lots of crime is happening there. Especially eastwards of downtown, it's pretty much Detroit.

Southwards of King Street it's moslty bad, but getting better as you get closer to the mountain (so closer to Aberdeen). Aberdeen is normally a very nice place to live, there are rich houses that were converted to rent out 1 bedroom units. If u get them you are golden.

Oh, and all tall appartment buildings (except for the newly built obviously) are dumps, they usually have constant roach and bedbug problems. I remember a building where a lot of vietnamese families lived, so the halls and the stairs smelled like badly cooked fish all the way to the top. It's pretty terrible, might sound racist but it's the fact.

Rule of thumb is, anything owned by Effort Trust is aids, avoid it.

I was checking out some 1 bedroom appartments between King and Aberdeen earlier this months, they were ranging from cozy, to mediocre (if it was cleaned), to a dumpster that smells like wet potatoes. They were all in the same price range too. The really shitty ones are usually old houses that were converted to apparments, because they don't have proper ventilation or AC. Unless it's some rich house like at Aberdeen (as mentioned above).

@GeorgeLucas: Mechanical Engineering

Right on, who's your super?

Ainslie Wood

It's no palaces there, but generally safe and clean (more or less).

I've lived in the Ainslie Woods area for the past three years and I've found it to be really quiet, safe, and somewhat closer to nature. I also feel it's much safer. I also prefer being on this side because I shop at Fortinos a lot and the one here is much better than the one at Dundurn.

Tall apartment buildings in Hamilton are dumps, seconded. Cockroaches, mice, and bedbugs. I'd also note certain people in this city carry tuberculosis or malaria. Visit and smell the building, walk the prospective neighbourhood at night, then go with your gut. If you don't visit the building beforehand then you have a chance of ending up living like the poor people, and if you're going to University I can guarantee you wouldn't be able to handle living like the poor.

These authors seems well acquainted with the slum buildings and most sought after neighborhoods. Well lots of insights. Thank God for speaking up. Good luck with your search. I can't spend a low four figure rent for a suite, when an autistic/ immigrants ( no prejudice) members make loud and disturbing melody above.
Apartment is for immigrants and those geeks with no clue of what they are missing, just joking, no prejudice

Originally Posted by UnicornRainbo

These authors seems well acquainted with the slum buildings and most sought after neighborhoods. Well lots of insights. Thank God for speaking up. Good luck with your search. I can't spend a low four figure rent for a suite, when an autistic/ immigrants ( no prejudice) members make loud and disturbing melody above.
Apartment is for immigrants and those geeks with no clue of what they are missing, just joking, no prejudice

Not really a prejudice when stereotypes are true.

On same floor as me, but on the other side of the building, there's an apartment rented out to black students. There's always reggaeton and loud screaming there whenever I pass their apartment. If I was their neighbor I'd be probably calling cops every day. At least they have a courtesy to use the party room downstairs and be loud after hours there.

Oh also there's a Canadian redneck family with a baby living on my floor (which is like a super rare occasion in my building, as my building is mostly middle class/elderly), they are both working part time I think. They are always high and like to smell up the floor with weed and shit. Fucking hate it.

Of course in both cases, the units are rented, and I guess people today shit where they live if they don't own the place (which is almost always the case in today's economy).

That's the reality of living in Canada now, it's either that or moving to Asia.

Well, with apartments, it's more a case of people being jammed in so close that they have no option but to infringe on other people's peace. The people next door to me used to listen to dancehall all day while they were working on their cars out front, but as long as the bass wasn't up I had no problem with it because I live in a separated brick house.

Nobody can be quiet and unsmelly all day, eventually the effort drives you nuts. And even if your apartment neighbour is just a little old lady talking to her cat, eventually even the sound of that coming thru the wall will get on your nerves.

It's too bad there's not more basement and second/third floor apartments in houses in this city. Those are great to live in.

But as my parents used to say, such is life for the poor people. You're not one of the poor people, because the government has locked the poor out of university for 20 years. So if you've chosen to live like the poor people, deal with it. If instead your mommy and daddy live in a million dollar home in Brampton and are paying for your education, then they should buy you a lakeshore condo in Burlington for your 4 years at Mac too so that you can live according to your privilege and birthright. Hell, the money they make on the equity net of fees over those 4 years will pay for your tuition and living expenses.

Got it right buddy, I appreciate your articulate work, very informative and got very good argument with words of right weight cheers