Québec, QC
The capital city of Québec is the seventh largest city in Canada and the second largest in the province. Québec City has a long history that dates back to 1535 and today its Old Town is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It sits along the north bank of the Saint Lawrence River in the Saint Lawrence River valley, with the Laurentian Mountain just to the north. In short, it is a stunning city with a lot of culture, history and charm.
Over 800,000 people call Québec City home, nearly all of which are French speakers. The city’s English speaking community is predominantly in the Montcalm neighbourhood in La Cité, which is considered to be the city centre. La Cité is also home to the walled Old Town and is the top area in terms of things to see and do. Here, you will find such landmarks as Chateau Frontenac, Musée national des Beaux-arts du Québec and Musée de la civilisation à Québec. It is also a great area for shopping and dining, though it is not the best area to live in due to expense alone.
Being a predominately French-speaking city, it should be of no surprise that nearly all schools in the city are French, apart from three secondary schools, six primary schools and St. Lawrence College. Every other educational institutional in Québec City is a French-language school. Keep this in mind before decided exactly where to live in the city. Still, the public transportation system here is pretty good, with Réseau de transport de la Capitale (RTC) operating over 200 bus routes that travel through the entire city. It is also a bicycle-friendly city, with bike paths and segregated bike lanes found all over the city.
Québec City is an extremely safe place, especially for a city of its size. Most crimes are drunken brawls and take place after hours. This makes it a great place to raise a family. In fact, the median age in the city is 40, meaning there are a lot of young families living here. It is also a major centre for tourism, with most residents leading people to the Old Town for sightseeing, the Grande Allée and La Rue St. Jean for drinking, and the Ste-Foy district for shopping. Not to mention a visit to the historic Le Patriarche, which has been serving gourmet meals since 1965!
Jardins de l'hôtel de ville
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