Montreal is divided into nineteen boroughs, or arrondissements in French, which are further divided into districts. Here's a rundown of what to expect from some notable neighbourhoods in the city:

Borough Cote-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grace

Cote-des-Neiges: ethnically diverse with mostly low-rise structures and affordable apartments.

Notre Dame de Grace: also mostly low-rise buildings, though some of them are very large. Considered an Anglophone area.

Borough Le Plateau Mont Royal

Le Plateau: once popular with immigrants, now overtaken by young professionals mixed with families and French expatriates and considered the hippest neighbourhood. Housing is mainly row houses with some high-rise buildings.

McGill Ghetto: the proximity to McGill University makes it highly populated by students, but contrary to the "Ghetto" label, it is in no way a risk to live here.

Borough Ville-Marie

The old name of Montreal with the oldest neighbourhoods.

Centre-Ville/Downtown: very commercial and touristy, mostly high-rise apartment buildings with a sprinkle of traditional ones.

Vieux Montreal: mostly luxury residences with relatively rare or distant day-to-day conveniences.

Gay Village: most homosexual-friendly part in what is considered the most accepting city in the world.

Old Montreal: rich with history and all types of apartments, where yuppie agencies have taken shelter.

Borough Le Sud-Ouest

Saint-Henri: working-class neighbourhood with no high-rise buildings, only row houses and lofts. Recently became popular with hipsters and students.

Borough Outremont

Home of affluent Francophones and Hasidic Jews whose residences consist of duplexes--even triplexes!--as well as apartments.