Gloucester spans a large area. Surrounded by Greenbelt parklands, it has over 100,000 residents and many communities. Carson Grove and Pinelands offer a range of low and medium density housing, Rothwell Village and Beaconwood have ready access to the Transitway and a mix of older homes and new construction. The communities of Beacon Hill North and South communities are about 30 years old and surrounded on three sides by parkland.

Gloucester has a number of schools and family facilities and excellent recreational facilities, including swimming pools, arenas, golf courses, hiking and ski trails and pathways by the Ottawa River.

There is a wide range of businesses in the area including aerospace, mobile communications and power generation.

• Gloucester Shopping Centre and Elmvale Mall.

Vanier is located in the east of Ottawa, across the Rideau River from Sandy Hill, south of Rockcliffe Park and New Edinburgh and west of Gloucester. Vanier has a predominantly bilingual (French/English) population. Ideally situated, it is a 10-minute drive from downtown.

Centred around Montreal Road and St. Laurent Boulevard, Vanier has many strip malls, retail outlets, and subsidized housing developments. The population is about 17,000 residents.

Landmarks include the St. Laurent Shopping Centre, Lynx Triple "A" Baseball Stadium, Canada Science and Technology Museum, Canada Aviation Museum and Agriculture Museum of Canada.

The ByWard Market is a bustling hub of restaurants, cafes, bars and an outdoor market as its name suggests. Located in the heart of downtown, near Parliament Hill, the Rideau (shopping) Centre, the National Arts Centre, the National Gallery Canada, as well as a number of foreign embassies, the Byward Market is a great place to work, shop and live.
A busy market/restaurant scene by day, the Market turns into a club hub at night, although most premises shut down by 2am.

The Market has seen strong growth in the residential sector over the last few years, with everything from luxury Ottawa condos to affordable housing. The neighbourhood is very mixed, with professionals, families and singles all living in this area. Alongside excellent choices for shopping and dining, you'll find a community centre, childcare, schools, parks and places of worship.

There is easy access to public transit as well as the bicycle paths along the Ottawa River. The Lowertown West Community Association meets monthly to discuss topics of interest and concern to the community and welcomes new members.

Within Sandy Hill lives an interesting mix of families - many from the diplomatic community - as well as professionals and students. Located just east of downtown and close to the University of Ottawa, the neighbourhood borders the Rideau Canal on the west and the Rideau River on the east. The area is named for its hilliness and its sandy soil, which makes it difficult to construct large buildings.

Known for its rich and varied architecture, in a five-minute drive through the community you may see a dozen different house styles, ranging from Spanish Colonial Revival and Victorian, to Georgian and Romanesque.

Notable landmarks include Laurier House (former residence of two Canadian Prime Ministers, Sir Wilfrid Laurier and William Lyon Mackenzie King), University of Ottawa, and Strathcona Park, a fifteen-acre park with fountains, a wading pool and theatre performances in summer.

Sandy Hill is very close to downtown, especially to the Rideau Centre, a prime shopping area. As of 2001, Sandy Hill’s population was 12,630 residents. The area is well served by community centres, day care and the Transitway bus service passes right by the university.

Old Ottawa South, one of the older neighbourhoods in Ottawa as indicated by its name, is centred around a compact community located between the Rideau Canal (to the north), the Rideau River (to the south), Main Street to the east and Bronson Avenue to the west.
With excellent proximity for canal skating in winter, cycling and jogging in summer, and shopping in the nearby Glebe area all year round, Old Ottawa South offers its residents a mix of Ottawa’s popular activities.

About 8,000 people live in this tight-knit community, which has a strong community association. Ideal for families, Carleton University is situated on the other side of Bronson Avenue. Mooney’s Bay, Ottawa’s largest beach and host to the Alcatel Hope volleyball tournament and Dragonboat Races in summer, is a short drive away.

For people who regularly entertain out-of-town visitors, or travel outside of the city for work, the Ottawa International Airport (McDonald Cartier Airport) is a 15 minute drive via Bronson Avenue, which becomes the Airport Parkway. You can also get to the airport via OC Transpo's rapid transit route 96 or 97 (signed AIRPORT) at Billings Bridge Transitway Station.

Alta Vista consists of a number of smaller communities, including Applewood Acres, Billings, Canterbury, Elmvale Acres, Faircrest, Guildwood Estates, Playfair Park, Rideau Park, Urbandale and Urbandale Acres. Named for the height of the neighbourhood – higher than most other Ottawa communities - Alta Vista also has a large amount of green space and park lands. It contains several schools, churches, and community centers. The population was estimated to be 46,500 in 2006.

Alta Vista is located close to some of Ottawa’s major hospitals. The General Campus of the Ottawa Hospital and The Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario are located just to the north of Smyth Road in Riverview, while the Riverside Campus of the Ottawa Hospital is located at Smyth and Riverside Drive.

The public transit system (OC Transpo) has two stations within Alta Vista (Pleasant Park and Riverside) and two just outside (Billings Bridge and Smyth), serving as a vital transportation link to the rest of the city.

• Billings Bridge Plaza Shopping Centre at Bank Street and Riverside
• Elmvale Shopping Centre at St. Laurent and Smyth

The Glebe neighbourhood is a wealthy pocket located within Centretown. Extending south from the 417 and mainly centred between Bronson Street and the Rideau Canal, it is defined by its Victorian, Tudor, Gothic Revival and Georgian style houses, bohemian cafes and boutique shops.

Residential three-storey single family brick homes and row units, with more rooms than the city average, characterize this area. The stretch of Bank Street that runs through the Glebe is one of Ottawa’s premier shopping areas.

The Glebe is blessed with the facilities of Lansdowne Park and within it the Frank Clair Stadium (home to the Ottawa 67s hockey team); and the Ottawa Civic Centre, a 10,000 seat multi-purpose building that hosts an impressive variety of commercial stage shows, international competitions and major sporting events.

The Glebe has developed a strong and 'patriotic' local community. Popular with senior federal government employees and mostly populated by families, it has a number of schools, a strong community centre culture, and the "Great Glebe Garage Sale", held on the last Saturday in May.

Centretown, together with the Byward Market, can be defined as the heart of Ottawa. Bounded on the north by Gloucester Street and Lisgar Street, on the east by the Rideau Canal, on the south by the Queensway Freeway and on the west by Bronson Avenue,
Centretown has a mix of residential and commercial properties.

The main streets of Bank, Elgin and Somerset are largely commercial with unique shops and restaurants. The smaller streets are more residential. Most of the area consists of single family homes, but there are also town houses and a number of low-rise and high-rise apartment buildings. A construction boom that began in the mid-to-late nineties (and as of 2006 has not yet ended) has significantly increased the number of both residential and commercial high-rise buildings.

Landmarks include Parliament Hill, the Supreme Court, the National Museum of Natural Sciences, the National Arts Center, the Rideau Canal, Canadian Museum of Nature, the Ottawa Curling Club and the Ottawa bus terminal.

Starting life in the early 1800s as a community to serve the lumber mill workers on the nearby Chaudiere and Victoria Islands, Lebreton Flats was once the heart of Ottawa’s logging sector, with a train station and yards, housing, hotels and taverns.

With the departure of industry from Ottawa, Lebreton Flats was largely left alone. Little trace of its former life remains today as the housing and hotels were pulled down, the train station dismantled and the yards left to overgrow.

However, Lebreton Flats looks set to become an important heart once more. It enjoys close proximity to downtown Ottawa (5 minutes’ drive), while the arrival of the Canadian War Museum in 2005 signaled renewed interest in the area.

As one of the last waterfront pieces of real estate in the downtown area, Lebreton Flats will be retained in public hands as open space, with an emphasis on public access and cultural and office uses of national and capital significance. There are plans to use the remainder of the site for housing, commercial space, offices and parkland. A "LeBreton Common" will be provided as a major gathering place and stage for events. Significant condominium development is already underway.

About 9,185 people live in this area, which is connected to the transit route at Lebreton Station, on its journey between Ottawa and Kanata.