You do want to live in a quiet area or would you prefer an area with lots of activity? In additon, do you prefer the English part of the city or the French part? The downtown area is generally very busy and is home to many students who study at McGill and Concordia. It is costly to live downtown, however if you're a student you can probably get some type of deal for on-campus accomodations. Another area that borders downtown is Westmount and it is the most expensive area in the city. It is a majority English speaking town.
If you prefer a quiet area, away from all the hustle and bussle, then there are many neighborhoods to choose from. Cote St.Luc is a nice quiet neighborhood in the west end of the city. The vast majority of the citizens there are English speaking and the area is more affordable than downtown. Another nice, quiet neighborhood is the borough of Saint Laurent. Area is also quite affordable.
Park Extension is probably the cheapest of the neighborhoods located in the center of the city. It is a multi ethinc area where lots of immigrants settle. However, the area is quite busy, particularly between Park Avenue (where the old train station is located) and TMR. TMR (Town of Mount Royal) borders with Park Extension, but is far more expensive to live there. It is a very quiet neighborhood. Nice thing is you got the subway close by.
Another area popular for immigrants is the CDN/NDG borough. CDN (Cote De Nieges) is a very busy neighborhood and proximitywise is located near the downtown area. The area is not as expensive as downtown.
If you want to live in an almost exclusively English speaking area of Montreal, then the West Island would be your best bet by far. It is very affordable and has numerous towns to choose from. I would suggest Pointe Claire, very nice town, particularly if you have a family. The drawback about the West Island though is public transit ... or lack of it. You would pretty much need a vehicle to get around.
If you want to live in a neighborhood with shopping facilities and public transit close by, then I would suggest, downtown (underground city and Saint Catherine Street), Cote De Nieges (Rockland Mall close by), Saint Laurent (Place Vertu Mall close by) or Park Extension (Rockland Mall close by). The West Island only has the Fairview Mall.
