What kind of budget have you got for rent? There's a HUGE difference between Oliver and Downtown. (Oliver - ~$800/mo for a 1 bdrm, Downtown proper - ~$1500+/mo for a similar size). That said, there's also a significant difference in how nice the places are. There are a bunch pf cheaper places downtown if you go east of 97St, but I would highly recommend against that. They're cheaper for a very good reason. I had a place there for the last year and if I hadn't known I would only be home 4 days a month I wouldn't have. That's where all the hookers, bums and drug addicts live. Oddly enough, your car and place will be perfectly safe. It's yourself that you need to worry about. Break-and-enters and theft from cars are virtually nonexisent, but assaults and muggings are through the roof. Don't go out alone after dark.
If you work near Kingsway, I would highly recommend trying to stay on the north side of the river. I worked there last winter and lived by Whyte Ave. Getting across the river at rush hour was incredibly frustrating - traffic jam all the way from Stony Plain Rd (103/104 Ave) to the top of Scona Road. It might be better now that Scona Road has another lane, but I moved before it opened and that still won't help with 98Ave. Whatever you do, don't get a place where you have to take the High Level bridge (109St.) home.
I would definitely recommend something Just north of the Yellowhead from Kingsway though. 97St., 107 Ave, 111Ave and 118 Ave all flow really well at rush hour, and the neighbourhood is pretty good. The buildings are certainly not new, but most of them have been taken pretty good care of, so they're still nice. The only downside I see is that it's a fair ways from any of the party spots, so if that's your thing, it might not be so great.
The worst race live is better than the best race on TV.
"Understeer is when you hit the wall with the front of the car and oversteer is when you hit the wall with the rear of the car. Horsepower is how fast you hit the wall, torque is how far you take the wall with you."
"Oversteer is best because you don't see the tree that kills you."
-- Richard Hammond, Top Gear - S2, Ep.5