[kool maudit]

i arrived in montreal in 1995. it felt very different than it does today, and there was an enormous sense that most things of significance were happening elsewhere. the city was totally anomalous in the canadian context — it was fractious and unmoored, and had the visual aspect of a philadelphia or a cleveland. there were outdated signs and cars, and a lot of rusty infrastructure. the latter is still there, of course, and in many cases is even rustier, but things like the lachine canal reconstruction and the parc/des pins adaptation give it a different sense; one does not feel that it will remain in state forever.

the anglo scene that now animates mile-end was then located in the southwestern plateau, on streets like coloniale and hotel-de-ville. it was far less common to encounter someone whose big ideas were related to money or success; marginal creative projects were more the norm. i miss that city, but recognize it as a somewhat perverse form of missing, and one that is related to the universal missing of one's youth. i was 18, 19, 20 in those years. rent was cheap. but today's montreal is the greater city.