Why does everyone love Montreal?

[Ramako]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Looking at this from another angle (possibly from the dark side of the yang)...

I do think that most of the Montreal lovers in the ROC are sincere, but I have often wondered if some of the love from certain people isn't more because they don't want to appear anti-French or anti-la différence. People don't want to be judged as unsophisticated yokels who can't appreciate a really different city, and because of this, love for Montreal becomes de rigueur and the generalized view.

Sort of like Americans who say Michelle Obama is beautiful or gorgeous because they don't want to appear racist.

Speaking as a Torontonian, I feel a kind of kinship with Montreal. We share so much: Love of hockey, sporting rivalries, at some point having been the country's biggest city and financial capital, old-school central Canadian "Laurentian Consensus" politics, music scenes (Metric, Stars, etc.), pre-war architecture, hip neighbourhoods, great restaurants... Montreal's also only a few hours drive from Toronto, and everyone in Toronto has friends in Montreal and vice-versa. So Montreal's never felt like another city somewhere else but more like your best friend's house down the street (the street in this case being the 401). So it's in my interest to see Montreal in the best light because it's something that I get to partake in, and not just watch from a distance.