Why does everyone love Montreal?

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Gerrard

Oh jeez I'm a total homer but I have little affection for Canada beyond my immediate borders. Having lived outside the country for years I suppose I just got used to Americans (and married one). They don't do this broken record thing. They have always been a welcome respite from the stifling provincialism of most Canadians.

And yet, Americans are some of the biggest cultural navel-gazers out there. That their gaze casts out over a larger territory than Quebec or Newfoundland or Slovenia doesn't change this fact.

I know that some will respond that they take in the best from around the world regardless of origin, but we should look at how these grafts take place: they generally take the talent or the concept and morph it into something that fits nicely into mainstream American and its world-view.

If they were really interested in the wider world the way it is, Shakira wouldn't have to sing in English to get them to take notice, they would have imported the British version of The Office, and 99 weeks out of 100 the New York Times best-seller list wouldn't have exactly ZERO books on it that were not originally written in English.

This may sound harsh and you might now be surprised to hear me conclude by saying that I really do like Americans a lot. I do. Honestly.

But I don't mistake them for something that they are not.

[Xelebes]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

Great post - but harsh examples.

Seriously, though... I do believe the generic Canadian identity as its promoted is basically the culture of southern Ontario, including Toronto. Which means I have to acknowledge it has a culture. No problem. Done.

But that I cannot relate to at all is the lack of confidence in it. Southern Ontario seems to be perpetually unsure of itself - always intellectually debating what separates it from the United States, searching for differences.

You don't see that in Quebec or Newfoundland. We're comfortable in our own skin and confident in our culture. It's already established.

We're not - as I interpret what's going on in southern Ontario - looking around at each other and having a conversation about, "Well... this is our culture too, right?" "Yeah, the Americans don't do it." "OK, so we're all agreed?"

I think much of Southern Ontario insecurity is embedded by historical events. They took invasions from the Americans with some form of regularity during the 19th century and unlike the Quebecois where the Americans had an insecure case of bringing them in, the Ontarioans were unfortunately very alike the New Yorkers and Ohioans.

You see some of it in Alberta too in the Ontarian hotspots (South Edmonton) but many other spots are quite secure. Many places in Alberta are dominated by old American settlers who decided to set up their farms in Canada instead of the US, like many of my ancestors.

[Surrealplaces]

....because it's the only place I know of where a Breakfast special consists of a Pepsi, a Joe Louis, and a pack of Export A

Seriously, it's just a nice city, and the mix of French and English makes for an interesting culture.

[Tony]

I think the fact that Old Montreal exists helps a lot of us urbanists appreciate Montreal. Toronto just doesn't have a large section with such intact old architecture anymore - granted a lot of it was lost in the great fire and the city is newer.

Montreal is like a mash up of Toronto and Quebec City - you get QC architecture & heritage, and upsize it to a Toronto-esque city size with a similar hustle & bustle and multiculturalism.

Montreal is also a very friendly city.

[BretttheRiderFan]

Tell you the truth I can't point to one thing about Montreal that makes me love it so much. It's just a combination of a lot of things, and is probably the most unique city in the country.

I'm torn between Montreal and New York as to what my favourite city on the continent is (out of the places I've visited).

[whiteford]

way to big of a list to post. the reasons are endless. jeez.

[Gerrard]

Originally Posted by Acajack

And yet, Americans are some of the biggest cultural navel-gazers out there. That their gaze casts out over a larger territory than Quebec or Newfoundland or Slovenia doesn't change this fact.

I know that some will respond that they take in the best from around the world regardless of origin, but we should look at how these grafts take place: they generally take the talent or the concept and morph it into something that fits nicely into mainstream American and its world-view.

If they were really interested in the wider world the way it is, Shakira wouldn't have to sing in English to get them to take notice, they would have imported the British version of The Office, and 99 weeks out of 100 the New York Times best-seller list wouldn't have exactly ZERO books on it that were not originally written in English.

This may sound harsh and you might now be surprised to hear me conclude by saying that I really do like Americans a lot. I do. Honestly.

But I don't mistake them for something that they are not.

I'm not sure the Office is a great example of culture in any country. Nor is Survivor etc. but American culture is so much more than that. I have this debate with my spouse all the time but what has happened in the last 40 years is a total shift in what and how America is defined. To me, the real representation of America are the New Yorkers and the the people of the original 13, not the mittle American values that politics plays to. Sometimes Americans are their own worst enemies in promoting this Rockwell version of a country that never really existed.

Taking the worst of American export culture and applying that broad stroke to the entire country is a mistake. Without the USA there would be no jazz or blues, there would be no rock n roll, there would be much less musical theatre, film would probably be a lot more dour. Television would never have risen to become an art form.

I think people tend to cast an unfavorably critical eye on American culture while ignoring the heaps of crap their own culture produces or fails to produce. It's easy to, they dominate like no other nation has in the history of this planet.

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by Gerrard

I think people tend to cast an unfavorably critical eye on American culture while ignoring the heaps of crap their own culture produces or fails to produce. It's easy to, they dominate like no other nation has in the history of this planet.

No question, a lot of Canadians take an unsubstantiated amount of pride in not being American, and have weird ideas about what the U.S. is like. I would never consider moving permanently to the U.S. (hey, I'm Canadian) but feeble, unjustified anti-Americanism is one of the ugliest Canadian traits.

[BretttheRiderFan]

Originally Posted by Gerrard

To me, the real representation of America are the New Yorkers and the the people of the original 13, not the mittle American values that politics plays to.

I kind of agree to an extent with what you're trying to say, but like Canada the US is a huge country of different regional cultures and values (probably more pronounced differences in fact) and just because the original 13 colonies were the US first, doesn't mean they are any more a "real representation" of America than places like California or Texas.

This is very much akin to people I've seen the past couple days saying that southern Ontario is "the real" Canada and other areas are simply deviations from the standard.

In my opinion, there simply is no such thing as "standard American" or "standard Canadian".

[MolsonExport]

Why does everyone love Montreal? Because it is Montreal, and there is nothing like it anywhere else. A great big bohemian mess that just oozes character. Oh, and it is filled with hot women.

Clues can be found in any Mr. John photothread on this great, great city.


Mr. John at SSP

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=201082&highlight=Montreal
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=201863&highlight=Montreal
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=202690&highlight=Montreal
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=200552&highlight=Montreal

[MonkeyRonin]

Most of Mr.John's threads make Montreal look kind of bleak & dreary, I must admit (an intriguing sort of dreariness, but dreary nonetheless).


I like Kilgore Trout's Montreal...

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by BretttheRiderFan

I kind of agree to an extent with what you're trying to say, but like Canada the US is a huge country of different regional cultures and values (probably more pronounced differences in fact) and just because the original 13 colonies were the US first, doesn't mean they are any more a "real representation" of America than places like California or Texas.

This is very much akin to people I've seen the past couple days saying that southern Ontario is "the real" Canada and other areas are simply deviations from the standard.

Yeah. What about the mythology of the frontier west, or the mountains, or the antebellum south, or the cultural mixing between the southwest and Mexico? These are all crucial parts of the American experience, just as the far north and Rockies and the prairies are just as much Canada as old York and the St. Lawrence seaway. Speaking of stifling provincialism!

[Jamaican-Phoenix]

I love Montreal because of its culture, attractions, beautiful women, character, quality of life, style, and food. There's just so many things the city does right. Every time I've gone to Montreal, it's been a memorable experience. While I may be living/working near the airport most of the time, I still take time to experience Montreal and it is a wonderful city to experience.

[Gerrard]

Originally Posted by Drybrain

Yeah. What about the mythology of the frontier west, or the mountains, or the antebellum south, or the cultural mixing between the southwest and Mexico? These are all crucial parts of the American experience, just as the far north and Rockies and the prairies are just as much Canada as old York and the St. Lawrence seaway. Speaking of stifling provincialism!

I suppose I didn't articulate it well enough. Yeah all those are part of America my point was what has becoming the definitive America in the media and more so in a politicized sense (in the American psyche itself) is not the America of quiet sophistication or Cosmopolitanism, which for me is its greatest characteristic. Populism has its merits but also some dreadful drawbacks.

[SignalHillHiker]

Also, most of our strippers/weirdest visiting cultural artists are from Montreal.

Presumably.

If you meet people begging for change in downtown St. John's who seem more hipster than homeless: Montreal OR any random place in continental western Europe.

If a stripper makes the news for any reason here (which happens with some regularity - don't forget we are the only province to have been dethroned from every national beauty pageant we ever won - including our most recent Miss Canada victory in 1998 or whenever it was - she beat up her ex's new GF in a bar): Montreal. Always Montreal.

ANYHOW... yeah.

Montreal fits well in St. John's.

• Video Link

[isaidso]

My reasons for loving Montreal:

- it was the premier city of Canada for over a century and it shows
- grand architecture from the banking halls on Rue St. Jacques to the row houses
- wonderful setting: islands, Mont Royal, bridges, etc.
- great clubs, restaurants, shopping, galleries, museums, sports, festivals
- vibrant, fun packed streets
- this is a city that cares about the public realm
- love love love the subway system
- Montreal has that special 'something' you can't simply manufacture

Other cities may grow bigger and taller, but Montreal will always hold a special place in Canada and north America. It's one of the world's great cities, imo.

[Black Star]

Possibly because Montreal has not won a cup since 1993

Wait...we haven't won one since 1990

[Allan83]

-gorgeous old architecture
-French culture
-great restaurants
-great arts scene, and an indie music scene that may be the best on the continent. People come from all over North America to be part of the Montreal music scene.

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by BLACK STAR

Possibly because Montreal has not won a cup since 1993

Montreal won the Cup in 2002, 2009, and 2010. Or did you mean that other Cup?

[Black Star]

Haha...Yup..Stanley The others are Swell also tho! Shit...we will take a participation Ribbon at this point!!!!