Quote:
Originally Posted by hipster duck
I'm not sure if you've ever been, Martin, but one of the best analogies I can give is that Old Quebec reminds me of Edinburgh, and Old Montreal reminds me of Glasgow.
The differences are the same: central Edinburgh reflects pre-industrial Scotland, and central Glasgow reflects Scottish commerce at the height of the industrial revolution. The same things are at play in Old Quebec vs. Old Montreal.
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I've never been, but from what I heard, I think the comparison makes sense. The thing is, Quebec city stopped being an important commercial center very early, living that role to Montreal. Old Quebec didn't see a lot of changes after that, so it kept its french colonial architecture; while Montreal boomed commercially during the 19th century to become Canada's metropolis until mid-20th century, so it lost most of its french colonial heritage in favour of Scottish and British commercial build-form, which you almost don't have in Old Quebec.
Old Quebec ressembles small town France like Dijon. Old Montreal looks more like Glasgow. Very different, therefore tricky to compare.
Of course, if "old world charm" means french colonial architecture, then, yes, Old Quebec blows Old Montreal out of the water. But if you happen to like more victorian architecture and more monumental, commercial and administrative build-form, then Old Montreal easily dominates.
I think we are incredibly lucky to have both.
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