A few more Montreal ones to complement what MolsonExport has already posted...
THINKING BIG
- SQUARES: Montreal has a lot of historic squares that break up the urban fabric and give the city some beautiful public spaces. In many neighbourhoods they serve as a locus of civic life. They usually have a central feature like a fountain or a statue, and lots of benches and other types of seating. They make the city feel human-scaled and pleasurable to walk around. This is common in Europe but unusual in North America, where most cities have parks and playgrounds but not these kinds of formal historic squares. It has only been within the last 20 years that most Canadian cities have begun building squares – Dundas Square, Berczy Park, the giant sparrow square in Vancouver's Olympic Village.
- CHURCHES: The churches here are very impressive. It's a reflection of the time when the church dominated every aspect of Quebec life (pretty much the definition of provincial) but they give the city a grander scale than it would otherwise have.
- BIKE INFRASTRUCTURE: Montreal got a head start in the 1980s with Canada's first network of on-street separated bike paths which helped cultivate a very robust cycling culture. It lagged behind in bike infrastructure for many years, but thanks to Projet Montréal there is a renewed focus on bringing things up to a world-class standard. The existing paths have been improved with planted medians and a new network called the Réseau Express Vélo is under construction with a level of quality reminiscent of Copenhagen.
- NEW NEIGHBOURHOODS: The master planning of new infill neighbourhoods is finally beginning to feel like it's catching up to international best practices. The Quartier des lumières (on the former Radio-Canada site) and the Molson Brewery redevelopment both call for very dense, mid-to-high rise blocks that resemble what is being built in Paris or London. It's a far cry from the lower-density infill that was built from the 1970s to early 2000s.
- QUARTIER DES SPECTACLES: This has been a very ambitious transformation of a large sector of downtown through new cultural venues, housing and most importantly some very interesting public spaces. This area used to feel like a real patchwork with a lot of vacant lots and surface parking lots, but now it feels like something cohesive.
- REVAMPED STREETS: A lot of streets are getting makeovers that are more pedestrian-friendly with attractive finishings instead of the usual concrete-and-asphalt mess you see in North America. St-Paul Street in Old Montreal and Ste-Catherine Street are the main ones, but there are other examples like Murray Street in Griffintown, a redesigned Prince Arthur Street on the Plateau and the rebuilt Plaza St-Hubert.
THINKING SMALL
- 1970s-90S INFILL: Montreal's economy was so bad in the 90s, it felt like a lot of people just kind of gave up on the idea of being a big city. The kinds of projects that were approved from the 1970s to the early 2000s were small-minded and suburban. The railyards in Little Burgundy were developed with low-density rowhouses with street-facing garages even though they are within walking distance of downtown. Big box, car-oriented development was approved for the empty lots around Marché Central, the city's wholesale market, and it now looks like something you'd find on the far edges of Vaughan or Laval, despite being surrounded by dense neighbourhoods. The Angus Yards development in Rosemont that started in the late 90s is also very suburban in feel with little duplexes and driveways.
- GRIFFINTOWN: Although it is extremely dense, the redevelopment of Griffintown is a legacy of the weak 90s economy when the city was so desperate for new development it was willing to approve anything. There was no foresight or planning, just a lot of slapdash buildings with horrendous architecture. Luckily the city is rectifying its mistakes by building new public spaces and redesigning streets to be more pedestrian-friendly. For me, Griffintown marks the transition from a small-minded era to one when Montreal is once again thinking in terms that are more ambitious.
- PEDESTRIAN STREET AND BIKE LANE HYSTERIA: This summer really highlighted the tension between the more broad-minded and insular segments of Montreal's population. Projects like the REV and the summertime pedestrianization of Mont-Royal Avenue prompted a hysterical reaction from right-wing tabloid media that seemed to reflect a very provincial or suburban view of the city as a place where you should get around by car and be given free parking right in front of your destination. Luckily the Mont-Royal pedestrianization was such a resounding success it will likely be repeated next summer.
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Last edited by Kilgore Trout; Oct 1, 2020 at 2:27 PM.
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