Towered
Superstar
Montreal is just way cooler than Toronto in just about every way you can imagine.
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- Thread starter rdaner
- Start date
rdaner
Senior Member
Îlot des Voltigeurs (Quartier Molson) - 6 à 27 étages
Sur le site de CBC News Phase 1 of plans to revamp Montreal’s old Molson brewery elicits cautious approval Developers say priority is preserving site’s history, building a district for all Montrealers CBC News · Posted: Mar 13, 2022 4:00 AM ET | Last Updated: March 13 The Molson brewery...
forum.agoramtl.com
Northern Light
Superstar
Sooo...
This is not a post about 'inspiration' from Montreal......but this seemed the most apt spot.........
Just before Christmas, I was heading downtown, and set to catch the (currently) Spadina bus.
As I'm waiting, an older woman strikes up a conversation with me.............about how great the TTC is........... huh, LOL
So she's currently living in Montreal, has been the last few years..........
She goes on about how infuriating it is that buses in Montreal don't pull into the Metro Stations and there's a lack of indoor waiting area, which is terrible when its cold or wet out.
She also notes how much more frequent TTC buses are, saying she routinely has to wait 20-30M for buses in Montreal and rarely experiences that in Toronto.
***
I pushed back a bit, as you know UT, I love a good debate, and we talked about about public realm and design............and she agreed Montreal was prettier.......but then said, "But they don't maintain it" .........
"Everything is dirty, and cracked, and there are uneven sidewalks everywhere, and potholes that will blow a tire too"
I said, every place has its advantages and disadvantages........
She argued Toronto has more of the former and less of the latter.........though she conceded that on housing costs Montreal is a runway winner.
***
I just thought I'd share that, not to dump on Montreal in the least, nor to suggest some new found complacency about Toronto's shortcomings........... just a reminder that 'the grass is always greener' on your neighbour's lawn. LOL
This is not a post about 'inspiration' from Montreal......but this seemed the most apt spot.........
Just before Christmas, I was heading downtown, and set to catch the (currently) Spadina bus.
As I'm waiting, an older woman strikes up a conversation with me.............about how great the TTC is........... huh, LOL
So she's currently living in Montreal, has been the last few years..........
She goes on about how infuriating it is that buses in Montreal don't pull into the Metro Stations and there's a lack of indoor waiting area, which is terrible when its cold or wet out.
She also notes how much more frequent TTC buses are, saying she routinely has to wait 20-30M for buses in Montreal and rarely experiences that in Toronto.
***
I pushed back a bit, as you know UT, I love a good debate, and we talked about about public realm and design............and she agreed Montreal was prettier.......but then said, "But they don't maintain it" .........
"Everything is dirty, and cracked, and there are uneven sidewalks everywhere, and potholes that will blow a tire too"
I said, every place has its advantages and disadvantages........
She argued Toronto has more of the former and less of the latter.........though she conceded that on housing costs Montreal is a runway winner.
***
I just thought I'd share that, not to dump on Montreal in the least, nor to suggest some new found complacency about Toronto's shortcomings........... just a reminder that 'the grass is always greener' on your neighbour's lawn. LOL
Bayer
Senior Member
I'm an ex-Québécois whose hometown is 45 minutes away from Montréal; my first memory of it is visiting Expo 67. When it was time to choose, I chose Toronto and I would do so again without hesitation. As I mentioned here before deleting my post because I didn't want to start a debate, the last time I visited, in 2019, my husband and I had lunch at the top of Place Ville-Marie and ordered glasses of champagne to celebrate our departure.
One of my biggest annoyances during that trip: the subway. The newer trains are very pretty. But they are not frequent enough; they are not air-conditioned; they are very noisy and uncomfortable. They are a reflection of the city in general - superficial beauty covering decay and dysfunction.
christiesplits
Senior Member
On the topic of buses, Toronto has better bus coverage and frequency in the inner and outer suburbs than Montreal.
Towered
Superstar
How can newer trains not have air conditioning? That would be standard by now???
Bayer
Senior Member
No heating either! Back in 2010 when they were considering the new trains, the transit authority said air conditioning was too expensive - $50 million + $75 million in operating costs over 40 years, and that besides, it would... warm up the stations. It was reported in 2017 that temperatures could easily reach 30 °C in the trains.
And let me talk about the time when I had a medical emergency and spent the day at Montreal General Hospital, which the paramedics who brought me there assured me was the best hospital available then. I was put in a common room with no dividers along with at least a dozen sick people. It reminded me of the hospital scenes in Denys Arcand's film The Barbarian Invasions, which I thought at the time had been wildly exaggerated.
I'm self-employed and can work wherever I want; I could move there at any time to take advantage of the pretty pedestrianized bits of street and the messes of overlapping elevated highways, but I would have to pay at last count about $7,000 more a year in income taxes for the privilege.
jje1000
Senior Member
As someone who enjoys a mere aesthetic dusting of snow rather than real snowstorms, Toronto is blessed to be more southerly than Ottawa and Montreal, and also outside the Great Lakes lake-effect snowbelt.
just east of the creek
Senior Member
I was passing through downtown Montreal towards the Jacques Cartier and noticed that the gutting of the waterfront Molson's facility is well underway. I know there is a substantial revitalization project attached to this redevelopment (and incorporation of the older parts of the Molsons complex) and the surrounding area. Not sure there are many details on UT.
Northern Light
Superstar
Don't recall seeing it here........
But if you were interested......Storeys had a piece on it in December:
Iconic Molson Brewery Is Getting A Master-Planned Makeover
Earlier this week, it was announced that the iconic former Molson brewery in Montreal would be redeveloped to deliver a mixed-use master-planned neighbourhood that would house a "vast" public park, a wide array of retail, office, community, and commercial spaces, and around 5,000 new housing...
storeys.com
The project is called Quartier Molson
rdaner
Senior Member
Here. Lots of images.Îlot des Voltigeurs (Quartier Molson) - 6 à 27 étages
Sur le site de CBC News Phase 1 of plans to revamp Montreal’s old Molson brewery elicits cautious approval Developers say priority is preserving site’s history, building a district for all Montrealers CBC News · Posted: Mar 13, 2022 4:00 AM ET | Last Updated: March 13 The Molson brewery...
just east of the creek
Senior Member
I had another look today, but it was dark as I was delayed by the snow. It’s an interesting area. But how do you build linkages across the Ville Marie through an arid stretch of office towers (CBC etc)? And then you do not actually have an active waterfront as the railway yard servicing the Port of Montreal occupies the waterfront. And to the east you have a awkward stretch reaching through the Jacques Cartier, the edge of the Port, the truck traffic along Viger and Norte Dame, before you can connect with the expanded neighbourhoods building along Lorimer. All the power to them, but this strikes me as an awkward fit.Don't recall seeing it here........
But if you were interested......Storeys had a piece on it in December:
Iconic Molson Brewery Is Getting A Master-Planned Makeover
Earlier this week, it was announced that the iconic former Molson brewery in Montreal would be redeveloped to deliver a mixed-use master-planned neighbourhood that would house a "vast" public park, a wide array of retail, office, community, and commercial spaces, and around 5,000 new housing...
The project is called Quartier Molson
Northern Light
Superstar
This is the project website: (English)
The time has come | Quartier Molson
A Montreal icon awakens as a riverside neighbourhood
How's your French? There's a link off of the site above to the detailed plan, en Francais.
There's also an FAQ worth looking at:
Frequently asked questions | Quartier Molson
The Quartier Molson neighbourhood opens as a thriving hub for family life, culture, and business at the threshold of downtown Montreal.
6ixGod
Active Member
Lived in Toronto all my life, I view Montreal no differently than say I would Edmonton or Boston. It’s more of an afterthought to be frankly honest. Sure, there’s a cultural and sports rivalry between the cities, but when it comes down to everyday life….I’m really not concerned about them.
That city had everything placed into its lap over a span of 150 years.
Toronto woke up one day and overtook Montreal in every socioeconomic indicator within a span of 20 years and never looked back.
The only inspiration from Montreal I would want Toronto to take is to use them as an example of how NOT to run your city in the ground.
That city had everything placed into its lap over a span of 150 years.
Toronto woke up one day and overtook Montreal in every socioeconomic indicator within a span of 20 years and never looked back.
The only inspiration from Montreal I would want Toronto to take is to use them as an example of how NOT to run your city in the ground.
rdaner
Senior Member
Turning railway lands into parkland: How cities are reinventing public space
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