World Urban Forum 3 - Montreal Thoughts  This week is the third World Urban Forum (francais), "established by the United Nations to examine one of the most pressing issues facing the world today: rapid urbanization in a world where half of humanity lives in cities and where in the next 50 years that proportion is expected to reach two-thirds of the global population."
There are some real-life meetings happening in Vancouver, but the overall goal is to bring out discussion from across the world. Different cities face different conditions after all. Here's a blogosphere search for posts that link to the WUF site.
I posted some thoughts on my new city in a version of this thread at Urban Vancouver. Here are my thoughts on Montreal:
I think the redevelopment of the Parc and Pins intersection is a positive step. Opening up Mount-Royal to the downtown is an excellent plan and I hope it turns out well. The universities all seem to be growing (I know that McGill, Concordia and UQAM are) and this also bodes well for the city.
Montreal could badly use a better public transport link to the airport. The current setup involving bus switches is ridiculous. A high speed train line linking Montreal to Toronto (and maybe ottawa in between) would also be good for all the involved cities I think.
I think that downtown underground passages should be expanded. With Montreal's winter they can be a real boon. It wouldn't be too far to grow them West from peel to Concordia. Developments involving digging under things always seem to be really hard and take a loooong time, but I think this is an area where Montreal could find some positive long-term advantage.
Montreal would be at its best as a fully bilingual city. I think that Canada as a whole (and Montreal in particular) should take a good hard look at how we're teaching languages in the school system. Compared to some Europeans countries where multi-lingual fluency is the norm, we're way behind. There's a huge flow of smart people through Montreal's english language universities that the city doesn't keep since they can't work there without better French skills. The city would get a nice boost if it could keep more of the students that pass through. If Canada were ever to seriously look at this then Montreal is the natural place to start.
4 comments | Nobody has anything to say about Montreal? I would like to hear what you love or hate about your city. | | |
The Trudeau airport is building a rail link as part of this new Hotel construction that's going on. I'm not so sure I like the idea of more underground passages, rather I think the city could widen the sidewalks in heavy pedestrian areas such as St. Catherine street. More metros that run further would be nice, as would having more frequent trains. I'm glad that the city is doubling the price of parking, and hope that all the money flows to public transit. I'm also pleased with Charest's proposed tax on petroleum products and really happy that the money will all go to a green fund. Go Quebec sticking with Kyoto!
I think more people are learning french then ever before. 20 years ago there's no way I'd be as fluent in french as I am even thought I grew up here. But as for the students in the Universities, well it's really up to them to take the time to learn the language. There's no way to force them, and there are a multitude of programs that Canada offers if they so desire to learn french. I know someone who's here from Vancouver doing a month intensive french course that's paid for by the government, they even put her on welfare during the course of is so that she doesn't need to get a job.
More winter programs and festivals would be good. The city seems to die during the winter, and while there are days that are exceptionally cold, there's no reason why the city needs to shut down that completely.
And on this St. Jean Baptiste weekend I wish you all
Bonne fête!
| | |
Speaking of public transport, does anybody else remember those cool imaginary lines that used to be on Montreal metro maps in the 80's? The blue line that was supposed to extend to St-Leonard and that completely separate line that was to connect imaginary blue line with Pie-IX? Now, we only have the three imaginary stations to Laval.
This guy's Montreal metro fansite is awesome: http://www.metrodemontreal.com/index-e.html | | |
I love Montreal! If you’ve ever had the opportunity to live in other major Canadian cities, or have traveled to an extent, I’m sure you would agree that this city undoubtedly stands out. It has a joie de vie, as it goes, that sets itself apart from any other metropolis in the world. Still, it is not without its shortcomings. Here are a just a few elements of Montreal’s development, or lack thereof, that vividly stand out for me.
To begin, the development of Quartier International, for example, is ingenious. This area of downtown Montreal, which closely borders Vieux Montreal (also undergoing a fantastic rejuvenation), is heralded as one of Canada’s greatest projects in contemporary urban renewal. Nearly forgotten, this once bleak, aesthetically unpleasant area of unfortunate scraps left behind from the Ville-Marie expressway venture, is now a stunning and vibrant hub of the city’s business district. Anyone interested in this particular development- or in urban geography in general- should visit the following links: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quartier_international_de_Montr%C3%A9al or http://www.qimtl.qc.ca/project.php.
I agree, there should indeed be an expansion of Montreal’s Underground City. I would like to see it grow west beyond the Concordia ghetto, however, and over to Place Alexis Nihon. Currently, the west end of Ste. Catherine Street is shoddy, at best. This is the area once dominated by that ever so sacred shrine known as the Montreal Forum, home of les Habitants. It is now no more than a memory besieged with dilapidated buildings and closed shops. The Pepsi Forum Entertainment Complex has since taken its place ineffectively, unable to successfully draw a multitude of patrons back to the vicinity. But this shouldn’t be of any surprise. The walk from Atwater to the heart of downtown is lengthy and, again, unsightly. This area really needs help. Numerous groups have been lobbying to revitalize it now for years, but to no avail. What’s going on? Where’s the money? I hope they are one day successful. This will finally give people a reason to get off at Atwater Metro.
This area touches upon Montreal’s Golden Square Mile, another neighborhood that needs serious attention. Certainly, much of its affluence and beauty still shines through today, but the 1960s brought forth an onslaught of international style skyscrapers in Montreal, many of which were visually offensive and intrusive concrete apartment complexes in the west end. These buildings are ugly, simply put, and in dire need of facelifts. They are, ladies and gentlemen, a prime example of hasty, illogical urban development and definitely stick out like a sore thumb in Montreal. A quick glance of this area from Mount Royal and one would think he was in downtown Johannesburg. Thankfully, Montreal has lately been getting it right with regard to its skyscrapers. Magnificent examples include Le 1000 de la Gauchetière, Le 1250 Boulevard René-Lévesque, Place Montreal Trust, Tour Scotia, Tour Lépine I and II, Le Roc Fleuri, and Tour La Maritime. All of them, of course, adhere to Montreal’s strict fifty-one story maximum- in order to not obstruct the view of Mount Royal- and this should be applauded. In turn, Vancouver should follow suit (seeing that it was mentioned). Vancouver keeps testing the limits, and one day their infamous ‘view corridors’ are going to be blocked. Montreal is lucky because if they want to exceed the maximum height they simply need to build on lower ground from downtown. Vancouver doesn’t have such an option. My prediction is that this will slowly occur over time to the point where the majority of Montreal’s growth will be occurring south of the core. Le 1000 de la Gauchetière has perhaps initiated this.
And finally, I completely agree that Montreal would better succeed as a fully bilingual city. Language, and in particular the language laws in this province, is undeniably one of the central reasons why this amazing city does not flourish even more. Actually, while I’m at it I should also throw in politics to the mix. Whether you agree or disagree with the aforementioned, one thing is for certain, these issues turn a lot of stomachs. They do a great job at scaring people away. Thank goodness Montreal is at least labeled the best city in the world to set up and operate business, otherwise we would be losing more than we’re gaining. Hello, 401! Even the Bank of Montreal decided to pack its bags and head west to Hogtown. I think that says a lot. As long as we have to deal with these delicate issues, and I’m sure we will for years and years to come, Montreal will never expand at the rate of other major Canadian cities. Something needs to change drastically here.
| | |
|
|
|
|
Vorg — Tag Cloud
Written by dustin Latest PhotoQuote of Now:FriendsPopular PostsComputer Games
|
