Ste-Catherine in 1964
I have to admit this view of Ste-Catherine and St-Urbain looks livelier in 1964 than it does today, although the street paving element is weirdly familiar.
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Kate
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Ian 21:25 on 2019-08-18 Permalink
The old version looks like a city where you might be able to have some fun.
The contemporary version looks like a colony on a planet where you can’t breathe the air and the only thing to eat is parsnips, with a vast supporting bureaucracy around their growth..
Patrick 02:08 on 2019-08-19 Permalink
Always startling to see all the English on the signs. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a reference to the Red Feather–and I didn’t realize it was a specifically Protestant. I wonder how many of those old-school men-only taverns still exist in the city. Nothing on the tables except a salt shaker foaming up the beer. Of course, that would only make you more thirsty… Crazy, but any crazier than adding sea salt to chocolate?
Kate 07:21 on 2019-08-19 Permalink
Patrick, there are no men-only taverns now – haven’t been since the mid-1980s.
MarcG 08:28 on 2019-08-19 Permalink
You still see some relic “bienvenue aux dames” signs around but the one at de L’Eglise and de la Verendrye in Cote-Saint-Paul was recently turned into a vape shop or something.
DeWolf 12:10 on 2019-08-19 Permalink
Ian, are you really dissing Place des Arts, where kids run through the wading pool and people sit around eating ice cream and listening to music? Seriously?
Chris 19:21 on 2019-08-19 Permalink
DeWolf, but at what cost? In the old picture, motorists are able to use the street, and in the new picture they are being “punished” by having that space taken away from them! And clearly the air is less breathable without the wonderful automobile fragrance! Sarcasm off. 🙂
Ian 08:28 on 2019-08-20 Permalink
DeWolf, I was speaking (ok, writing) tongue in cheek, but since you take offense, yes, indeed I am dissing PdesA as urban design. It is an architectural wasteland.Yes, there are many humans there, making the best of an inhuman space, but it doesn’t make the space any less ugly and visually unwelcoming. As Kate points out, the 1964 version looks a lot livelier. Also, good luck funding any shade anywhere, but that’s another story.
Chris – never a wasted opportunity to trot out your favourite unrelated topics. I’m surprised you didn’t somehow shoehorn in that you’re an atheist.
Michael Black 08:38 on 2019-08-20 Permalink
Place des arts used to be a great space. There was grass and lots of people went there during lunch hour. Then they added the museum, and the grass was gone. Worse, there was a !ot more concrete. I remember seeing O Vertigo perform outside about 1992, and in the sun, that concrete was harsh on the eyes.
I haven’t gone near there in years, ever since they made the area into a permanent festival space.
Michael
CE 08:40 on 2019-08-20 Permalink
I don’t think PdA is too bad, it’s evolved into a pretty good public space. Complex Desjardins is another matter but even that has improved over the years as they’ve tried to put some street life on the street-facing parts (which apparently horrified the architect who believed the building should be inward facing and leave the street dead).