Updates from February, 2019 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

  • Kate 23:50 on 2019-02-05 Permalink | Reply  

    This winter’s tendency to fluctuate between deep-freezes and thaws is a little unusual but winter thaws may become more typical as climate change continues. The city has started pothole repairs in response to the damage the yo-yo temperatures are doing to street surfaces.

    Tuesday morning there were great slushy lakes at almost every corner in my neighbourhood. Getting to the metro was an obstacle course. At St-Denis and Jarry the corner lake stretched halfway across the street. One problem is that when you plow a sidewalk you tend to create ridges at both sides, which later become ice dams capable of holding in surprisingly deep puddles.

     

    • Tux 00:37 on 2019-02-08 Permalink

      Queen Mary / Decarie is an absolute pothole minefield.

  • Kate 22:26 on 2019-02-05 Permalink | Reply  

    Outremont has made a pragmatic decision over a synagogue on Bernard Street, a deal that will revive a building not just for religious but also for commercial use. But some residents may still be up for a fight.

    All of Montreal’s major commercial streets have some religious buildings, and it’s not a problem. Wellington Street has the massive Sept Douleurs at de l’Église. Mont-Royal has Très Saint Sacrement just east of the metro station, which occupies a whole block. Bernard Street already has a small Baptist church at the corner of Durocher. Ste-Catherine has St James United, Christ Church Cathedral and others. I could go on.

    But this is the thing: a real city street is not a mall. Yes, there will be commercial frontages, but there will be other things – churches, schools, libraries, clinics, banks. Human beings don’t only shop. We do other stuff too. Outremont’s naysayers would do well to keep this in mind.

     

    • Kate 22:15 on 2019-02-05 Permalink | Reply  

      Montreal’s Chinatown is tiny, and people concerned with it want more consultations with the city.

       

      • Kate 22:08 on 2019-02-05 Permalink | Reply  

        Pierre Karl Péladeau is said to be thinking about buying Téo Taxi – but he wants changes in industry rules first.

         

        • jeather 10:45 on 2019-02-06 Permalink

          Gosh, that’s a hard one. Do I hate PKP or Uber more?

        • Blork 11:41 on 2019-02-06 Permalink

          Wow, what a cocktail. Two parts mixed blessing, one part cognitive dissonance, shake with bittersweets, stir with a double-edged sword, and blend with crushed optimism. Serve at a table that is so close and yet so far.

        • Janet 11:52 on 2019-02-06 Permalink

          Yeah, Blork. Love your posts.

        • Uatu 20:57 on 2019-02-06 Permalink

          I bet PKP wants to outfit the cabs with video screens so that he can force feed clients Quebecor media while they ride. sorta like a clockwork Orange on wheels. 😛

        • dhomas 21:17 on 2019-02-06 Permalink

          @Uatu: Téo taxis kinda already had the Quebecor media screens, though. I mean, they showed some Téo stuff and maybe other ads, but I definitely remember there being some Quebecor influence the last time I actually paid attention to one of the screens (the novelty wore off somewhere shortly after the first trip).

        • Kate 22:54 on 2019-02-06 Permalink

          First time I took a Téo I was kind of appalled by the promotional screen on the back of the passenger seat, which I couldn’t turn off. Later it was either removed or always off, I imagine after complaints.

          Would people accept to watch commercials in exchange for a cheaper or free ride?

        • Chris 00:37 on 2019-02-07 Permalink

          Of course most would. They accept free email for ads, they accept loyalty cards for cheaper goods, etc., etc.

      • Kate 21:48 on 2019-02-05 Permalink | Reply  

        The coloured baubles that have floated over Ste-Catherine Street through the gay village since 2011 have been retired, and the area’s SDC is looking for a new idea to brighten the area this summer.

         

        • thomas 12:21 on 2019-02-06 Permalink

          The ball canopy will be in place this summer. The replacement installation is slated for 2020.

        • Kate 22:54 on 2019-02-06 Permalink

          Thanks for the correction, thomas.

      • Kate 21:45 on 2019-02-05 Permalink | Reply  

        More than 1.2 million kg of unsold groceries were saved from landfill and redistributed via Moisson Montréal over the last year – a record year. Win-win all around.

         

        • Kate 14:46 on 2019-02-05 Permalink | Reply  

          Plateau borough is going to clamp down on landlords who block building inspections.

           

          • Kate 14:44 on 2019-02-05 Permalink | Reply  

            A snow removal worker got into a fight with a passerby overnight. Very bright, to tangle with the plowing machinery.

             

            • Ian 11:44 on 2019-02-06 Permalink

              Strange that neither wanted to press charges. I suspect there’s more to this story than reported.

          • Kate 07:52 on 2019-02-05 Permalink | Reply  

            The Gazette’s Bill Brownstein interviews Denis Coderre, who speaks about possibly returning to run for mayor again in 2021. Impossible right now to guess whether it’s just a talking point or a real intention.

             

            • Steve Q 10:39 on 2019-02-05 Permalink

              The sad part about all of that is that even if he runs and wins, it will still be too late for Ste-Catherine to have heated sidewalk like he promised. Valérie already scrapped the idea because she prefers to have more bike lanes that are well cleared of snow in the winter. Just like the grand mother living in my building needs !!!

            • Ginger Baker 10:47 on 2019-02-05 Permalink

              Well, that was certainly an in-depth critical analysis of Coderre, his policies and his political future.

              Trust the Gazette to really get in there and ask the tough questions.

              I’m quite glad they didn’t spend the entire article focusing on Coderre’s weight loss, and am very happy indeed the entire thing doesn’t come off as a paid advertisement/ push poll for a potential future electoral campaign.

          • Kate 07:48 on 2019-02-05 Permalink | Reply  

            Tuesday will be warmish, just enough to get rain falling onto ice and then all freezing up later on. A few schools are closed. We’re going to get a flash freeze later.

             

            • Steve Q 10:40 on 2019-02-05 Permalink

              With heated sidewalk, it wouldn’t be a problem, therefor we should at least have it on Ste-Catherine and a couple fo other busy sidewalks.

            • Ginger Baker 10:54 on 2019-02-05 Permalink

              ^ I’m not sure what SteveQ is on about, but at my CEGEP (John Abbott), all of the walkways and sidewalks had steam pipes running underneath them, so that in winter they’d also be free of snow and ice. It also made servicing the steam heating distribution system fairly straightforward, as it would never impede traffic.

              John Abbott was built in 1907. Had it’s own power plant and everything, including a network of subterranean tunnels connecting all the buildings.

              Absolute jewel of local architecture.

            • david100 20:39 on 2019-02-05 Permalink

              A gem that they stole from McGill 😉

            • Ian 11:24 on 2019-02-06 Permalink

              McGill sold it in 2002… at least the Abbott part, when the faculty of education moved downtown. MacDonald Campus is still there, along with the experimental farms, the greenhouse, etc. McGill actually owns the old power plant, not Abbott. McGill still handles security for Abbott, too, and owns & operates the majority of the land on campus. They still officially own Brittain Hall too but are going to sell it to Abbott so they can fix it up and start using it for classrooms. FWIW Abbott doesn’t have heated sidewalks anymore, the entrances were icy as heck yesterday morning.

          • Kate 07:44 on 2019-02-05 Permalink | Reply  

            After a big fuss a few years ago when it adopted a bylaw banning new places of worship on major streets, passed to block the creation of new synagogues, Outremont will allow a Bernard Street building to be enlarged and… partly used as a synagogue.

             

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