Although the intention has been made to do things to revitalize St-Denis Street in the Plateau, no timeline has been announced.
Plateau borough is putting $6 million into fixing up Fairmount East with trees and a new public space. That stretch of Fairmount is pretty nondescript and can use the help.
Ian 10:22 on 2019-05-08 Permalink
Well now we know why there’s no budget for road repair /s
The location is strange, though – they already did massive amounts of work on the park only a block south at Laurier, just south of the school and adjacent to its quite well equipped and nicely kept playing field, not to mention the complete redoing of the park in front of Saint-Enfant-Jesus. Not to diss either of those parks, they did great job with both.
I’m just a bit surprised this area is seen as in need when Fairmount between Saint Urbain and Parc is a dump, with not only a large high school campus but also a primary school – and is also an area that gets a lot more foot traffic than Saint Dom & Fairmount. I’m really not understanding why that area just east of Mile End (or east Mile End if you listen to real estate folks) is seen as so deserving, with 2 major city projects already completed, when there are adjacent blocks full of locals, tourists, and school kids that are in way worse shape.
walkerp 11:21 on 2019-05-08 Permalink
What park in front of Baby Jesus?
Ian 11:25 on 2019-05-08 Permalink
Parc Lahaie – the old town square of Saint-Louis.
https://www.google.com/maps/@45.5233652,-73.5928505,18z
walkerp 12:49 on 2019-05-08 Permalink
Oh you are referring to the church itself. I thought you meant the school. Got it.
That section of Fairmount is an odd one to renovate, but I wonder if there is some zoning there and a certain density with all the newish (relatively speaking) condo complexes that they are trying to take advantage of.
Blork 13:28 on 2019-05-08 Permalink
When I used to live up around there you could have pretty much bought the entire housing stock on that three block stretch for $6,000,000.
I’m speculating, but I suspect the reason for investing city money in that area is based on a few different things. The main one is that it’s a bit of a lonely stretch, and historically it has been psychologically isolated from St-Laurent even though it is RIGHT THERE. Compare that with Fairmount on the other side of St-Laurent, which gets spinoffs from being sandwiched between Parc and St-Laurent.
But in recent times, that dark and spooky zone bounded by St-Laurent, Maguire, Henri-Julien/Drolet, and Laurier, has seen an increase in real estate activity, although no real change in street-level commercial activity, making it very much a residential zone; moreso than its counterpart, which is also residential but has much more commercial street life. So it’s less dark and spooky than it’s ever been, making it ripe for sprucing up. The other side of St-Laurent has never been dark and spooky so there’s less perceived need there for a makeover.
CE 15:01 on 2019-05-08 Permalink
I took a walk along this stretch earlier today and it will benefit from any work it gets. A couple things that will never make it like Fairmount West is that there’s pretty much no commercial activity, most of the buildings are pretty nondescript, and there are a couple dead zones. The school gym is a blank wall for about half a block and an apartment building on the north side of the street is set back quite a ways from the street and is again, a mostly blank wall. The empty space there could easily be built on with a new building with little to no setback and perhaps a couple commercial spaces. That would make a big difference. The students at the school and the workers in the nearby midrise buildings will definitely benefit from the work planned but it would be nice if similar work was done on other streets that are much more prominent.