Chinatown suffering badly from pandemic
Chinatown has been very hard hit by the pandemic, not only the decline in foot traffic plaguing other stores and restaurants, but an unfair association with the contagion of Covid on top of it.
I remember during the SARS moment in 2003, C-town establishments were hurting and put signs out saying there were no cases of SARS in the area (it was true – there weren’t). I can’t imagine what Covid is doing to them.
And yet, I’m not going downtown. On the CBC noon radio show Tuesday the topic was the state of downtown, and they had one guy on boosting it and saying how it was safe and great and so on. But to go downtown, I’d have to take a bus or metro for anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes each way, boxed in with random people, and right now I don’t want to do it – it seems like a stupid exposure to risk, to take public transit for a jaunt.
Still, I have now spent the longest period of my life without setting foot on Ste-Catherine Street, and some days that feels weird.
dhomas 22:22 on 2020-09-22 Permalink
I had to pick something up from downtown this past weekend and had to take my car. I drove up St-Laurent, through Chinatown. I was actually surprised by how many people were walking, in quite close proximity, on the pedestrian section of de la Gauchetière. I’d walked down Ste-Cath the week prior and there were many more people in Chinatown by comparison. Anecdotal evidence for sure, but maybe things were looking up for the area (before this new surge this week)?
Kate 22:42 on 2020-09-22 Permalink
I hope so, dhomas. I’m very fond of our old Chinatown, even if there’s an argument that a newer and livelier C-town has been growing up around Concordia and west to Atwater in recent years.
Ian 08:13 on 2020-09-23 Permalink
I’m in Chinatown every Sunday and I’ve noticed it’s picking up for sure. I haven’t been on Ste Kitty since March. I do miss Kazu and Mon Ami but I haven’t gone to a sit-down restaurant since the first lockdown.
DeWolf 09:01 on 2020-09-23 Permalink
I spoke with a restaurant/bar owner in Chinatown recently and he told me that things have been very unpredictable. One night will be busy, the next will be dead, with no rhyme or reason.
There are pockets of activity elsewhere downtown. Ste-Catherine is consistently busy from Metcalfe to Atwater – sometimes almost as busy as normal. Place des Arts is usually pretty lively with plenty of people lingering on the pedestrian stretch and on the Place des Festivals. The rest of downtown is very quiet. The Latin Quarter is especially moribund.
Em 09:45 on 2020-09-23 Permalink
I’ve found Old Montreal and Chinatown to be quite busy on weekends or when the weather is nice, but I’m guessing it probably drops off a lot when that isn’t the case.
I’m consistently surprised by how many people seem to be eating in restaurants and shopping in various parts of downtown, especially since we keep hearing stories about an abandoned city. But I understand the recovery is far from uniform.
This post is a good reminder for me to swing by and pick up some pastries or takeout next time I’m near Chinatown.
EmilyG 13:16 on 2020-09-23 Permalink
I feel the same – I live somewhat far from downtown, and I don’t have a car, and I feel it’s a bit risky to use public transit when not essential.
mare 18:31 on 2020-09-23 Permalink
I read (in the Derfel’s Twitter feed) the surprising fact that there are no Covid cases that can be traced back to the use of public transport. Of course that doesn’t take into account that not all cases have been traced, and that there are currently many more students in busses and the metro, who are more likely to be a carrier of SARS-CoV-2. So public transport might be or become more of a vector of transmission.
JP 23:17 on 2020-09-23 Permalink
During the month of August, I started using the metro again about once a week to go downtown or Old Montreal. I kept using it because it was never crowded (at least when I was using it, on weekends). Most people are wearing masks and on the orange line, it’s been relatively easy to maintain distance. I’m on the fence about this weekend though with cases rising. I actually feel more comfortable on the metro or bus…I don’t know if that feeling can be backed up by any science, but I feel like the bus, especially those new ones with air conditioning, tend to feel stuffy.