Another piece on the state of downtown
Following close on last week’s Le Devoir piece on the state of downtown, La Presse looks at how it’s doing as students and workers return to classes and workplaces in person, at least some of the time. La Presse also talks to Ensemble, Projet and Mouvement about what they’d do to support the area.
DeWolf 10:49 on 2021-10-25 Permalink
This piece reflects the reality I’ve seen on the ground. The offices are still largely empty, but more workers have returned than I would have expected. (Last Thursday, the bar at the Time Out Market was packed with office types having a 5à7. There were even people wearing suits!) The underground malls are quiet. But the streets are lively. As the café owner notes, the saving grace has been the steadily growing number of downtown residents. And people are clearly coming back to shop – the Sports Experts owner points out that for the first time in two years, sales at his Ste-Catherine location have outpaced Dix-30.
Faiz Imam 12:33 on 2021-10-25 Permalink
That last point is amazing. That Dix30 location is enormous and always packed.
Kevin 17:52 on 2021-10-25 Permalink
From my contrarian corner I have some questions.
1) What exactly is Sports Expert selling during October at the various stores? And did sales drop at Dix-30 because of construction around the bizarre mall?
2) What are the relative sizes of the companies coming to and leaving from the city? (The article points out one company that is moving downtown by reducing its office space by 40%, and that it’s staff are not coming in full-time.)