Montreal’s secret: the plex and alley
In Le Devoir, writer Francisco Toro explains why he thinks Montreal’s core urban pattern of plexes and alleys is underestimated as a major asset of this city, and one that could be extended into the future. I’m totally in agreement with Toro on the value of this urban style, except for one thing: how do you make this pattern profitable enough for developers to imitate?
Kevin 09:58 on 2022-04-25 Permalink
I’ve seen many people commenting elsewhere (globe and mail, for one) that other cities could solve their housing crisis by shifting from single family homes to townhouses.
Although having seen friends in London bring their lawnmower through the house because the backyard and front yards are completely cut off from each other, I’ve always been very glad to have an alley myself.
Ian 11:31 on 2022-04-25 Permalink
Handy in case of a house fire, too. I live on a green alley that is blocked off with huge planters at each end and I wonder if the fire department is consulted before green alleys go in.
Joey 12:30 on 2022-04-25 Permalink
Big +1 from me, though the alley culture does have its downsides too (contractor parking, garbage – and if you’ll recall last spring, poop – magnet) but alleys allow dense streets to breathe. It would be interesting to contrast, say, the typical small ‘cour’+alley in Rosemont, PMR, etc., with the ‘bigger lot/backyard+adjoined fence with a neighbour that you find in NDG.
Imagining a model for new development, one would have to assume that all new alleys would be ‘green,’ insofar as the city would be unlikely to allow any kind of vehicle access. The alleys that are entryways to parking spaces are quite different than the ones that are closed to all traffic.
To answer Kate’s question, given the high price of triplex-plus-alley neighbourhoods, one imagines that developers could make a lot of money. Maybe not as much as they can by squeezing as many 400-sq-ft condos into eight- and nine-storey buildings, though. Of course half the appeal of dense neighbourhoods is the whole 15-minute city stuff, which would follow housing construction, meaning the real speculative value would only emerge once the housing is all built and the various commerces, etc., take off. So I suppose you would need some incentives to get developers to follow this approach. Also, I have no knowledge of housing construction, but it feels like it’s easier/quicker/more efficient to build small cookie-cutter condos in buildings than triplexes…
Kate 12:38 on 2022-04-25 Permalink
I’ve wondered that too, Ian. My alley is “green” but hasn’t been blocked to service vehicles when they’re needed, and I think that makes the most sense. People don’t drive through in regular cars because it’s too narrow and there are no garages or parking spaces along it.
Robert H 15:25 on 2022-04-25 Permalink
Excellent article by Toro. Montreal’s central plex neighborhoods are truly something special. A few other cities on this continent do high-density: Boston has triple-deckers and townhomes, New York has tenements and row houses (but no alleys!), Chicago has 2-flats and 3-flats, even Los Angeles with its garden apartments on small lots. Also, the plex is not exactly unique to Montreal; it also makes up parts of La Vieille Capitale and Trois Rivières. But no other city has the amount or prominence. The row upon row of plex houses is as much a signature of this city as Mount Royal. This is a characteristic of pre-war Montreal. There’s a generic quality to suburban Montreal, as pleasant a place as it can be to live. Because millions love the space, privacy and mobility of the single family home and car-based lifestyle, it remains the default for large scale residential development across North America. But despite coronavirus and the work from home phenomena, there’s a coexisting attraction for urban living which is also manifested across North America. So the demand for la vie citadine is there, but the market is broken in the form of restrictive zoning laws and high construction and land costs. It’s been argued here before that it would not be necessary to cover the island in high-rises to accommodate hundreds of thousands more residents. The extension of the central Montreal model offers a solution, but as Joey stated, the means would probably involve development incentives. I don’t know how strong those incentives would have to be given the relative ease and lower costs of putting up cookie-cutter multi-unit buildings of the type you could find from Blaineville to Brossard.
Check out these video posts from Oh The Urbanity!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vsn0ahdfQ9k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYCAVmKzX10
walkerp 17:41 on 2022-04-25 Permalink
Love the alleys!
It’s the inconsistency, the slight chaos, the avoidance of certain bylaws and regulations that make them so rich and dynamic. Also a place for children to play.
Kate 18:06 on 2022-04-25 Permalink
The alleys are where people really live. The front of the house may be an impersonal façade, but the back is where the kids play, conversations are held over back fences, people visit, barbecuing goes on, laundry’s hung out, and cats mooch around. Of course it’s also where a deal of sawing and hammering goes on throughout the summer…