The Boston Globe writes longingly about how Montreal embraces winter – and Metro covers the Globe article.
Updates from February, 2023 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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Kate
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Kate
Wrestler Billy Two Rivers (Mohawk name Kaientaronkwen) has died. He retired from the sport in 1977 and later became an elder, chief and councillor of Kahnà:wake. He was 87.
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Kate
The Quebec Conservatives have nominated a candidate in the St‑Henri‑Ste‑Anne byelection. Lucien Koty ran in Verdun in October, where the PCQ came fifth.
Éric Duhaime took the opportunity to attack the PLQ over the management of the pandemic (does he even realize who’s running the province these days?).
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Kate
The Maison d’Haïti marked 50 years this weekend with a series of events around Tohu.
CBC continues with its Black Changemakers series, talking to a woman who makes safe spaces, and to another woman who coaches basketball at Concordia.
CTV profiles a man who travels from school to school to teach Black history.
Metro attended an event done by Black police at the SPVM to talk about their experiences: “Un Noir au volant de l’autopatrouille! Il n’est pas assis en arrière!”
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Kate
There was a rumble on Guy Street late Saturday and one man got stabbed but is out of danger.
An industrial fire in Montreal East on Sunday morning has generated a lot of heavy black smoke. Photos from TVA.
Shots were fired at a house in Ahuntsic on Sunday morning, but no one was hurt.
shawn 17:30 on 2023-02-13 Permalink
Wow, it’s a great article. Makes me vicariously hearty and proud and francophone even though I have my own “nuit blanche” on a regular basis, just trying to sleep. Vive nordicité!
shawn 18:47 on 2023-02-13 Permalink
I know a lot of people won’t be able to access the Globe article but it also makes the point that the underlying philosophy of our “underground city” – which we just talked about – is now replaced by an urban design approach to get us outside, embracing winter (which are getting milder on average anyway).
shawn 20:54 on 2023-02-13 Permalink
BTW the most extreme example of ‘undergrounding’ as a negative force in urban design, for me, was a trip I took years ago to Winnipeg. I was excited to see the intersection of Portage and Main because I’d heard so much about it. Well, it doesn’t exist, for pedestrians. There are only these tunnels and it’s only from a vehicle that you can actually traverse the intersection. It took me a while to figure that out and I was pretty dumbfounded.
mare 22:25 on 2023-02-13 Permalink
@Shawn There *was* actually a small underground shopping mall there, accessible with stairs on all street corners because pedestrians weren’t allowed to cross the street.
Huge caveat: I was there more than ten years ago, so maybe it has been demolished now, because it wasn’t exactly a safe space for pedestrians after 18h00 when downtown Winnipeg is almost deserted, except for the many homeless. In my memory there were only office towers and large parking lots. Hardly anyone lived there, and hardly any restaurant was open for supper.
That may all have changed now, I actually hope it has, because it wasn’t a great experience.
I was actually staying very close to Portage, on Main, in the Fairmount hotel, because my ex was working for MTS for five months (before it was bought by Bell) and their head office was across the street. So they put her up in this fancy hotel and I visited Winnipeg a few times during her stays.
shawn 10:30 on 2023-02-14 Permalink
Yes! I remember that mall and how creepy it was. And I stayed at the same hotel as you.
According to Wikipedia, the intersection remains closed to pedestrians following a referendum:
“In 2016, with the deal to close the intersection set to expire, city officials were contemplating re-opening of the intersection to pedestrians.[11] However, in a plebiscite in 2018, 65% of voters voted in favour of keeping the intersection closed to pedestrians, with many concerned about traffic congestion. The mayor agreed to accept the results of that plebiscite and did not reopen the intersection.[12]
More recently, Portage and Main has served as an anchor point for occasional street festivals and the winter lighting of holiday street decorations.[citation needed]”
Winnipeg still very much stuck in the mindset where vehicular traffic is king.
Tee Owe 13:17 on 2023-02-14 Permalink
I know the intersection, and I’ve been there too, it’s legendary – but isn’t this a Montreal blog where even Laval and Longueuil get short shrift-?
shawn 13:36 on 2023-02-14 Permalink
Ok I will try to work in some Chomedey references for you.