A bad scene down the Main
The short block of St‑Laurent between de Maisonneuve and Ontario, long known as a spot for army surplus and other oddball businesses, has become another urban hellhole especially since a devastating fire took out a piece of the block in April.
Robert H 13:26 on 2025-07-23 Permalink
The longer, emblematic streets of the city have gone through changes over time and location. As with Saint-Denis, Saint-Laurent has gone through changes of its own, though they seem to me to be less related to different eras than to what stretch of the street one is visiting. It’s in better shape north of Sherbrooke. In fact some portions are hopping. Down the slope, Lower Saint-Laurent has always been more or less seedy. The vacant Katacombes bunker anchors the Ontario corner like a monument to better times. Only a block away from the Quartier des Spectacles and across the street from relatively new high-rise housing, that block between de Maisonneuve and Ontario is a perfect example of Urban Mange, as planning rhetoric would put it. It’s a thin patch in the lush coat of the cityscape. I’d refer to it more as an unattended sore that threatens to infect the surrounding area.
The crumbling, abandoned fire-damaged buildings can be demolished and the lots cleaned up, but the situation will migrate to the adjacent blocks. I agree with a comment from Ephraim recently about the state of the contested Hôpital de la Miséricorde site: the only real change will come when the city establishes a new legal framework for real estate ownership, requiring more of landlords and increasing the penalties for allowing a property to sit neglected. It’s as if the city has adopted a policy of containment instead of enforcement. The results just tend to worsen.
dwgs 14:40 on 2025-07-23 Permalink
It’s not just that block though. All the side streets between Ste Catherine and Rene Levesque east of St. Laurent are chock a block with people shooting up, smoking crack, etc. It’s as bad as I’ve seen anywhere.
Mozai 21:10 on 2025-07-23 Permalink
“The vacant Katacombes bunker” is gone — there’s a high-rise there now.
Nicholas 23:43 on 2025-07-23 Permalink
dwgs, we had that story about the safe injection site right there a month or so ago.