A violent storm lashed the city Thursday evening, knocking out power to thousands.
Updates from July, 2026 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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Kate
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Kate
Following Moving Day, officially, 71 households haven’t found new digs, and are being housed in hotels at the city’s expense, for now.
I wonder what the definitions are, because obviously there are far more than 71 households worth of people knocking around without a lease on an affordable apartment.
Predictably, some streets are full of discarded items from house moves.
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Kate
La Presse profiles a collective household of five young people and how they’re getting by. It’s a nice little piece but it doesn’t seem revolutionary. I knew people living in households like that for years when I was younger – lived in one myself for a short time – some more chaotic, some more orderly, mostly but not exclusively students. Is it so unusual now as to be remarked on?
Blork
I think it’s a bit unusual. This isn’t just a case of having roommates, it’s a collective household with specific governance around things like collectively dumpster diving for food (anyone who lives there is required to go dumpster diving). It’s not just about sharing expenses and resources; it’s about sharing values and committing to a certain way of living. It’s also unusual that the same household has been running for 25 years, presumably with many people coming and going, although one of the founders still lives there.
So yes, it’s unusual, and a good topic for a human-interest story in a newspaper with a mainstream readership, many of whom have probably never heard of such a thing.
Kate
Maybe. I remember talk about “intentional communities” around the turn of the millennium. I knew someone online who was getting into one, along with his partner – they talked about hours of meetings and negotiations before they started to build new housing for their purpose, everyone having to agree to stick to detailed principles of living and lifestyle. It sounded like hell to me.
Nicholas
“hours of meetings and negotiations”
Story checks out. (TBF, you wouldn’t want to do this without them.)
Kate
I inquired of a mutual friend just now how they’re doing, and wasn’t surprised to learn that a) they are no longer living in the intentional community and b) their marriage broke up.
Ian
Sounds like the worst of a political collective, co-op living and polyamory multiplied by one another.
Kate
That was my impression too, although I don’t think polyamory was explicitly ordained in the plans my friend described.
Ian
Oh, I wasn’t speaking of this precise community, I was just thinking of social situations involving lots of negotiations, legalistic stuff and emotional management, haha
Kate
Oh I know, but it’s impossible not to hear about intentional communities without wondering about the intentions of some of the parties.
Ian
To be fair an anarcho-syndicalist polycule commune might be just the thing for a certain type of person. I’m pretty sure I know a few in my immediate friend group.
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Kate
The REM is down between McGill and Bois-Franc, expected back up by 9.
Checked at 11 and the same link now says “trains now halted in all directions between Canora and Côte-de-Liesse” with no promises about when full service will resume.
Seems to have resumed around 1.
Ian
Not even offering excuses anymore, crazy.
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Kate
Radio-Canada’s Denis Wong explains a complex study by Concordia PhD student Lingshan Li on the city’s tree cover, how it reflects the economic conditions of residents and meets, or fails to meet, their needs. It’s one of those tricky web projects you have to scroll through to reveal each feature.
GC
Did you forget the link?
Kate
I could blame the computer, but I think it was me. Thanks.
GC
I was ready to blame my own computer, or my post-holiday brain fog, but it happens!
Interesting study, and presented in a way that (hopefully) is accurate to the research, but also makes it palatable to non-academics.
The conclusion is the sort of thing that a lot of us probably already assume is true, but it’s obviously worthwhile to collect the data and make sure our assumptions are correct.
Kate
It’s interesting to consider why we take for granted that cushier neighbourhoods will naturally have better tree cover. I think we’ve discussed adjacent ideas here before, specifically considering the variation between adjoining Park Ex and TMR. The wealthy, of course, tend to be more comfortable making demands on their elected officials; the poor often have to live in aesthetically harsh and sometimes quasi‑industrial neighbourhoods (e.g. parts of St‑Michel). But a study like this quantifies it.
Nicholas
I mean most trees in the cushier (urban) neighbourhoods are on private land, while most trees in the other (urban) neighbourhoods are in tree wells on public land. When you have enough money to build a house on a lot without making it all building you have more space for trees. When you zone land with maximum lot coverage (say banning structures on 50% or 60% of the lot) you get less dense housing and more green space, which also means poor people can’t afford to live there. Obviously the creation of suburbs were partially a reaction to this (facilitated by faster transportation, first trains then the car), and further out all neighbourhoods have trees, but for any given distance from the downtown you usually get more trees the more income you have.
GC
And the article addresses the idea that is not just about population density. E.g., the Plateau has more greenery than Montreal-Nord.
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