One of Montreal’s many charms is the opportunity it offers for wandering around vast areas of urban blight and decay without facing the risk of getting stabbed or shot on gangbanger turf, which is the risk you’re taking (so I hear) if you try similar walks in Detroit or Buffalo and other rustbelt towns of America.
Today I embarked on a totally aimless walk, starting from my home in Verdun, taking in Point St. Charles, Griffintown and Old Montreal. It was such a great walk it made me damn near euphoric. What a city! What surprises and marvels await the psychogeographer on almost every corner! Much of the route was familiar, but much of it was new — especially the parts through Point St. Charles. Let me reiterate how many churches there are in this city. In Point St. Charles alone I counted at least six. Several of them were tall and imposing, their stone facades elegantly aging from years of harsh Montreal wind, snow and rain.
Point St. Charles and Griffintown were Canada’s first industrial slums. Back in the 1800s, thousands of Irish immigrated to these neighbourhoods every year. The peak of immigration came during Ireland’s terrible potato famine. You can learn more about the history of these neighbourhoods here.
My walk reached its dizzying heights during the 15 minutes or so that was spent traversing part of Griffintown and then entering Old Montreal around McGill street. There are very few cities in the world — perhaps none — that offer such rapid and striking contrasts. In Griffintown there are wooden buildings literally collapsing to the floor, old brick factories in various states of disuse and decay, and then a few refurbished buildings converted into lofts, and just a few smouldering embers of community… The Darling Foundry… Some multimedia firms… An eatery here and there… But not a bus or metro in sight! Then, just a stone’s throw from all this, you enter the beautiful and well-preserved splendour of Old Montreal, with its sophistication and grandeur culminating in the silver dome of Bonsecours Market.
Oh yes, and back in Griffintown, there are old stables in the neighbourhood, did I mention that? And tiny little houses standing proudly amidst nondescript warehouses. Oh, and then the Bonaventure Expressway looming over it all, cutting the area violently in two… Yes, it’s ugly, but the sheer chaos of it also has its own kind of beauty.
2 comments
Comments feed for this article
April 22, 2010 at 9:05 am
Mario
You’re more likely to be a victim of a violent crime in Toronto than New York City. In fact, you’re more likely to be a victim of a violent crime in Winnepeg than most US cities these days. Stop watching so much TV. BTW, Montreal is an ugly town. I was shocked with the huge massive widespread decay, vandalism, poverty and blight. Are you blaming that on the US, too?
April 23, 2010 at 2:27 pm
Laurence Miall
I’ve done some digging around on crime statistics and you’re correct to point out that some Canadian cities have violent crime rates that are similar or, in some cases, higher than their American counterparts. However, I was talking here about Montreal and comparing it to old industrial towns like Buffalo and Detroit. In 2009, there were 379 homicides in Detroit, a city of 912,000. By contrast, Montreal had 31 homicides in 2009 – this for a city of 1.6 million. 31 versus 379 is a big difference, I am sure you can agree, and it means that walking around the slummy parts of Montreal is far safer than the Detroit equivalent, and indeed, was the point of my post.
I cannot agree that Montreal is ugly. Some parts are, but vast swathes of it are peaceful and beautiful and our heritage architecture is unique and well maintained.