The Plateau is struggling to keep its trees alive; meantime more green is to be added to Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve. “On est pas là pour embêter les voitures […], mais je mentirais en disant qu’un quartier vert est pensé pour accueillir plus de voitures,” says the borough mayor, trying hard to keep everyone happy.
Updates from January, 2012 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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Interesting story about a court case to be heard against a Montreal man who took some photos during the G20 protests in Toronto in 2010.
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Tux
When cops think nothing of illegal detainment, destruction of evidence, and false accusations, we have a serious problem that won’t be solved by any kind of ‘review board’ or ‘inquiry’. We need the unassailable right to film/photograph police who are doing their duties in public, and we need it now. They need to know that we are watching, and just as important they need to know that there is nothing they can do about it. The amount of film that has surfaced in the last few years of cops doing violence to people who were just minding their own business and/or not resisting is truly shocking. The advent of cel phones and digital cameras has brought a serious problem to light – one the cops would rather not address. I say, let’s drag these roaches kicking and screaming into the light and force them to face the justice they have for so long denied to others.
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Kate
Bravo, Tux.
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Environmental architecture site looks at the sustainable development centre on Ste-Catherine and its features. (OK, the centre’s site is here but it’s the most irritating flash toy site I’ve seen for a serious venture in a long time.)
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Some reactions to the Shafia verdicts from the Afghan community; reactions from neighbours and fellow Muslims; discussions about honour killings are unavoidable; the Shafias’ lawyers are expected to appeal – at least for the mother and son’s verdicts.
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Shawn
While Jonathan Kay, in a baffling example of hubris, assures us all that the jury got it wrong “from where I stand.” By his own admission, “where I stand” = sitting on his ass, reading the occasional media report.
http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2012/01/30/jonathan-kay-the-shafia-jury-got-it-wrong/ -
walkerp
Not too surprising that he would come to such a stupid conclusion given that he got all his infor “from reading Christie Blatchford’s reporting.” Reporting should also be in quotes there.
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Shawn
What’s even weirder I think, is that Blatchford, his colleague at the Post, has been attending this trial from day one, in person, filing her columns — and has no problem whatsoever with the verdict.
I’m curious to see what if anything she’ll say about Kay’s odd take. Or Chris Selley, for that matter, who blogs about other columns, including Kay’s, also at the NP site.
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Shawn
Oh, and Kay, in His Great Knowledge, knows that only the SON should have been found guilty. So not only is the jury wrong, so is the defense attorney who may be filing the appeals for son, if the above report is correct?
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A homeless man known at Bonaventure station was found dead there Sunday night. His death is being blamed on natural causes.
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Taxis are more expensive since Saturday with a higher drop and higher rates.
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Interesting idea to use the metro to keep in shape.
I’d been pondering working out a walking path indoors, given that sidewalks have been slabs of ice for days. If I recall correctly, you can start at Place des Arts, walk south to the Palais des congrès, westward to Place Bonaventure and then northward through Place Ville-Marie into the Eaton Centre or Place Montreal Trust, all without going outside – is that still true?
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Bill Binns
The longest walk I have been able to find without going outside or using the metro is entering the underground at the Scotiabank on Sherbrooke and walking through the malls all the way to Bonaventure station.
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Robert J
I used to live at the corner of Sherbrooke W and Ste-Famille.When it was really cold, I would cross the street, cut the the UQAM science buildings that have a link to Place-des-Arts, walk through to Place Desjardins and Guy-Favreau to get to the orange line.
It was a bit of a detour but meant I didn’t have to transfer at Berri or walk in the cold. Also, yes you can still walk west from the Palais des congrès and north from Place Ville-Marie all the way to the malls on Ste-Cath.
I used to occasionally test this out to see how the tunnels evolve. I always found there was a certain lack of coherence, especially in the shopping malls. The official RéSO signage is used unevenly, and the malls seem to be designed to make it difficult to simply cross through (to get people to buy things probably). Overall, the system is designed for you to enter one building and maybe cross through one or two to get to the closest metro.
Its unfortunate they don’t design them with the intention of having people do longer treks. My hunch is that if they did you would see them put to better use (less shopping, more services as people would use them for a longer part of their commute).
Still I think its a good principle that every new construction downtown have connections to the metro. If you compare it to say New York, Montreal stand out as a city where you go inside almost anywhere downtown and can make your way to a station by following signage careful.
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Shawn
Bill, once you’re in Place Bonaventure can’t you walk under University to the Delta hotel, which in turn connects to Square Victoria metro and other complexes…?
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mare
Longest possible walk: Enter Place-des-Arts station on De Bleury, and then walk to Place-des-Armes, under the Palais des Congres to Place Bonaventure. Then go “North” and exit the Peel station on Stanley across from the YMCA.
That’ll keep you busy for a while.
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mare
Maybe the Peel station exit of the Scotia Bank Tower on Sherbrooke is actually further away from your origin.
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ant6n
@Mare
You were faster than me – I had the same route in mind, which is a bit less than three and a half KM: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com?r=5278010.
There are a lot of busy areas, and corners and narrow corridors, so it might not be so good for running. -
Kate
I wasn’t planning to run. Just looking for a place to walk to avoid cabin fever.
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ant6n
Oh also, can add another 200~300m if one goes through that Centre de Commerce de Montreal, between The Palais de Congress and Square Victoria.
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Doobious
Some really nasty color choices in that map mare linked. Yeesh.
If you really want to get in shape using the metro, try hoofing it up the stairs in Lucien L’Allier. That’ll get your heart pumping.
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Blork
When I worked downtown near the Eaton Centre I used to do this 2 or 3 times a week in the winter: start at Eaton centre, go south through PVM and Central Station to Place Bonaventure. Then go east to the Square Vic station (part of this is at ground level, but indoors), through to the Palais de Congrés. From there you pass by Place d’armes station to Place Guy Favreau, then to Complex Desjardins and Place des Arts. It’s a great walk, and there are a few tangents you can take en route. The middle part can be confusing and isn’t necessarily intuitive, but after a couple of times it makes sense.
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Tourism Montreal says that, although 2011 was a record year in tourism numbers, trouble in the eurozone may depress this year’s take. No big conferences are expected here this year either.
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Mayor Tremblay proposed Saturday that each city borough could have a different tax levy, an idea that went over like a lead balloon with Vision Montreal, although it wasn’t long before the Tremblay party hit back. Meanwhile, two West Island boroughs are pitching in together to offer services and save money.
It may be childish, but I got a giggle out of Metro’s repeated typo “Michael Applebum”.
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Chronic road work on Côte-des-Neiges nearly meant the closure of independent bookshop Olivieri, but it stays open for the moment.
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Robert J
Olivieri has been working to provide a great resource for a neighborhood that doesn’t have much in the cultural department (unless you count Renaud-Bray). Olivieri and the little bistro they run are a class act. They do regular book launches and supply books to the humanities departments of UdeM. I think its good when independants become official suppliers of universities, because the internal bookstores are so often devoid of character. Plus it creates a point of contact between students and the off-campus community.
So let’s hope they stay open.
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The population of the city’s east end is aging faster than the rest of the island.
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The PQ decided this weekend to support lowering the voting age to 16, which somehow reminded me of the federal Liberals’ recent decision to endorse marijuana legalization. Why are these once powerful, now hobbled parties making moves on strange issues few people care about? People want social justice. Offer us that – even offer us a few gestures in that direction – and we’ll vote for you. Stop fooling around with silly issues.
(Incidentally, I think marijuana should be legalized, but it isn’t what I want to hear the Liberals talking about right now.)
William 12:20 on 2012/01/31 Permalink
I had a very interesting exchange with Alex Norris, Projet Montreal Coucillior for Mile End on my Facebook wall about this article: http://www.facebook.com/wraillantclark/posts/172922719476927?ref=notif¬if_t=share_comment
walkerp 12:37 on 2012/01/31 Permalink
I don’t understand the law about not replanting trees in sidewalks that don’t meet a minimum width requirement. Who cares? If there was a tree there before, it means there is a space to plant it so why not just put a new one in?
I do believe the borough has been making an effort to replant, but I also think their tree technicians are way too quick to condemn a tree. I’ve seen some cut down on my block that had solid, healthy cores (I’ve also seen ones that looked really healthy but were basically hollow inside). It’s the fear of property damage and liability.
Kate 13:16 on 2012/01/31 Permalink
William, that exchange seems mostly to be about garbage control.
walkerp, I totally agree with you about the sidewalk width thing – it sounds like one of those arbitrary bureaucratic limits that isn’t applied with good sense. Also about the liability issue.
William 14:06 on 2012/01/31 Permalink
It’s about people dumping garbage in tree boxes and the borough’s unwillingness to do anything about it.
Robert J 14:37 on 2012/01/31 Permalink
Man, there are bigger fish to fry that garbage in tree boxes. Go to any American city and check out its tree boxes and I’m sure you’ll be more grateful for the exceptional focus Projet puts on gardening in the Plateau.
William 15:11 on 2012/01/31 Permalink
It’s contradictory to say that there’s an appropriate emphasis on gardening but that garbage in tree boxes doesn’t matter. I think that it’s wonderful that some parts of the Plateau and the city have been treated to beautification, but I would like to see basic sanitation applied evenly across the island. I don’t really care for lowest common denominator comparisons – I think we should strive for excellence, not a race towards the bottom.
Steamboat Willie 14:42 on 2012/02/01 Permalink
How many time a year does Alex Norris freak out about something? He’s quite entertaining if nothing else.
Chris 09:48 on 2012/02/02 Permalink
This is but a symptom of a larger more general problem: too much public space is dedicated to the automobile.
The average Plateau street has small sidewalks yet has 3 lanes for cars (2 parking, 1 moving). The car space is never obstructed, but the sidewalk has trees, garbage cans, hydro poles, parking meters, fire hydrants, bike parking, benches, lampposts, etc.
God forbid we loose a parking space for a single tree on an entire block.