Boroughs get more money after belt-tightening exercise
All city boroughs except the Plateau ran record surpluses in 2011, Michael Applebaum taking the opportunity to sideswipe Luc Ferrandez. The central city plans to increase payments to the borough budgets for 2013.
The Plateau has issued a press release maintaining it isn’t in deficit.
Michel 15:16 on 2012/05/31 Permalink
“We are at war with Eurasia. We have always been at war with Eurasia.”
Ephraim 19:20 on 2012/05/31 Permalink
Sure, of course, they didn’t clean the streets properly. The “green space” in front of the church is still just a street painted green. Businesses in the Plateau which pay higher rates are closing up shop. Prince Arthur looks like a bomb exploded on it. No one can figure out how to drive through the Plateau, not even the fire department. Oh and they can’t manage to put up a NO BIKE sign on Prince Arthur because they think people understand the “green walk your bike sign.” Oh and every possible parking spot is slated to have a parking meter on it, so they can collect 30c on the dollar while making the private Stationment Montreal rich.
ant6n 19:27 on 2012/05/31 Permalink
Yes. The Plateau is falling down, urban flight, turning into a ghetto, a slum really. Meanwhile, the suburbs are paradise.
Robert J 09:59 on 2012/06/01 Permalink
Business is great on Mount-Royal and slowly improving on St-Laurent (especially above Pine). Duluth is healthier than ever and St-Denis is stable. Don’t forget that Laurier, St-Viateur, and Bernard are also increasingly healthy commercial arteries in the Plateau. Actually, Prince Arthur is the only street that’s really in decline.
Most of these strips don’t rely on suburbanites or other drivers for business. The local clientele is increasingly wealthy, and the population is stabilizing.
On a side note I think they should allow cyclists on pedestrian streets, as long as pedestrians have the right of way on principle. This is how it works in most places I’ve seen in Europe (where the signs say “street closed to traffic– except bikes and scooters”). On Prince-Arthur, it could be “Vélos et livraison locale seulement–priorité aux piétons”.
qatzelok 10:08 on 2012/06/01 Permalink
I agree that bikes should be able to cycle on Prince Arthur all the way across the pedestrian mall portion, and then onto Cherrier to meet up with the Berri Axis. All that would be required to make this childproof is to alter the paving a bit to add more bike-slowing texture – like you find along the Old Port.
Jack 10:41 on 2012/06/01 Permalink
@ Ephraim your apocalyptic vision of the Plateau is patently ridiculous. Take a look at how much a duplex costs, it is one of the most desirable neighbourhoods in North America.
Ephraim 11:24 on 2012/06/01 Permalink
@Jack – It’s badly run. Very badly run. Old people couldn’t walk on the sidewalks because at the end they just decided to not clear the snow. Painting part of the street green doesn’t make it a green space. Have you been caught in a Ferrnandez trap, yet? That’s what we call them on the plateau. And as for business, read all the articles about the businesses complaining about the cost… on Mont-Royal some of the merchants are offering to pay for meters as well.
Prince Arthur is actually “Pietons seulement”. Deliveries are allowed during certain hours only. The reality? We dodge taxis in the morning. The Police park a car on there from time to time even though they have two reserved spots on Prince Arthur O. just facing. And bicycles often drive full speed around people instead of being walked. It’s not safe for pedestrians. Want a bike lane, ask the city for one, but Prince Arthur is supposed to be 100% pedestrian.
@Jack – It isn’t about the price. It’s about maintaining quality of life and not ending up being like the village. Want it to remain one of the most desirable neighbourhoods. And that means making smart choices, not stupid ones. For example, fighting the law on billboards that you know you will lose but will cost the borough hundreds of thousands of dollars that could be better spent like actually making a green space instead of painting the street green and asking people to imagine it’s a park.
qatzelok 14:54 on 2012/06/01 Permalink
@ Ephraim: “It isn’t about the price. It’s about maintaining quality of life and not ending up being like the village.”
The reason Prince Arthur is a boarded up slum now is because The Village is a much nicer place to hang around. And living there is very dynamic. The Plateau has more yahoos and mafia thugs and is a lot noisier and more polluted.
Jack 18:47 on 2012/06/01 Permalink
@ Ephraim like the capitalist I am not, the market has spoken.What the market says people dig living in the Plateau no matter what car and traffic lovers say.It is a great place to live and the transition from car transport to walking will be difficult, best of luck.
Ephraim 19:34 on 2012/06/01 Permalink
@qatzelok – The reason Prince Arthur is boarded up is because many of the restaurants were suburban restaurants in an urban setting and hadn’t kept up with the times and the people in the neighbourhood. The parking problems , the fact that they now have to pay all their taxes while people look for more innovative food. And of course there were a few that no one understood how they stayed in business if they weren’t fronts for the mob. There are a few that are getting the idea and innovating, but it’s a long hard road. Some places haven’t changed their menu except for prices in a decade.
But part of the character of the Plateau is the little shops that we have here that fill many niches. As they make parking to go to the merchant more difficult, the small merchants have a harder time making ends meet and paying the high city taxes. And what comes in their place are large chains and cell phone vendors who have high markups and can afford the taxes and rents. We want to keep small businesses in the area, it’s what makes this part of the city so wonderful. The little Slovakia deli, the Kouign Amann, etc. We need these places, but so too do these merchants need short term parking for people to run into their shops to pick up a few things. In fact, parking terms might exactly be the problem. Some cities, dedicates the first two and last two spots for 15 min maximum meters, so people can run in and do their business and the spots are available. The Plateau has put in more and more meters but only makes 30c for each dollar in the meter. Is it worth it to collect the money if you are choking your merchants? It’s a question that needs to be answered. For example, what if you want to pick up bagel at Fairmount, get some spelt croissant at Le Fromentier and pick up some Naot shows as well, but you live in Rosemount. These are businesses that need the traffic, they don’t just serve the locals, they serve the city.
@Jack – Plenty of us walk and dodge the bikes and cars. It’s one of the nicest parts of the Plateau, that you can walk places. But car traffic is a reality and sticking your head in the ground doesn’t solve it. It’s like the lowering of speed limits, when you moved the city from 50 to 40 that means that people who spent 15 minutes to get through this part of the city now take 19 minutes. It doesn’t seem like much, but for a 2 hour rush hour that translates to a 2 and a half hour rush hour. It’s not about how long it takes people to get home (especially since I don’t commute to work at all), it’s also about the streets around you being busy for longer. The cars that come down the street that you have to dodge to cross the street. The bike you drive taking longer to get home as well, etc. It’s a consideration that was never addressed at all.
Many cities put movable blocks in front of streets like Prince Arthur. Only those authorized have a card that lowers the block and others can’t pass. Some cities add parking under city parks as a way of clearing up streets from cars (not simply to create more parking, but to create more space, more bike paths, etc.)
Chris 19:35 on 2012/06/01 Permalink
Robert, there are no “pedestrian streets”, there is only one in the Plateau: Prince Arthur. :(
Ephraim, having a parking meter on every parking spot would be best, a shame that the Plateau is _not_ planning that. Arguments supporting this can be made entirely on free market terms. Familiar with the supply/demand curve for deciding price? Parking is so scarce because the price is set too low. For details: http://www.cato-unbound.org/2011/04/04/donald-shoup/free-parking-or-free-markets/
ant6n 03:01 on 2012/06/02 Permalink
Parking meters actually improve availability of short term parking. The time to find a spot is more expensive than the cost of short term parking, and negligible in comparison to the total cost of the car (or its external costs to society).
Btw, combined cycling/pedestrian paths exist in Europe. For example the German signs:
cycling path
combined pedestrian/bike path, pedestrians have priority
separated pedestrian and bike paths