Why does everyone love Montreal?

[Razor]

Originally Posted by rousseau

Nah, I disagree. I love Montreal, but that's not the reason for its appeal. I can't put my finger on what it is about Montreal that makes it so special, it's hard to explain exactly, but it definitely isn't je ne sais quoi.

That was actually witty and funny Rousseau...Gave me a few lil chuckles..Well done.

[travis3000]

I love Montreal. I've always said it's my favorite city in Canada. For people to get the best impression I would say to visit in the June through September time frame. The festivals are so much fun, and there's always something going on. It's a feeling that cannot be described. Montreal lacks the big city feel Toronto has, but it more than makes up for it with it's street vibe. I always have so much fun when I'm here. You don't even need your car. Just park it and go on foot or on bicycle for your whole visit. I am already itching to go back, and I plan on it

My best memory is taking the bikes around town, going from Old Port to Mont Royal, criss crossing through all the intersections, going to the village, hitting the clubs, and then biking back to Old Port. Very easy to get around on foot or on bike, and I just find the city extremely well laid out. Lots of fountains, lights, beautiful architecture, great food, and hot people to look at

[rousseau]

Thanks, Razor.

Agreed, travis3000. Biking in Montreal is more fun than in Toronto. Montreal has those great bike lanes that are separated from motor traffic by raised curbs/islands, which is really the only way to go. Car traffic in Toronto feels more Dickensian when you're on a bike.

[Razor]

I never really paid attention to how well laid out Montreal's cycling lanes are, but I do know that Montreal's street vibe and urbanity just draws you to
want to walk around and explore it..During the warmer months there's always something going on off in the corner somewhere even if it really just a small isolated display of some sort..For example,It's a type of place where just by happenstance you walk by a random park and there's some sort of low key percussion festival or competition..You never know what kind of moments of urban serendipity you will stumble onto just by walking around the core.

[rousseau]

Ultimately it's the people for me. They're friendly.

Okay, that's the most cliched and anodyne statement you can make about a place you've visited. But, well...it's true. An anglophone Canadian making an effort to speak French is invariably met with smiles and appreciation in Montreal. My interactions with dozens of people over the course of three days were rather life-affirming, and they even, dare I say it, stirred patriotic feelings in me that I didn't know I had. Which is ironic, for obvious reasons.

I'm a language-lover and enthusiast. I consider myself lucky enough to work with a different language than my native English every day, and am conversant at a basic level with a couple of others, so in many ways Montreal is exactly the sort of place that people like me find compelling and enjoyable. Linguistic tensions? No, linguistic diversity and pleasure, rather. Maybe I got lucky with the conversational topics, but during this trip I found on numerous occasions that I was able to chat with people in French for longer than just fifteen seconds over a shop counter. Which is delightful. It makes me happy that this place is just a few hours away and is in the country I live in (am I "proud" as per another thread I started? No, it's different).

Though the two interactions that really hit me right in the sentimental gut and further solidified my love for Montreal occurred in English this time round.

(1) I went to buy a seatpost for my bike at ABC Cycles on Parc. I was in my spandex gear, but also had arm and leg tights on ("Heatgear": keeps the sun off the skin while allowing the wind to penetrate it, and also keeps my hairy appendages out of view of other cyclists). A rabbi who was checking out a bike case with his twenty-something son walked over to me and said "Now here's a guy who wants to keep warm!" He thought the "Heatgear" was for warmth, odd considering the weather. I explained that it wasn't. We ended up talking about cycling in Montreal and his son's upcoming trip to Los Angeles to study at a rabbinical seminary there. The immediacy and lack of pretense of our interaction was a joy. I sometimes miss that when I'm in post-Presbyterian Ontario, where people are quiet and polite, and don't wish to offend (yes, a stereotype, but there's some truth to it).

(2) Or is it a Jewish thing? Sort of, though indirectly in this second case. At a kosher grocery to pick up some matzo crackers for a friend back home, we line up at the checkout behind a young orthodox woman with an overflowing cart that will take fifteen minutes to process. A francophone guy in his fifties with long white hair and a permanent roguish expression approaches, sees the full cart, and says, with a very slight New York Jewish accent, "Looks like we'll be here till Shabbat."

You had to be there, but he got me right in the funny bone. The thing is, I'm usually the embarrassing-uncle-type cracking the one-liners that produce guffaws and/or strained looks; it rarely happens that I'm on the receiving end. But I was that day in Montreal. It was a sudden humorous jolt that was by turns funny, endearing and even slightly scandalizing (i.e. would the cashier take offense?). This kind of thing doesn't happen for me in other places--just Montreal.

There's something about the people in Montreal that you can really sink your teeth into. Heh heh. The assured sense of place is part of it. I think it's also due to a certain lack of pretension in the human interaction. Very life-affirming, I find.

[RyeJay]

Originally Posted by rousseau

An anglophone Canadian making an effort to speak French is invariably met with smiles and appreciation in Montreal.

I have found this to be very true.

I wish more Canadian cities had Montreal's anglo-franco versatility. Moncton is getting there, gradually.

[Rusty van Reddick]

Originally Posted by feepa

Next Up: Show your love for Edmonton thread!

After 16 years in Canada I finally made it to Montreal for a week last summer. I loved it. And I agree that my efforts at French (I was raised in the US and never studied French formally- if I had, I'd still speak it, just as I do with the German that I did take, for 7 years) were ALL welcome. None of the arrogant dismissiveness that I endured in Quebec City, a very overrated place. Montreal was astonishingly different from it. Montreal comprised a lot of what I love about Toronto in fact and I think those cities are MUCH more similar than Montrealers would ever admit, but I mean that in a good way since I also love Toronto.

But as to Edmonton- after 13 years in Calgary (my first 3 years in Canada were in Toronto) I finally made it to Edmonton for more than a few hours over the August long weekend. I had a great time! GREAT time! Coffee at Transcend, the High Level Diner, the High Level BRIDGE, the legislature, walking all over the Whyte Ave area and the university- I loved it. It's convenient from home for me but different enough to make the trip very worthwhile and I look forward to (finally) getting to know Edmonton better.

[Rico Rommheim]

Originally Posted by rousseau

Ultimately it's the people for me. They're friendly.

Okay, that's the most cliched and anodyne statement you can make about a place you've visited. But, well...it's true. An anglophone Canadian making an effort to speak French is invariably met with smiles and appreciation in Montreal. My interactions with dozens of people over the course of three days were rather life-affirming, and they even, dare I say it, stirred patriotic feelings in me that I didn't know I had. Which is ironic, for obvious reasons.

I'm a language-lover and enthusiast. I consider myself lucky enough to work with a different language than my native English every day, and am conversant at a basic level with a couple of others, so in many ways Montreal is exactly the sort of place that people like me find compelling and enjoyable. Linguistic tensions? No, linguistic diversity and pleasure, rather. Maybe I got lucky with the conversational topics, but during this trip I found on numerous occasions that I was able to chat with people in French for longer than just fifteen seconds over a shop counter. Which is delightful. It makes me happy that this place is just a few hours away and is in the country I live in (am I "proud" as per another thread I started? No, it's different).

Though the two interactions that really hit me right in the sentimental gut and further solidified my love for Montreal occurred in English this time round.

(1) I went to buy a seatpost for my bike at ABC Cycles on Parc. I was in my spandex gear, but also had arm and leg tights on ("Heatgear": keeps the sun off the skin while allowing the wind to penetrate it, and also keeps my hairy appendages out of view of other cyclists). A rabbi who was checking out a bike case with his twenty-something son walked over to me and said "Now here's a guy who wants to keep warm!" He thought the "Heatgear" was for warmth, odd considering the weather. I explained that it wasn't. We ended up talking about cycling in Montreal and his son's upcoming trip to Los Angeles to study at a rabbinical seminary there. The immediacy and lack of pretense of our interaction was a joy. I sometimes miss that when I'm in post-Presbyterian Ontario, where people are quiet and polite, and don't wish to offend (yes, a stereotype, but there's some truth to it).

(2) Or is it a Jewish thing? Sort of, though indirectly in this second case. At a kosher grocery to pick up some matzo crackers for a friend back home, we line up at the checkout behind a young orthodox woman with an overflowing cart that will take fifteen minutes to process. A francophone guy in his fifties with long white hair and a permanent roguish expression approaches, sees the full cart, and says, with a very slight New York Jewish accent, "Looks like we'll be here till Shabbat."

You had to be there, but he got me right in the funny bone. The thing is, I'm usually the embarrassing-uncle-type cracking the one-liners that produce guffaws and/or strained looks; it rarely happens that I'm on the receiving end. But I was that day in Montreal. It was a sudden humorous jolt that was by turns funny, endearing and even slightly scandalizing (i.e. would the cashier take offense?). This kind of thing doesn't happen for me in other places--just Montreal.

There's something about the people in Montreal that you can really sink your teeth into. Heh heh. The assured sense of place is part of it. I think it's also due to a certain lack of pretension in the human interaction. Very life-affirming, I find.

Pretty much encapsulates why I love living in the Mile-End.

Based on what I've seen, it is urban canada at its finest.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by rousseau

Ultimately it's the people for me. They're friendly.

(...)

At a kosher grocery to pick up some matzo crackers for a friend back home, we line up at the checkout behind a young orthodox woman with an overflowing cart that will take fifteen minutes to process.

FWIW, people with an overflowing cart who don't let people with only a box of crackers pass in front of them would NEVER meet my own standards for "friendly people"...

(Which is probably why one of the things I hate about Montreal is that the people there aren't friendly at all compared to what I'm used to.)

In fact I'm pretty sure an overwhelming % of people from rural Quebec would tell you that Montrealers generally behave like jerks... little things like, they won't hold the doors for you, won't let you pass first with your box of crackers, won't let others have the seating spots in the subway, won't let you pass ahead in traffic, etc. ("Big city" probably always means less polite people, though, so I know it might not be apples to apples.)

[rousseau]

I could live in Mile End. I would like to live in Mile End.

How similar is Montreal to Toronto? I don't know. I can see it, I guess. They don't really look the same, and their respective ethnic make-ups are different, but the young hipster and/or professional crowds seem similar. Actually, I think that might be the similarity right there. You've got two cities that are the major draws for twenty-something urban-lovers in Canada, so naturally that aspect will feel similar and differentiate them from everywhere else in the country.

On Sunday we had lunch in Montreal (La Maison Thai on St. Laurent--it's not really "Thai" per se, as it's full of French kids doing their Quebec adventure, but the food is delicious), and then later on we had dinner in Toronto (King Noodle, an old Chinatown standby at Dundas and Spadina), so we were able to form immediate and very shallow impressions of both places on the same day. The verdict?

Lot's of people in both places aren't going to like this, but here goes: Younger people around Queen West and Kensington in Toronto look way, way more alternative/hipster/cool whatever-adjective-is-current to denote a rejection of the mainstream than the kids do in the Plateau in Montreal, which looks more mainstream fashion-wise by comparison.

On the other hand, it pains me to admit to a stereotype that I've always felt was overdone, but my wife is an authority on this, and she confirms it: People in Montreal are just so much more damn attractive. Physically, the clothes, you name it, there are heart-stoppingly pretty women crawling all over to the point where it's almost commonplace. Toronto, by comparison, is not really the same, save for maybe in the Eaton Centre, where you do actually see a lot of beautiful women of every race and ethnicity imaginable. But overall, Montreal takes the prize. I'm not gay, so I don't notice men, so I can't say whether there's much of a difference in terms of the XY chromosomatic half of the species.

[Cyro]

Personally, it reminds me of the old world charm I experienced in excursions to Europe.
Age,History,Architecture....the feeling of history? Very similar to Quebec City as well.

[rousseau]

Originally Posted by lio45

FWIW, people with an overflowing cart who don't let people with only a box of crackers pass in front of them would NEVER meet my own standards for "friendly people"...

(Which is probably why one of the things I hate about Montreal is that the people there aren't friendly at all compared to what I'm used to.)

I should explain that the young woman with the infant and the overflowing cart couldn't have been more than eighteen years old, if that, and seemed more wet behind the ears than her baby. She was probably completely unsure of herself and what to do in such a situation, so in that particular instance I wouldn't put it down to cold-hearted big city self-centeredness.

And the cashier allowed us both to check out before her anyway.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by rousseau

I should explain that the young woman with the infant and the overflowing cart couldn't have been more than eighteen years old, if that, and seemed more wet behind the ears than her baby. She was probably completely unsure of herself and what to do in such a situation, so in that particular instance I wouldn't put it down to cold-hearted big city self-centeredness.

Okay, thanks for the explanation...

I did find it super ironic that your post actually contained an example of what, to us outside the province's metropolis, is classic Typical Montreal Unfriendliness, while praising the opposite... but it turns out that, in this particular case, it wasn't.

And I'm glad you enjoyed your trip

[lio45]

Originally Posted by rousseau

And the cashier allowed us both to check out before her anyway.

I would expect no less from any non-stupid cashier, anywhere in the world, big city or village...

(The overflowing cart customer still has a veto right on that, though. And if that person is a jerk, they might actually want to use it.)

[isaidso]

Montreal was Canada's alpha city for over a century and it shows. It may not be #1 any more, but you instantly know you're in a place of consequence when you arrive. The people know they live in a great city, the architecture is magnificent, and the city oozes style. Montreal may not even be in north America's top 10 in terms of size any more, but it remains one of the continents more important cities due to its history and culture.

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by rousseau

I could live in Mile End. I would like to live in Mile End.

How similar is Montreal to Toronto? I don't know. I can see it, I guess. They don't really look the same, and their respective ethnic make-ups are different, but the young hipster and/or professional crowds seem similar. Actually, I think that might be the similarity right there. You've got two cities that are the major draws for twenty-something urban-lovers in Canada, so naturally that aspect will feel similar and differentiate them from everywhere else in the country.

On Sunday we had lunch in Montreal (La Maison Thai on St. Laurent--it's not really "Thai" per se, as it's full of French kids doing their Quebec adventure, but the food is delicious), and then later on we had dinner in Toronto (King Noodle, an old Chinatown standby at Dundas and Spadina), so we were able to form immediate and very shallow impressions of both places on the same day. The verdict?

Lot's of people in both places aren't going to like this, but here goes: Younger people around Queen West and Kensington in Toronto look way, way more alternative/hipster/cool whatever-adjective-is-current to denote a rejection of the mainstream than the kids do in the Plateau in Montreal, which looks more mainstream fashion-wise by comparison.

On the other hand, it pains me to admit to a stereotype that I've always felt was overdone, but my wife is an authority on this, and she confirms it: People in Montreal are just so much more damn attractive. Physically, the clothes, you name it, there are heart-stoppingly pretty women crawling all over to the point where it's almost commonplace. Toronto, by comparison, is not really the same, save for maybe in the Eaton Centre, where you do actually see a lot of beautiful women of every race and ethnicity imaginable. But overall, Montreal takes the prize. I'm not gay, so I don't notice men, so I can't say whether there's much of a difference in terms of the XY chromosomatic half of the species.

Imho, except for a particular type of dark good looks (too often height challenged, unfortunately) that one finds frequently in Montreal, Toronto wins in the handsome gay men department, if only because it's so much bigger and more diverse that the law of averages applies. Matter of taste, I suppose.

[isaidso]

You're the first person I've ever encountered who prefers Toronto men over those in Montreal. Toronto has lots of handsome men, but Montreal wins hands down imo.

[Razor]

How ironic...I just got a message back from this Australian fella I worked with all summer..Anyways, I prodded him to visit Montreal before he leaves next week, and he literally just got back and messaged me back a few minutes ago before I logged on to here..First thread that popped up in the Canada section was this...He gave two thumbs up and was very impressed..His fave city in Canada so far..Of course that was his opinion..He's from just outside Melbourne, so he's fairly urbanized...Anyways, just thought it was ironic s'all.

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by isaidso

You're the first person I've ever encountered who prefers Toronto men over those in Montreal. Toronto has lots of handsome men, but Montreal wins hands down imo.

Just my own opinion (although, I confess, based on years of extensive, non-scientific research)

[Rusty van Reddick]

Originally Posted by isaidso

You're the first person I've ever encountered who prefers Toronto men over those in Montreal. Toronto has lots of handsome men, but Montreal wins hands down imo.

They both have their strong points and I married a Toronto man so there's that. But one thing we can all agree on is that they outclass Vancouver (gay) men, the pastiest fugs on the continent.