What sane person would want to live with screaming hockey fans and rock concert scalpers outside their window?
Many wondered just that when condos at the Bell Centre went on sale.
But not only were the units snapped up quickly, they sold at a price far higher than others in the area.
The difference between those units and others in nearby Griffintown or at Mountain and Dorch?
The Bell Centre is connected to the underground city, Montreal's downtown pedestrian network.
Condo shoppers have voted with their dollars and they want a home that permits them to stroll to their cubicle at Place Ville Marie without donning a sweater, jacket, raincoat or long undies.
Red lights, smog, slush, icy sidewalks, puddles, cold winds, rain, snow and sleet be damned!
People want to walk in climate-controlled, safely to one's destinations past countless shiny boutiques en route.
Now that consumers have proven that they want to live downtown connected to the underground city, expect the floodgates to open.
***
So where will the next tunnels migrate? Presumably the tunnels are already headed under St. Antoine Street in the upcoming development across from the Bell Centre, so that will likely expand the ant farm south.
But the those who know the invisible mood borders of downtown understand why Peel and St. Catherine is not only downtown's signature intersection, but it's also a border from the smaller structures to the west to the big boys east.
Peel and St. Catherine is where the underground city needs its grand entrance.
One would be able to enter around the recently-closed HMV record shop at the southeast corner.
The tunnel would slip diagonally to another famous structure, the Sun Life building, which really needs to be represented in this tunneltastic undertaking.
The tunnel from the Sun Life would go diagonally to Central Station, with another foot tunnel going east to the building across Metcalfe and then onto Place Ville Marie.
For years the underground city was plagued by a lack of connection under St. Catherine Street. It's time to get another one going as well and Peel and St. Catherine would be just the place to do it.
Expanding such networks would come cost for construction, maintenance and security surveillance but those expenses could be more than compensated by increased revenues from residential construction, thereby increasing the residential density of the downtown area.
***
Another oft-overlooked underground tunnel network has been a cash cow, not for Montreal but for
Westmount, as the Alexis Nihon / Westmount Square network has recognized from the start that home dwellers want to get in on the tunnel action.
That tunnel system now travels from Green all the way to the southeast corner of Atwater and St. Catherine. Now a major new project is slated at the site of the former Children's Hospital and yeah, that's just a stone's toss away from a tunnel at Cabot Square.
Extending that tunnel under Cabot Square to the development would create another substantial underground city.
The old Montreal Forum will inevitably be demolished or redesigned and another tower at the southwest corner of St. Catherine and Atwater would give some impressive critical mass to that area and the building at that stands where the Seville Theatre long thrilled moviegoers, could also be connected to the underground.
The area has become a hub of activity, as all those rebel kids of Bill 101 have jammed Dawson College CEGEP to finally get an English education.
Increased development at Atwater and St. Catherine is a cause all can support, as it would rejuvenate the long-beleaguered stretch of St. Catherine to Guy, where street commerce has long suffered from a lack of population density on the western edge of the strip.
***
Construction at St. Lawrence and De Maisonneuve is also inevitable, as the southwest corner is already being built. A project has long been slated for the St. Lawrence metro station but has yet to happen. Those projects, when they materialize, could get hooked up with the Place des Arts tunnel system. The massive, sprawling and dubious Jeanne Mance public housing project, which - unless redesigned - remains an obstacle to further tunnel development to the east of the Main.
***
And finally the Vendome metro superhospital has become a sort of tiny newborn tunnel network but it has yet to make that push
beyond its narrow facility. The nearby busy intersection of De Maisonneuve and Decarie offers considerable potential for office or condo tower or commercial development, as thousands of staffers would love a way to live nearby. That in turn could be linked into a new network of tunnels.
Many wondered just that when condos at the Bell Centre went on sale.
But not only were the units snapped up quickly, they sold at a price far higher than others in the area.
The difference between those units and others in nearby Griffintown or at Mountain and Dorch?
The Bell Centre is connected to the underground city, Montreal's downtown pedestrian network.
Condo shoppers have voted with their dollars and they want a home that permits them to stroll to their cubicle at Place Ville Marie without donning a sweater, jacket, raincoat or long undies.Red lights, smog, slush, icy sidewalks, puddles, cold winds, rain, snow and sleet be damned!
People want to walk in climate-controlled, safely to one's destinations past countless shiny boutiques en route.
Now that consumers have proven that they want to live downtown connected to the underground city, expect the floodgates to open.
***
So where will the next tunnels migrate? Presumably the tunnels are already headed under St. Antoine Street in the upcoming development across from the Bell Centre, so that will likely expand the ant farm south.
 |
| The showers in the Canadiens Towers aren't its big attraction |
Peel and St. Catherine is where the underground city needs its grand entrance.
One would be able to enter around the recently-closed HMV record shop at the southeast corner.
The tunnel would slip diagonally to another famous structure, the Sun Life building, which really needs to be represented in this tunneltastic undertaking.
The tunnel from the Sun Life would go diagonally to Central Station, with another foot tunnel going east to the building across Metcalfe and then onto Place Ville Marie.
For years the underground city was plagued by a lack of connection under St. Catherine Street. It's time to get another one going as well and Peel and St. Catherine would be just the place to do it.
Expanding such networks would come cost for construction, maintenance and security surveillance but those expenses could be more than compensated by increased revenues from residential construction, thereby increasing the residential density of the downtown area.
***
Another oft-overlooked underground tunnel network has been a cash cow, not for Montreal but for
That tunnel system now travels from Green all the way to the southeast corner of Atwater and St. Catherine. Now a major new project is slated at the site of the former Children's Hospital and yeah, that's just a stone's toss away from a tunnel at Cabot Square.
Extending that tunnel under Cabot Square to the development would create another substantial underground city.
The old Montreal Forum will inevitably be demolished or redesigned and another tower at the southwest corner of St. Catherine and Atwater would give some impressive critical mass to that area and the building at that stands where the Seville Theatre long thrilled moviegoers, could also be connected to the underground.
The area has become a hub of activity, as all those rebel kids of Bill 101 have jammed Dawson College CEGEP to finally get an English education.
Increased development at Atwater and St. Catherine is a cause all can support, as it would rejuvenate the long-beleaguered stretch of St. Catherine to Guy, where street commerce has long suffered from a lack of population density on the western edge of the strip.
***
Construction at St. Lawrence and De Maisonneuve is also inevitable, as the southwest corner is already being built. A project has long been slated for the St. Lawrence metro station but has yet to happen. Those projects, when they materialize, could get hooked up with the Place des Arts tunnel system. The massive, sprawling and dubious Jeanne Mance public housing project, which - unless redesigned - remains an obstacle to further tunnel development to the east of the Main.***
And finally the Vendome metro superhospital has become a sort of tiny newborn tunnel network but it has yet to make that push
Such tunnel expansion is fine, but there is still way too much emphasis on condo construction and not enough on affordable housing.
ReplyDeleteGreedy speculators--essentially "home collectors" (many of whom are non-resident foreigners)--should not be permitted to continue their pillaging of Canadian properties.
Several existing condo construction projects such as The Triangle remain unfinished and while others advertised as ready for occupancy are deliberately kept empty in order to drive up prices later on.
Thankfully, the Ontario and B.C. governments are increasing taxation on such blatant profiteering and presumably Quebec will do likewise before the situation becomes unbearable here as well. But will such additional taxation actually solve the problem? Time will tell.
One wonders how many Quebec exiles who had scuttled away down the 401 are now regretting their decision? Are they financially better off today than if they had stayed? How many would admit it?
To digress further, why is it that promises of low-cost housing always seem to become eclipsed by fantasies of huge and expensive sports stadiums for teams that may never materialize, or--even if such teams DO materialize--where is the guarantee that they would not be spirited away at some future point in time, e.g. the Expos and the Nordiques. Here today, gone tomorrow.
Why is it that our existing sports facilities are constantly being decried as "inadequate" or "unsuitable"? They can be upgraded instead at a much lower cost. Then again, can ANY stadium EVER be "big enough"? Evidently not, considering the endless orgy of venue demolitions one can view on YouTube!
The notion of demolishing the Olympic Stadium because certain promoters along with a particular segment of our lazy, point-and-click generation claim that it is "too far away" or that its location is "inconvenient" is, of course, ludricrous, since there is plenty of parking and public transit directly to the site. Strange that I never heard anyone raise this as an issue when the Big O was initially proposed nor when it opened in 1976. Admittedly, the structure has its flaws but solutions can--indeed, have been--applied.
Will those same so-called promoters and retired, former sports heroes (most of whom don't even reside here, anyway) volunteer THEIR OWN money to finance a new "bigger and better" DOWNTOWN stadium monstrosity (which would only add to the current traffic paralysis and pollution) or will the taxpayer become hoodwinked; slowly and deviously maneuvered into funding another potential white elephant while vital, affordable housing projects are continually deferred?
I don't think governments should be in the apartment business. Indeed they should pull a Thatcher and just sell off what they own to the existing tenants, thereby empowering them with equity. Take the brakes off construction and let 'em all get built, even urban sprawl and you'll see rents come down big time. I don't get the objection with condo projects being built and left empty or whatever is it you're describing. If they pay tax to the city and they didn't deprive anybody of an existing apartment then all new condo construction is good for the poor. I've yet to see a coherent argument against them. Indeed I asked Sam Boskey to explain and he said the only objection was to condo conversion. As for baseball stadiums, that's another issue. I'm pretty neutral on that but somewhere on this site I've noted a correlation between a radical drop in tourism in Montreal to the departure of the Expos, although that was also around the same time passport requirements were changed, making it harder for many Americans to come up here.
ReplyDeleteHow can I find out who lived on Terrasse Elgin in 1966? Trying to find birth mother but need her address in 1966.
ReplyDeleteYou can find that here Bob: http://bibnum2.banq.qc.ca/bna/lovell/
ReplyDeleteInteresting, I assumed someone who spends so much time putting together an archive of local history would have a more critical view of urban development.
ReplyDeleteActually now I think my last comment was almost out of place. I realize that you also posted quite a bit on urban development so I could have read your views in depth before rushing to comment on this piece !
ReplyDeleteI've of two minds of a lot of old buildings. Some look like they really need to be torn down soon. Like these: goo.gl/ekRRmH
ReplyDeleteBuilding enormous sports venues for the purpose of increasing tourism can only backfire--and indeed has already backfired when you consider how many "World Class, State of the Art" Olympic stadiums in various countries over the past decades have left huge, outstanding debt. (sound familiar?) Furthermore, do events such as Monster Truck competitions draw sufficient fan worship to fill them afterwards? A city would need to fill such venues continuously and with substantial monetary returns in order to make them viable.
ReplyDeleteIt has already been stated by those much wider than me that at some point, future Olympic Games will only be hosted by wealthy countries who are willing to tolerate the inevitable fallout and criticisms once the athletes have returned home. Dubai, anyone? Bahrain? Perhaps China should host all future games?
I will be the first to admit that because I personally never fully enjoyed going to these huge arenas for the various events I did witness there--i.e. rock concerts, Ice Capades, sundry circusses, etc.--in years past was simply because I found their acoustics deporable, their seating uncomfortable, and, quite frankly, the phenomena of a few irresponsible fans bent on creating havoc (I remember when some little creep grabbed Jimi Hendrix's microphone stand off the stage at the Paul Sauve Arena. Jimi wasn't pleased and said so!). Even Mick Jagger once described large stadiums as "barns"--structures that had been specifically erected for sporting events, anyway, and not for concerts. He ought to know after having performed in so many of them with the Stones over the decades.
It is true that a younger, often stoned, and therefore less-critical crowd won't mind sitting on the floor (or evidently even in the mud) to have their eardrums blown out by dangerous, damaging high decibel levels, but, of course, the promoters could care less about that. Nor, apparently, does the Bell Centre have any qualms about Canadiens' season ticket over-pricing.
Now that election season is upon us, I am beginning to hear the slow but steady propaganda by candidates and media figures cajoling us, "Hey, c'mon, it's not the end of the world that taxpayers will end up paying for another stadium, so let us build it!".
"Let us"? Please don't "spin" your big ideas at "us". Take your hands out of our pockets. If you are hell-bent on building boondoggles, then let private funding pay for it--ALL of it.
I am not the only one who believes that these enormously expensive venues will one day become obsolete. Cumbersome events will be relegated to pay-per-view home screens and at smaller, low maintenance, concert halls, sports bars, etc. Clearly, this seems to be the trend and the public apparently approves of such alternatives.
My blast for the day.