If you want to find the place in Montreal that will give you an instant sense of well-being, happiness, excitement and gratification, it's St. Catherine Street. Specifically between Mackay and Peel. (If you really want to narrow it down to the city's coolest block, that would be St. Catherine between Drummond and Stanley. You're welcome).The stretch from Mackay to Atwater never really hits the heights but that might change. Above is series of buildings that developer Peter Sergakis is proposing to turn into a massive 940 seat bar. The sports bar at the corner, where the old Indian Pique Assiette restaurant once stood is now a thriving sports bar so he wants to extend it all the way down to the karaoke joint. Some neighbours are opposing the plan however.
You've surely noticed that the Texan restaurant has been demolished and the wrecking ball awaits the neighbouring buildings as well, including the Seville Theatre. We don't have much faith in the project that's being built there. It's too tall and tall buildings aren't street friendly because the lobbies are generally stuffed with elevators and pillars, so there's no real room for mom and pop streetscrape stuff.
It's pretty hard not to have a ton of fun people watching downtown in the summer, I wish I got a better shot of this couple though, the fat guy and the slutty chick, long live!
Sports station is surprisingly good. The food is prety decent and the prices are low enough that you don't mind so much that the beer is watered down to the point that is almost sobers you up when you drink it.
ReplyDeleteWhile I don't have any problem at all with Sergakis, he doesn't seem to be very liked in that part of town as a quick polling of the locals will prove. Despite the fact that he was the first person to invest in that part of town in the last 15 years or so.
I lived in that part of town for a very long time and I can attest that the neighbors have little to worry about from a sports bars when compared to the noise from being in the cross hairs of a major Hospital/Fire Station/Police Station.
Hi
ReplyDeleteI must respectfully disagree with your assessment that the new project will be devoid of street life. I must also disagree with your assessment that the new buildings will be "too tall".
This is a city. Tall buildings are necessary. We built expensive infrastructure to support tall buildings, and to do anything else would be incredibly wasteful. Subway, expensive underground power lines, broadband, sewage, all of this cost a fortune and was done to accommodate high-density development. To be blunt: cities have tall buildings. If you don't like tall buildings, i recommend you don't live in a city.
As for street life, the new project is residential in nature, so the number of pedestrians on the streets will only increase with this project. There is also street-level commercial activity planned as well, so the street life is in no danger at all.
-Cataclaw from mtlurb.com
Gotta agree with you there. Ste Catherines IS the best street ever.
ReplyDeletePaul
Calgary
Bad form I know, to comment twice.
ReplyDeleteKeep the theatre facade as historic. Get rid of the rest.
"Back in the day" I used to walk by there regularly. My son, young at the time, would jump to the other side to avoid the people hanging around on the sidewalk.
Silly boy.
Sergakis isn't well liked for a lot of reasons. Take your pick: being a boor, having his buildings mysteriously burn down when the time is right for new development, having under-age dancers in his bars, throwing objects at City Council meetings,etc. Being an investor doesn't absolve you of being a human being.
ReplyDeleteNo.
ReplyDeleteLansdowne Avenue was the best street ever.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=landsdowne+avenue+montreal+qc&sll=45.540778,-73.761353&sspn=0.011287,0.016716&ie=UTF8&ll=45.493484,-73.563721&spn=0.001412,0.003111&z=19&layer=c&cbll=45.493528,-73.563824&panoid=a1vXy7UiF908EbmnuR4Duw&cbp=12,41.88,,0,2.98
What's the reference JN?
ReplyDeleteSome nice photography there.
ReplyDelete