So where's St. Catherine street? Easy! Any Montreal toddler could guide you there with their first-ever steps.
Within seconds newcomers and tourists grasp our downtown street grid by memorizing St. Cat and buds Sherbrooke, Maisonneuve and Dorch.
And they're all nice and close and walkable. Granny can stroll from Sherbrooke to St. Catherine in five minutes downtown, as the two east-west streets are just 350 metres apart.
A decent sprinter could run that in about a minute.
But get thee to the east and try doing the same and the bewildering disorientation and inevitable perplexing discombobulation begins.
That's because the further east you go, the more the main east-west streets sneakily drift apart.
By the time you get to Viau, that pleasant urban stroll from Sherbrooke to Ste Catherine might require a map, solid hiking shoes, a place to rest and a reliable hunting rifle.
Viau between Ste. Cat and Sherb, is a 25 minute, 2.1 kilometre walk, including an often icy and windy hill. (Ice in the summer? From spilled cocktails?- Chimples)
The cruelest part? Just when you think you see your destination in the distance you realize it's a decoy, a street you've never heard of, Adam, Lafontaine, Rouen, Hochelaga, Pierre de Courbertin, Charbonneau. There's even something called the Long Point Antenna, scrubland that looks like a great place to dump a corpse. Moral of the story? Things are very bad and quickly getting worse.
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| Sherb to St. Cat is a happy walk downtown |
And they're all nice and close and walkable. Granny can stroll from Sherbrooke to St. Catherine in five minutes downtown, as the two east-west streets are just 350 metres apart.
A decent sprinter could run that in about a minute.
But get thee to the east and try doing the same and the bewildering disorientation and inevitable perplexing discombobulation begins.
That's because the further east you go, the more the main east-west streets sneakily drift apart.
By the time you get to Viau, that pleasant urban stroll from Sherbrooke to Ste Catherine might require a map, solid hiking shoes, a place to rest and a reliable hunting rifle.
.png) |
| Sherb to St. Cat on Viau? Welcome to hell boy |
The cruelest part? Just when you think you see your destination in the distance you realize it's a decoy, a street you've never heard of, Adam, Lafontaine, Rouen, Hochelaga, Pierre de Courbertin, Charbonneau. There's even something called the Long Point Antenna, scrubland that looks like a great place to dump a corpse. Moral of the story? Things are very bad and quickly getting worse.
Yeah, fuck how the river and the plateau naturally shape the path of those streets.
ReplyDeleteOdd post. Who walks up Viau anyway? If you do have to make it from Ste-Catherine to Sherbrooke in this area (who does, really?), you're better off walking on Pie-IX, where you'll encounter some prime residential architecture. Or pick Morgan as your starting point, and you'll come across the park, the theater, the public baths and the Maisonneuve market.
Next time, put some effort in your disdain for the East End.
I agree with 514urbanitis. Your roots in Montréal might be fairly recent (mine go back to 1648) but there is more to our island than N.D.G. and whatever grisly crime strikes your fancy.
ReplyDeleteI got a problem with comments here. I'll try again.
ReplyDeleteYou're right. The space curves in Montreal. Yesterday I walked down from Ontario to St Catherine near Frontenac Ⓜ. Finally I got peeves on my heels because of my new shoes.
I'll surely take some flack for this but the real question is why would anybody want to be that far east in the first place?
ReplyDeleteSeth, far is far, whether it is north, south, east or west. I am a downtowner and never go far because I know nobody there. The Botanical Garden is somewhat east, but that is about it for me. There are lovely residential areas in the East End, go take a look, but Ahuntsic, Kirkland and Rivière-des-Prairies have no appeal for me.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all -- great post. Haters gonna hate!
ReplyDeleteNow I'm curious about this Antenne Longue Pointe. What is it exactly, some kind of wannabe Woonerf? More info here. Kinda cool actually:
http://tellementswell.com/un-parc-lineaire-dans-hochelaga-maisonneuve/
I have never encountered this as a problem.
ReplyDeleteThe Montreal navigational oddity that I will never get used to if I live here for the rest of my life is Montreal's bizarre lopsided compass. St Catherine, which travels almost perfectly north-south, has an east and a west side. The "east" side of town is directly north of the "west" side of town and "Montreal North" is west of everything.
As someone who actually has a decent sense of direction, having to do the correction in my head everytime is tiring. It's like being on vacation and having to convert exchange rates all the time.
For the first year I lived here, I actually thought one side of St Cat was the west side and across the street was the east side because this was the only explanation that made any sense to me.
Anyone who has purchased the increasingly-expensive OPUS pass for regular transit travel back and forth to work or school should not hesitate to extract its maximum value and potential by using it to visit unfamiliar neighbourhoods, preferably on weekends when traffic volume is lower.
ReplyDeletePleasant, modern, riverfront northern and eastern island suburbs can be admired along the Henri Bourassa-Leger-Perras Boulevard via bus route 48 and 48X (the latter extra detouring for a few blocks along Gouin east of Langelier).
Tree-lined streets are in abundance in these districts, the bus line terminating at still-unfinished housing projects in RDP from which route 448 can then be taken to return quickly along a very different route to the Radisson Metro.
Another interesting choice is the 410 Express from downtown (check STM's schedules) which cruises along virtually the entire length of Notre Dame East to terminate at the very eastern tip of the island. Catch the 487 which returns through mostly industrial zones to terminate at the Honore-Beaugrand Metro--which itself exists in a relatively dull part of town, I should mention.
Otherwise, there are some truly dreary districts such as Montreal Nord through which route 43 zigzags along seemingly endless blocks of one-storey auto body shops and garages, bad chemical smells, and pot-holed pavement. One can't wait to disembark, particularly if the bus is packed with a jabbering mob equally eager to leave. Get on at the beginning of the route to grab a seat or you'll be sorry.
Another depressing district is Hochelaga-Maisonneuve through which route 125 crawls along Ontario Street East between ugly and decrepit commercial establishments and dwellings.
The inevitable question arises: who would want to live in such drab surroundings? I would think that the residents are more "mentally-trapped" than economically unable to move elsewhere.
"Where would I go? All my friends live here.", they would likely tell you.
Of course, the slum-dweller's mentality has existed for generations. New York City's tenements have endured despite decades of attempted "gentrification" and social programs. You would think most of the tenants would be glad to migrate to smaller towns or farm communities, but presumably they'd then feel like "fish out of water".
Industrial Revolution London's slum habits persisted even when the government of the day demolished the decrepit, unhealthy dwellings and replaced them with better ones. Many of the former tenants moved back only to use their newly-issued bathtubs to store coal. Apparently washing oneself had a lower priority than home-heating!
But, I digress. As for Montreal's West Island, I personally found visiting those districts to be typically boring suburbia (even the Deux Montagnes train isn't all that thrilling)--the only exception would be riding the hour-long route 411 all the way to St. Anne de Bellevue from where you may hang out and relax at the nearby waterfront park near the railway bridge.
I've made that ride by bicycle but found it time-consuming as an option. However, if you must bike there--if only for the experience--leave early in the day and take a leisurely pace while being constantly on the alert for scofflaw, texting motorists--an increasing hazard.
From the Lionel-Groulx Metro catch the 411 bus but be early in the lineup, otherwise be prepared to remain standing as far as the Dorval Airport loop--a long stretch. Even then, you may still be forced to stand for quite a distance further. Weekends are preferable to avoid any potential highway 20 traffic slowdowns.
Christopher DeWolf once wrote that - judging by my writing - he doubted I'd ever left NDG.
ReplyDeleteIn fact I tend to get around all over, give me half a chance and I'll hit Laval, the east end, West Island. I usually have a reason to go to these places, rental board, buying used stuff off the internet, kids sports activities, etc.
The stretch of Ste. Catherine between Prefontaine and Pie IX is my idea of a wild ride. I kicked tires on a building right in the worst part but the bank said no way we're going to lend you money on a property down there.
I agree with Bill, Notre Dame in the far east is pretty crazy too, if you go at night there's these fires, part of some industrial process that light up the night and the river on the other side.
One area that I find strangely un-fascinating is Ahuntsic. I mean, it's pretty up near the river and it's near the metro line but I otherwise don't get the appeal.
My cameras keep breaking so I've stopped replacing them but when I get it together to get another I'll go snap-happy with more photos from around the city.
There's a legendary sociological study from the 70s that suggested that something like 80% of all Verdun residents hadn't left their neighbourhood once during the past year. I'd love to get a hold of that study if it exists.
About Verdun: there was a tale told to me back in the 1970s about the infamous tire slasher who wreaked havoc in that neighbourhood.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone have more details about this? Was the culprit ever caught?
I think there is a dumped body at
ReplyDelete45.563040, -73.534414 on Google Maps! I drive past there everyday, then hand a left at the old appliance factor before heading to Anjou. I've had the opportunity to check out Cartierville, Mtl-Nord, Lots of RDP and Anjou, etc. Some nice little areas, parks, pathways in there if you explore a bit.
Adding to what UrbanLegend said, a run out on the new Train of the East takes you through some interesting parts of RDP, like the Metro head office and distribution centre on the East part of Duplessis (after the part where it turns into a ditch for a few hundred meters).
More obscure sights to see with your Opus card: the 196 bus from the middle of Lachine to Place Vertu takes you on a half-hour tour of the industrial parklands (wastelands?) of Lachine, Dorval, and St-Laurent. Take the 460 from Dorval ans ahre the traffic jams on the Met as it takes you (eventually) to Galeries d'Anjou.
ReplyDeleteThe most beautiful views are on the 129 along Cote Ste-Catherine on a sunny summer day. Get on at Decarie, and sit looking out the front window. The trees and greenery are incredible! Find another street with so many tall trees.
I think I'll go outside and watch a beautiful sunset in the north. (look "north" on any major street (St-Laurent, Papineau, Pie-IX, etc) around 8 pm during May)
A couple of obscure short MTC bus routes are also noteworthy.
ReplyDeleteBoard the 13 beginning at Rousselot at Jarry (check STM's schedules) which then switches southbound onto the quaint and well-gentrified section of Christophe-Colomb with its many classic outdoor staircases.
Very few passengers and surprisingly fewer students will climb on from the nearby schools so the admirable views will not be obscured. With very little traffic, the route terminates at the Rosemont Metro.
Of historical mention is the fact that a section of this route coincides exactly with the original trolleybus route 1: an era which came to an end in 1966.
The remaining, sturdily-built, CCF-Brill coaches were then sold to Mexico City where a few even survived until the 1980s.
For those interested in such transit history, details can be found in the March 1977 edition of Canadian Rail, No. 302 with photos and maps. See:
http://www.exporail.org/can_rail/Canadian%20Rail_no302_1977.pdf
Another short bus line is the 101 which trundles virtually empty along St. Patrick to serve workers of the adjacent industrial zone.
Catch this one at the corner of de l'Eglise and admire the view of the Lachine Canal and the southern slope of Westmount as you groove eastward along until the route ends all too soon at the Charlevoix Metro from where--if you're in the mood--you can then easily walk the few blocks down to Paul Patates at 760 Charlevoix for a great poutine and spruce beer. Again: check schedules.
Our city's hidden gems revealed!
Yes, it is hell out here.
ReplyDeleteOT, but a great photo none the less.
ReplyDeleteCP 5114 climbs the grade from the waterfront and Hochelaga Yard bound for Angus Shops and St Luc Yard.
https://rockontrains.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/cpr-no-5114-montreal-qc-6-23-59-credit-bob-krone.jpg
The three cars behind the engine are for transporting livestock and were a common site at St Luc Jct at the top of Rosedale, set off by a thru freight for a local transfer destined for the abbatoirs in the East End.
We always wanted to let the horses out, but didn't.
CP 5114 was soon on the dead lines at St Luc and went for scrap at Angus Shops.
Thank You.
I wish Google Maps hadn't changed to that new buggy crap format since now viewing the links to Antenne Longue-Pointe was quite the excursion in an other than travelling sense.
ReplyDeleteNot your fault by a long shot, just exasperating.
you wrote about Sherbrooke and st Catherine street getting farther apart when going east
ReplyDeletetrue, but one street is closer to sherbrooke in the east and further in the west, do you know this street it takes a couple seconds to reach scherbrooke and in the west 15 minutes ,It is rachel street