Very true

@@novicatoncic6908 it's actually good improvement in the big cities in Canada only. The rest (small city under 1mil people ) are basically The US but colder and tons of pot holes:)))

@@nguyentuan5223 so true...but some projects like the Quebec City tram might start changing these carbrained folks all over the country!

but it's a start in a good direction.... as said in video, even the Netherlands weren't born with gold standard....

@@electrosyzygy Quebec is an exception

Sorry to say, but English Canada is a different breed, the bike lane extension on Bloor is doomed to failure.

@@noseboop4354 I hope you're wrong, but I fear you're right.🫤

I feel like Toronto has so much potential, but it’s being held hostage by its surrounding suburbs.

Hopefully that will diminish. I'm in Victoria, which is often regarded as a bike friendly city, however there was still enormous public opposition to the initial round of protected bike lanes that were installed. Ridership has steadily increased over time, and opposition has decreased as residents adjust to the new layout and understand the bigger transportation picture of what is trying to be achieved with the installation of connected bike corridors.

I’m guessing a lot of drivers feel they are being penalised despite the amount of tax they pay as part of their overall annual motoring expenses. They pay tax on fuel, car purchase, parts and servicing, insurance. Now a plan to raise a nominal parking charge based on vehicle weight (good idea). Do banded vehicle emissions form a component of road tax in Canada? They still don’t here in Australia, but have been in place for over a decade in the UK and across Europe. The higher the vehicle emissions the higher the annual road tax. I love what is happening in Montreal. Not only are emissions being reduced along with the likelihood of personal injury, but the environment is transformed and more people are getting more exercise because they are more likely to start cycling. Regarding the tragedy of a child killed on the street, a working fixed point camera on the corner might help. We use them in Australia and fines are heavy. Drivers here have twelve points to use up on their license, after which it is suspended for sometime (might be two years? Or more).

Oui. Sauf l'axe cyclable qui est une vraie blague.

J'adore l'esplanade tranquille avec la patinoire en hiver et les activité et festivals en été.

Oui et non. Les festival du jazz a eu la brillante idée d'utiliser les nombreux trous que contenait le centre-ville de Montréal pour en faire des lieux de rassemblements. Mais avec la construction de la place des festivals cela revient a en officialiser ce principe et à faire de Montréal ''une société du spectacle''' comme disait Bourdieu. Bref c'est ''joli'' mais sans âme.

One important thing that contributed to urbanism changes in Montreal was its political landscape. Back in early 2000, Projet Montréal, a left leaning with a strong urbanism view municipal party, was elected to one of the center boroughs’ city council (In Montreal, each borough has its own city council, plus one over viewing the whole city). They decided to take a page from Scandinavian cities urbanism book and to give back the city to the citizens by adding bike paths, implementing street calming mesures, diverting thru traffic, pedestrianizing streets, etc. This didn’t happen without hurts. The party was ridiculed by the opposition, other boroughs and the rest of QC. Their measures were unpopular and there was a lot of contestation. But their citizen kept voting for them. Eventually, the party was elected to other borough’s city council. And in 2017, they were elected to the central city’s city hall. They re-elected in 2021 for another 4 years. The same party is also governing party of 6 or 7 of the boroughs, mostly the central ones. Also, the city of Montreal represents only part of the island. Many suburbs aren’t included in the borders of Montreal. Suburbs who would prefer a more car-centric point of view don’t vote for Montreal’s mayor or city councillors. So, what we see in this video is more than 20 years of work and pushing for a more people-centred city and all the backlash that came with it. And it all started by changing some street directions and adding painted bike lanes and bollards.

Of all the places I've been, Los Angeles is the one place where the car infrastructure makes the least sense. You've got nearly 4 million people, as close to perfect weather as can be found on this planet, amazing natural beauty, and you decided to put highways there and have everyone drive. If LA embraced urbanism and biking, it'd be one of the best cities on the planet.

@@wodediannao4577 agreed! I bike to work most days and it’s something most people wouldn’t risk due to safety concerns with little to no protected infrastructure.

@@anne12876 Namely the suburbs that voted for a demerger from Montreal.

@@wodediannao4577 Furthermore, LA used to have one of the best transit system in USA in the 1930s!

Wait there’s gonna be winter bixis?

@@safwanahmad1040 yes, it was announced a few weeks ago (it's also mentioned in the video 😉)

We don't need bikes, we need affordable rent for workers instead of lazy welfare people. Montreal is dead without the foreign students. It was a lively and vibrant city in the 90s and 00s

That could be a factor. But also, before the era of cars, Montreal was Canadas biggest city. So it makes sense that it has many walkable neighbourhoods.

Home owning is not as much seen as a financial investment, an asset to resell, but a lifelong place to live. There isn't a lot of cities around a French Canadian can expect to live in their own language. There is less mobility, people tend to stick to the province.

@@lateve6243 yes being favorable of rentals, the entire fairly unique practice of moving day, the more relaxed attitudes in general, it all adds up. It's a unique contrast to the rest of North America, and something I wish we all learned from. Thanks for your thoughts!

Honestly, it’s probable not much about culture, just geography. Montreal was founded in the pre-car 1600s, like the Eastern US cities that have walkable cores. It’s also on an island, like Manhattan but bigger, and with the downtown wedged between the mountain and the river. All these things favoured density which now serves as the foundation for today’s urbanism. Most Quebecers are caraholics indistinguishable in their attitude and lifestyle from people from the Houston suburbs.

@@abcdeshole ah good point on the geography of Montreal that did help shoehorn folks into a compact area. I suppose that could have just as much lead to the factors we see now. Good points and thoughts !!

I hate Montreal. Full of Potholes and Orange Cones.

I feel like while the new boulevard and park are an improvement over the former highway, it’s still loud and polluted because of the 8+ lanes of traffic. I don’t find it to be a pleasant urban environment at all, to be honest.

@@ethandanielburg6356 - I agree, but then, every time I go there these days, I'm surprised by the amount of people actively enjoying themselves. It's not a spectacular park, but it's functional. I guess it's just not MY thing, but it's obviously enough people's idea of a fun place to consider it a sensible improvement. Also, I worked on Duke St. for 9 years (I think we were in phase IV of the multimedia city project) and the elevated highway was an urbanistic aberration that far into the city. It looked like they'd given up on ever developing the land back in the 60s.

Yeah Laval is still a shithole 😂

poorer neighborhoods like saint-michel and montréal-nord are also left in the dust, with very little good projects happening. it's espacially sad because they are pretty densely populated and people who live there often don't have a very big budget for a car, so bicycle infrastructure would probably work great there.

the boroughs that are not well deserved by the metro are often an afterthought for infrastructure upgrade sadly

There is strong political will in Longueuil and Laval to get better however, and Laval sure needs it. Car-centric hellscape if there ever was one.

Ahuntsic is getting there with good structural transport on Prieur, Sauriol and the REV, sans compter le REV de Henri-Bourrassa qui s'en vient sous peu on va être gâtés!

As you say, it's only a year youre in Montreal, Now try to live your life in Montreal, you will hate it. Its a pleasant city for tourist and student but not for living. There is a lot of corruption, lots of problem that they didnt fix since decades. Now the insecurity and crimes is raising with a rocket speed. I live in Montreal-East and douzens of gunshot event has been recorded the last summer only, 3 with semi-automatic weapon and war weapons. Recently, someone got stabbed with a machete in a swimming pool. Your mayor whom you appreciate so much, because of her attitude of communitarianism and degrowth, does not give the neccessary fund to the police . The city does not repair the roads, prevents promoters from building skyscraper and new house because of its ecological attitude when there is a big housing crisis, lets the homeless sleep in tents downtown on the effect of narcotics. The city recently canceled a 21st century transportation mega-project, the Light Train REM B, because the neighborhood of the project did not want bike paths to be used and trees to be destroyed. It's very stressful to live in that city, where there is no progress since decades like Toronto or Vancouver. The only good thing about montreal is everything is cheaper than other place(but there is alot of taxe)

@@patatebanine4278 Can you source your claim of a machete attack? I can't find anything this happening in Montréal anywhere. You honestly seem miserable living in the city, perhaps a change would do you good. On my side, I like living here, and I wish even more was done like the examples given in the video

@@gchoquette Ça cest passer a RDP le 19 mars 2023. Un jeune de 16 ans etait la victime. Un ami qui habitait sur la rue Rodolphe-Forget m'a tout raconter, ça serait un conflit Anjou-RDP. Ce sont deux ados qui ont attaque la victime avec une machette et puis ils ont couru, la victime sest refugier ds une piscine municipale. Il y avait meme un tiktok de larrestation des deux gars avec la machete à terre. Les jeune sont rendu fou. Il y a eu peu dinvestissement des centre loisir depuis Valerie Plante. Avec Coderre, il y en avait beaucoup

@@patatebanine4278 A real comment finally

I think not being afraid to stand up to government must have some significance in Francophone culture. I'm really impressed seeing the massive protests in the streets of Paris, Montreal, Niamey, and other cities in the former French empire. If only us Americans were as bold whenever our politicians screw us over...

For real. It's not perfect, but it's really good. I'm just waiting to see all the vacant storefronts fill up with shops. I think it will really blow up, compared to what it was.

L'autoroute décarie aussi, c'est un vrai cancer!!!

Que dire de la rue Notre Dame est ! C est une horreur

Ainsi que l'Autoroute Décarie.

you are so wrong

Yes, covering, not demolishing altogether was a good idea. Which is what many are hoping to with the Cross Bronx Expressway in NYC.

Personally, if the street is more beautiful than before, driving a little slower does not even bother me. Like driving down St-Denis with the REV. Even if it might be a bit slower, it feels much more pleasant & calm to be there, not having to worry about changing lanes. Rue Sherbrooke needs this vibe.

I know right people be talking about downtown and Old Montreal is dying, the Mayor is doing a bad job, so much transit. I was there in March still alive and full of people despite being the awkward transition in spring

I live here too and I sometimes wonder where these people are from that claim the city is dying because of new construction (dying cities don't build new) or some empty storefronts that are fallout from the pandemic and current inflation (as if every other city has no available commercial stock because their economies are exceeding their capacity - not). My brother lives in Vancouver, they have empty storefronts too but he can only dream of protected bikes lanes! And isn't it an odd thing that there are people angry about safety measures like bike lanes? Imagine complaining that the city will build a sidewalk for pedestrians because they are at risk of being struck by cars while walking in the street. P.S. I own a car (and a bike) but I don't think the world exists only for my benefit. Must be something about the way I was brought up.

Facebook keeps recommending me articles about urbanism, and I keep reading the comments about angry automobilists arguing that the city is getting worse and people are leaving it 😂. Sweet, delicious salty tears.

@@shirleymccarthy4436 Boomer mentality: if something doesn't benefits me personally, it's a bad thing. I live in the suburb now ( only way to have a full house for an affordable price, and that was before covid ) but I still see all these changes as a good thing. If I could go in the city without needing my car that would be the best haha.

we are, the planned redesign to yonge street is basically a carbon copy of the redesign done to st catherines street.

Not a bad idea!

Soutien votre nouveau maire, il a de bonnes idées mais il doit se battre contre des mononc' avec des idées venant des années 60. Il a besoin de plus de visibilité positive.

@@genevievebeauchamp9018 Je vis pas à Québec mais bien au Québec. Notre maire est carrément un vieux mononc' qui compte se présenter encore en 2025 :(

I live there, and i feel like im on a highway everytime i drive my parents car, i hope the tramway will reduce time to get to sainte-foy from saint-roch or limoilou because getting there if you do not have a car is really long

One of the main reasons the city of Montreal (it’s actually a decision each borough can make for itself without the approval of the city center) decided to pedestrianized the streets passing through parks was to reduce kid fatalities and accidents due to them crossing the roads without looking. Those streets are an hazard for kids. It’s way easier to make changes when the goal is to protect children.

@@anne12876 The Netherlands wouldn't be the gold standard of urbanism if it weren't for Stop de Kindermoord, after all.

and is it people wanting the status que that "works" VS one that MIGHT not work for them

It has also a lot to do with boroughs autonomy. It creates super-local governments who are able to implement quickly those changes on local streets. People from suburban boroughs can't block those policies.

You would be surprised by how much Montreal suburbs (like Laval and Longueuil) are progressive on urbanism, and really almost all of the CMM (communauté métropolitaine de Montréal) except for very places further out. We are lucky enough to have the majority of Francophone media coverage be in favour of smart urban planning, which also is very aware of the phenomenon of American culture wars and manages to mostly steer clear of that by being very critical of the outlets that play into it. The suburbs still have a long way to go, but the intention is clear, as it is being painted all over the streets. I can’t wait until they actually get to resurface the roads so that we get the proper infrastructure we deserve.

@@thomaslaferriere7251 I've been to Longueuil before, it is actually very nice in Old Longueili and the biking infrastructure is pretty good too. Also a lot of good development around the metro station. Laval has that BRT running through it and a few metro stations but besides that it still seems extremely sprawly to me, there's no "downtown" to speak of. The public transit there is still much better than American suburbia though, I agree with you there. I also think you're onto something with Francophone media having a huge role on Quebec's urban development. I like to use google streetview a lot and I've noticed that biking infrastructure in Quebec compared to English Canada is very good, especially in smaller cities. I mean, there is still a lot of sprawl in certain areas, but at least it's being acknowledged as a problem by the provincial government.

@@Globalurb Because the suburbs adamantly fought for their independence from the central city. Namely the Anglo-majority on-island suburbs and satellite locales like Westmount and Montreal-Ouest.

@@ScienAnimation Laval right now is an urbanist's nightmare, but the new mayor is hoping to somewhat reverse that.

10Km speed limit.... you guys are nuts. If they wanna reduce noise, they should start by repairing the streets and manholes covers...

Seems like this will be a forever underutilized park because of the traffic on either side. Think it would've been pretty cool if they elevated that entire park away from the traffic and also giving people a nice view of the city while they walk through the park or when they're sitting down.

Come on down! You’d love it here!

Stay for a few months in winter before committing to it. Remember that the salaries are very low, the taxes high and the healthcare in severe crisis. The urbanism is definitely great though.

Come during the winter to see how you live before you commit! The 5-6 months of cold is not for everyone!

If you speak English in Montréal you won't have a problem, but learning French is always a good initiative :)

Hit & run...

Many projects going on right now, the next few years should see some massive improvements to transit!

And that's exactly what they're not doing lol they closed down many streets, made them one ways and reduced lanes on many main streets while at the same time reducing bus and metro service/quality by a lot. They're pushing people to bike instead because it's far cheaper than putting money into the public transportation. After growing up and living in the Plateau Mont-Royal for 28 years, I'm finally leaving the city for the south shore for some peace of mind and tranquility👌

or even better just tear it down and build a dense mixed use boulevard instead

We've read the book, and we've considered a video on the local powers of the boroughs for the future, but it's outside of the scope of this video!

This is merely a pun. People don't spell "quelle" as "kale".