The City in One Street
The past few months haven’t been kind to St. Laurent Boulevard, known locally as the Main. Work crews have been haphazardly tearing up the street, doing their best to scare away anyone in the mood for a light-hearted stroll. The local business association cheerfully warns its members to expect a twenty percent drop in business until the construction is finished next year.
By than, hopefully, the Main will have spacious and elegant new sidewalks, the better to accommodate the throngs of people who flock to Montreal’s consummate street, the long, straight artery that has been the scene for immigrant dramas, artistic revalations and drunken all-nighters. Over the next several weeks, look forward to a special focus on the history, culture and streetlife of the Main.
Tags: Exploring the City, Montreal, Streetlife, The Main
Zvi says:
Chris did you notice that Welsh’s bookstore is moving to St. Viateur?! I thought that they were opening a new branch, but apparently they are closing the store on St. Laurent. Our gain, but certainly a big loss for Montreal’s urban ‘Heritage’.
A friend of mine told me that quite a few businesses are going under on St. Laurent due to all of the disruptions. I was at St. Laurent and Prince Arthur on friday and it is like a war-zone!
March 12th, 2007 at 4:36 pm
Christopher DeWolf says:
Actually, I just wrote an article for the Gazette on S.W. Welch! It’ll be published on Thursday. The new store on St. Viateur is supposed to open on Saturday (it looks great, by the way, very cheery) and the St. Laurent location will be open one last day on Sunday to give away all of the excess books they didn’t sell this past weekend.
Honestly, I wish Welch was opening a second location, but alas…
What businesses have closed? I agree, St. Laurent and Prince Arthur is terrible. The worst part is that they just seem to be replacing the pipes—work hasn’t even begun on the new sidewalks! At the very least, when this is all finished, St. Laurent will look great.
March 12th, 2007 at 7:54 pm