Though of course the Chassidim have their own businesses, and in most non-Chassidim aren’t made to feel exactly at home, even if they are Jewish. (I have two secular Jewish friends living on heavily Chassidic streets). The exception, of course, is Cheskie’s bakery, welcoming to everyone.

The Hasidic community is another story altogether. For them, I doubt there’s any distinction between Outremont and Mile End. It’s all “the neighbourhood.”

So, if you want my vote for the mile-end limits, hehe, i’d give the limit as something like:
Parc-ish/Van Horne(or train tracks)/St-Laurent-ish/Villeneuve-ish…

By the way, I lived for 12 years on Jeanne Mance between Mt-Royal and Villeneuve, and now I’m on the East side of Hutchison. And I DEFINITELY live in the Mile End!

Still wondering how the Poles wound up there – were they dock workers, or specialised tradespersons in a nearby factory?

One element was about the Radio-Canada series “Rue des Pignons” – the street standing in for the fictional rue des Pignons is actually la rue Champagne in a southwestern corner of Ste-Marie: http://imtl.org/image.php?id=3646

A lucky street that has preserved some of its original harmony!

Gay people moving into the area after the police raids on the area around Stanley in the west called the area the Gay Village – I think it was with the same spirit racialised groups might speak of their “hood” nowadays – a place where people feel safer and have more of a right to be themselves. There were bars and clubs, but the area wasn’t as commercial and plastic as it has become nowadays. The Gay Village is a specific part of Centre-Sud, certainly not north of Ontario (though obviously there are many lgbt people living there too). It didn’t start out as a trendifying name like “Monkland Village” or “HoMa”.

The actual street playing the fictional “rue des Pignons” of the Radio-Canada TV series about life in an old working-class neighbourhood was located in southwestern Ste-Marie, a tiny street with the gabled houses of the name; a friend of mine used to live there back then as she was working at the nearby CSN. If I recall, the street was located between de Lorimer and Fullum, and probably south of de Maisonneuve, certainly south of Logan. Can’t find it googling “rue des pignons”.

It is sad that there is not much of a unifying shopping area or street where people congregate – those stretches of Ste-Catherine and Ontario are very sad between western Centre-Sud and Hochelaga, despite Café Touski, a good Mexican restaurant, some Vietnamese shops and small restaurants near Frontenac, and the remnants of the old Polish community (Wawel bakery, and I believe there is a Polish church).

The story of how the small Polish community came into existence there would also be worth a look.

Both Jacques and Séb grew up in small villages where everyone knows of everyone and where people are, and they feel very comfortable in the Village because it provides much the same experience. That it’s full of other pretty gay men instead of prying gossipy little old ladies is icing on the cake, except that often, the two are similar :)

Things that I would like to explore:
- A in-walking distance neighbourhood series that includes Hochelaga, West of Papineau, Plateau and Rosemont. As long as I can walk there within 20 minutes.
- Study boundaries from a historical/municipal perspective and find out more info to the roots of these various names
- Finally… continue, to search for the heart and soul of my neighbourhood.

All in all, I am happy that I made the decision early on to name the web-adress of the blog “Le Coeur du Quartier” otherwise I would be trying to convince everyone that St-Eusèbe is the official name of this neighbourhood… mind you, it’s still on the map and I have found NO data on this other than the fact it’s a church on Fullum St… I might just change the title name once and for all to “Le Coeur du Quartier”. Maybe.

Thanks again to Alanah and Spacing Montreal!

Montréal’s Chinatown is also very small, though it was also truncated by building Guy-Favreau and Complexe-Desjardins.

I can’t say anywhere I can easily walk too feels like my neighbourhood, as I have only a fairly short walk to northwestern Plateau/eastern Mile-End, and to Parc-Extension, crossing through the viaduct under the railway tracks.

There is much less of a feeling of disjunct crossing Jean-Talon to southwestern Villeray, where I also lived for years. Nicer trees up there though.

One of the great things about Point Saint Charles is that there is very little doubt about where the Point begins and ends. Local divisions, like on either side of the tracks, however, can lead to much debate among local historians.

This is a fascinating topic.

I take issue with the claim that the “Gay Village” is exclusive (unless I’ve misinterpreted the statement). For one thing, if you’ve been there any time in the last couple of years, you’ll notice it’s called LE Village. That’s what we call it too. Because it’s not just for gays, it’s for gays, lesbians, bis, trans, curious and open-minded straights.

I’m still not convinced that having neighbourhood boundaries is a necessary concept (aside from for administrative purposes), especially when those boundaries are used dividing up communities. It’s a question which greatly interests me, as I dedicated a large part of my post-grad research to the effects of administrative organisation on cultural identity and perceptions of community in Central Europe.

Also, I would argue that Mile End begins at Mont-Royal, above the park. I’ve never thought of it beginning (at the south) anywhere else than there.