Yesterday marked an end of an era of sorts. In what some are calling a "combination" and others just a plain "acquisition", it was announced yesterday that the Toronto Stock Exchange and the Bourse de Montreal (Montreal Exchange) will become the mighty TMX, which apparently isn't the name of a George Lucas film. This essentially means that the Montreal Exchange, which has existed in some shape or form since 1832, ceases to exist as an institution. The importance of ...

Most people will say that the idea of an 11.25-metre tall billboard sitting on a sidewalk is offensive to them. But the seeming lack of general opposition to the Astral Media "Street columns" and "MegaColumns" makes me wonder if people are becoming apathetic or just unaware of street advertising. People in Montreal are faced with other forms of advertising more blatant or tiresome. Ad trucks seem more ridiculous. Bus shelter ads get a ton of your attention when you're waiting ten minutes for your ride. In comparison, these columns can seem restrained, ...

 Almost every day I pass the construction on Sherbrooke just below Parc Lafontaine. Work there was started months ago as a result of a large chunk of road falling out, an event resembling the Laval bridge collapse and the structural problems found underneath de Maisonneuve that caused a metro line to close last month. But while most people might think of events with fear, I think of them with a sense of wonder. I'm amazed that these things occur so infrequently. Cities have, for the most part, ceased to have become death traps. Obviously, cities are not ...

It's easy for those with anti-car sentiments in North America to yell "everything's better in Europe", as if the generalization was a universal truth. But Rennes, France provides an example of a town that is doing its best to make life easy for those without a car. Montréal could take some notes. Rennes is considered the gateway city to the Northwestern region of Brittany, and also serves as its capital. The city is, like most mid-sized towns in France, quite old. Many buildings in the city's old town (about twice the size of the Old Port and still serving as the ...