[caption id="attachment_14160" align="alignleft" width="603" caption="Graffiti sur un des lampadaires du Quartier international, qui est toujours là même s'il a été signalé il y a plus d'un an"][/caption]     La Ville avec un "V" majuscule est souvent perçue, d'abord et avant tout, comme un "fournisseur de services publics", c'est-à-dire une entité publique responsable principalement de nettoyer, entretenir et déneiger (dans le cas de Montréal) les espaces de voirie; d'assurer la libre circulation des personnes et des biens, de fournir des services d'égouts et d'aqueduc ainsi que de faire respecter la loi et ...

Last week I wrote about how, after three years of volunteering with Dans la Rue, I came to see Berri Square as one of the few places where Montreal's homeless and marginalized people find common ground with more fortunate Montrealers. I concluded by saying I believe that people who are visible will tend to be better citizens. From Gotham City to Metropolis? Yet it seems that many Montrealers want nothing more than to put the homeless out of sight and out of mind. Earlier this month, the mayor recommended shortening the Ste-Catherine pedestrian zone to exclude Berri Square from the seasonal festivities, citing police concerns ...

This week the the Lower Main redevelopment saga is drawing to a sad and quiet close: on December 21st, the Ville-Marie borough ordered the demolition  of 1190 to 1220 boulevard Saint-Laurent. The five buildings, which were constructed between 1889 and 1900, have been left vacant since the Société de Développement Angus purchased them in 2009. Given that the owner has not maintained the properties or even heated them during the winter, it's no surprise that the centennial buildings have become so dilapidated that they present a risk to public safety and fire hazard. The ...

2-22 Sainte-Catherine, en construction le 30 Septembre 2011

Spacing Montreal is excited to work with the Trudeau Foundation, l'Université de Montréal, and the Maison de l'architecture du Québec to organize Stip-tease QDS next Friday Sept 30th. Part neighbourhood exploration, part panel discussion, the event will focus on how different visions of place confront each other in the Quartier des spectacles, and how this clash contributes to shaping the place itself. 10h00-12h30: experience the QDS as never before, by meeting some of the characters who inhabit and shape the Quartier des spectacles: Pierre Dénommé from Sentier Urbain who gardens with street kids on the Corner of Ste-Catherine ...