[caption id="attachment_13480" align="alignleft" width="578" caption="Wal-Mart store recently closed somewhere in the U.S.. Photo by Brave New Films. Source: Flickr"][/caption] Considering that the SAQ announced last June that it would close two of its smaller outlets in the Southwest borough of Montreal (presumably to open up larger outlets in other parts of town or the suburbs), it may seem surprising to hear that other chains, such as Rona, are actually in the process of closing big box outlets to open up smaller stores instead. Yes, that's ...

  [caption id="attachment_12992" align="alignnone" width="614" caption="Église Saint-Jean-de-la-Croix reconvertie en condos. Rue St-Laurent. Photo: AlexandreCv"][/caption]   Entendre l’histoire Depuis quelques décennies, plusieurs églises de Montréal ont été reconverties afin de recevoir des fonctions plus rentables. Dans des circonstances de raréfaction des fidèles, donc des revenus, c’est souvent l’option la plus intéressante lorsque les choix restants sont la démolition ou l’abandon.  Le débat que suscite la reconversion des églises est habituellement d’ordre patrimonial et religieux, avec ses questions inhérentes sur la conservation de l’intégrité architecturale et la place ...

This is a must see clip in which CBC TV's "The Way It Is"  interviewed Jane Jacobs about development trends in Toronto and Montreal, circa 1969. As a Montrealer who somewhat guiltily enjoys my jaunts to Toronto, I felt I could relate to Jabos' description of Toronto's "civic schizophrenia" : “On the one level, there’s the spirit of individuals and small groups who do things, what you might call the vernacular spirit.  this ...

Une collaboration spéciale de Julien Cayer. Mercredi matin, le Plateau-Est a emboité le pas aux arrondissements de Mercier-Est et de Parc-Extension en se dotant d’un Plan d’action pour un quartier vert, actif et en santé. Le Centre d’écologie urbaine de Montréal (CEUM) et la Maison d’Aurore ont présenté aux médias et à l’arrondissement (les élus en ont pris connaissance trois jours plus tôt) une cinquantaine de propositions qui sont le fruit d’un long travail de consultation citoyenne qui a suivi la publication du Plan de transport de la Ville de Montréal, en 2008.

Downtown's West End. The West End of Downtown is a study in contrasts. Its residents are varied: from low-income recent immigrants, working-class rooming-house residents, and wealthy professionals, to students from across the country and farther. Beautifully restored Victorian townhouses rub shoulders with increasingly decrepit concrete apartment towers from the 1960s boom years. Home to 15,000 people, it is the densest neighbourhood in the city. This unique neighbourhood will be seeing major changes over the coming years according to a Special Planning Initiative (Projet particulier d'urbanisme) unveiled last month by the Ville-Marie Borough. This goal of this initiative is to provide a framework for future development in this neighbourhood, and the borough council adopted a preliminary version in February. Public consultations are ongoing, after which modifications will likely be integrated. Here are some highlights of the plan's proposals: