Vers 1890-2010

Construite vers 1890, cette ancienne église méthodiste fut lourdement endommagé lors d'un incendie aux petites heures du matin de Noël de 1915.

Rénové suite au sinistre, l'édifice fut vendu plusieurs année plus tard, soit en 1965 à un organisme communautaire nommé le Negro Community Center qui occupa les lieux jusqu'en 1994.

Vacant depuis près de 16 ans, l'édifice est aujourd'hui placardé et dans un état de délabrement avancé.

Source : BANQ, albums Massicotte, 1-92-c

*** De la série : Églises converties du Québec

Each week we will be focusing on blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We’ll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues.

• If you've been saving up for a trip to Tokyo's Shimokitazawa neighbourhood, be sure to plan your travels before 2013. The bohemian hotspot is due for revamping and some fear that the very characteristics which make this place a favourite (twisting alleyways, discount shops, hole-in-the-wall restaurants, open air urinals) will be lost. The Globe and Mail shares some local gems.

• Worldchanging shares a recent study from a team of economists at the University of Munich examining the effects of mandatory parking minimums on development in urban and suburban Los Angeles. The study found that parking minimums "significantly increase" the amount of land devoted to parking, to the detriment of water quality, pedestrian safety and non-automotive modes of transportation. The authors suggest that these mandatory minimums often exceed market demand for parking space.

• For the Love of Biking shares some creative bike post designs from Minneapolis's DERO.

• Trust Copenhagen to find an unexpected solution to the problem of illegal bike parking. Copenhangenize reports that the City has started a program to move illegally parked bikes near Metro stations to designated bike racks. The team of "bike butlers" will then oil your chain, pump your tires and leave a little note on your bicycle asking to kindly use the bike racks in the future. The positive reinforcement appears to be working - "when the project started in April they were moving around 150 bicycles a day. Today that number has dropped to between 30 and 50."

Photo by ajari

Devimco, the embattled developer with big plans for the forlorn neighbourhood of Griffintown, south of Downtown, have finally unveiled their new, albeit considerably scaled-down plan for four new high-rise residential buildings, which they are now calling "District Griffin".

The four buildings will be primarily residential with three condo buildings and one mixed 150 room, 3 star hotel/office building.  Stores will be located on the bottom floor but potential tenants and sizes remain to be seen.  The buildings will front rue Smith and will be bordered by Wellington to the north and west, and Shannon to the east.  Currently, this area is mostly parking lots and warehouse buildings so this phase will see limited demolition which was one of the biggest concerns with the previous plans which encompassed a much larger portion of the neighbourhood.

Building heights won't differ too much from previous plans with the hotel slated for 12 storeys and the residential buildings to be built as tall as 19 storeys.  Condos will come with 1 to 3 bedrooms at prices ranging from $250 000 to $750 000 per unit.

Information on the actual design of the buildings has been scant with a couple generic night-time mockups on their website and the vague map above being pretty much all that has been presented by the developer.  As was the case with Devimco's previous plans, it is unlikely that they intend for the final product to correspond with any of their preliminary marketing or mock-ups.

However, Devimco's greenwashing tactics and pandering to opponents seem to have been sharpened since 2007 when they came into Griffintown, guns blazing, not expecting citizen opposition or, as it seemed, the fact that there were actually residents living in the area.  They now plan to build 275 social housing units and another 206 affordable units (8% more than is required by the Sud-Ouest borough) which will be built off-site and sometime in the future, while also planning to give $25 000 to maison Saint-Gabriel, a history museum in Pointe-St-Charles.  Hopes to get condo buyers out of their cars apparently comes with their plan to give free bicycles to condo buyers and providing parking spaces for Communauto (a now standard practice for any new development in the city).  Devimico is also still pushing hard for the tramway, taunting Richard Bergeron about it at yesterday's announcement of the project (nothing has been said of Devimco's previous pledge of $10 million to the city to help build the tramway).

Construction is expected to begin in the next three to four months costing $475 million.  Any additional phases planned for the future have not been announced as of yet.

2003-2010

Cette église construite en 1930 dans le quartier Ville-Émard est occupé depuis 2007 par l'organisme communautaire : L'arche de Montréal.

*** De la série : Églises converties du Québec

Source : Conseil du patrimoine religieux du Québec

Each week we will be focusing on blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We’ll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues.

• NPR chronicles a growing trend for start up chefs who use trucks, trailers and mobile homes to sell their food to the masses. The overwhelming expense of starting a restaurant isn't stopping these gastro-preneurs from practicing their art.

•  The Globe and Mail reports that for $148 U.S., Japanese Prius owners can now install noise makers into their hybrid cars. The devices make a whirring sound equivalent to the noise of a regular car engine; regulators and automakers hope the move will reduce the number of pedestrian-hybrid crashes which are twice as likely than with conventional engines. The device may soon be made available in other markets.

•  New Yorkers are fighting a contentious battle between preserving their iconic skyline and increasing density near the Penn Station transit hub. The New York Times reports on a 1,216 feet tower proposed for 34th Street, two avenues west of the Empire State Building. While the City Planning Commission has approved the tower, Community Board 5 has not - citing an unusually large zoning bonus for the development.

•  The New Yorker has a delightful video teaser this week for an article on the relentless traffic of Moscow. Author Keith Gessin identifies the city's limited access points and wide roads as major problems and notes the creative solutions proposed by Mayor Yuri Luzhkov. Gessin wonders if it isn't Russians' habituation to waiting in soviet-style lines that keeps them in their cars in spite of the interminable waiting this entails.

Spotted on the corner of Saint-Viateur and Waverly, during the Journée des Bons Voisins...Will it hold out until Halloween?

La Fruiterie Mile End sur l'Avenue du Parc, par un dimanche pluvieux.

Saint-Hubert is having a sidewalk sale this weekend and ball-gowns are on special, among other more practical deals (even on a regular day, most Saint-Hubert shops fall into I-suspect-this-was-manufactured-by-slaves price range, although to be fair, its mostly the same brands available elsewhere for more). You might want to save this visit for a rainy Sunday since the plaza's awnings provide at least a little shelter.

Meanwhile the Grand Débarras brings local designers and eco-chic styles to a down-and-out area of Hochelaga Maisonneuve (Sainte Catherine between Letourneux et Bennett, metro Pie-IX). It's a spot that I've gotten to know a little since the Dans la Rue van has added a stop in front of parc Morgan last spring. Being familiar with the late-night curb-side crowd, I'm curious to see how the same area looks in the light of day.

It's also the second round of the Journée des bons voisins on Saint-Viateur, and the artsy markets I mentioned last week are still on.

In the past seven years, 5 deaths, 30 serious injuries and 622 light injuries have been caused by accidents involving a right turn on a red light. In an interview with La Presse, the head of security at the MTQ said that, while of course 5 deaths are too many, that this is more or less what the ministry expected when they implemented the rule.

Right turns on red lights accounted for only 0.24% of traffic accidents in Quebec in 2009. But the article doesn't point out that these accidents almost always involve a collision between a car and a pedestrian or cyclist, which probably leads to an increased risk of serious injury or death compared to your average fender-bender.

The MTQ, always anxious to keep the traffic flowing, clashed with the city of Montreal over our refusal to adopt the right on red back in 2003.  Today, it seems, they acknowledge that it was the right decision for the city:

"Montréal est un cas à part au Québec... Nulle part ailleurs on ne trouve une aussi grande proportion de cyclistes et de piétons. Et cette tendance ne fait que s'accentuer depuis des années. Rétrospectivement, c'était probablement la décision qu'il fallait prendre." (Carl Bilodeau interviewed in La Presse)

The city of Longueuil also wanted to prohibit right turns on red lights but the Transportation Minister refused (see the Radio Canada report live from blvd Taschereau on the day the new regulation was put in place).

Given the increased nuisance and risk to pedestrians, it's kind of ironic that the MTQ's 2003 educational campaign about the right on red featured the slogan "je pense piétons", or in English "I put pedestrians first". Although pedestrians are meant to have right of way, I have been warned by friends who live outside of Montreal that it is unwise to assume drivers will be on the lookout, especially in towns where pedestrians are few and far between.

What about other Canadian Cities? We rarely stop to consider the effect of existing traffic regulations on our safety but the number of deaths and injuries in Quebec is apparently similar, if not better, than other parts of North America.

Image by Alexandre Normand, cc flickr

Each week we will be focusing on blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We’ll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues.

----------------------

• A report released Monday by the New York City Department of Transportation paints a fascinating picture of pedestrian safety. The study examined over 7000 crashes between 2002 and 2006 resulting in death or serious injury and yields some startling statistics. "Jaywalkers were involved in fewer collisions than their law-abiding counterparts who waited for the “walk” sign, though they were likelier to be killed or seriously hurt by the collision." "80 percent of city accidents that resulted in a pedestrian’s death or serious injury, a male driver was behind the wheel." "[L]eft-hand turns were three times as likely to cause a deadly crash as right-hand turns." "[T]hree-quarters of the crashes occurred [at intersections". As the New York Times reports, the study is providing a quantitative basis for the city to continue its program of re-engineering the street grid.

• Portland, Oregon is the proud owner of new and improved bike wayfinding signs. The green signs feature distances and directions and travel times to popular destinations. Residents can thank a $1 million federal stimulus grant for the improvement, says Bikeportland.org

• Not one to be outdone by Portland, Copenhagen also boasts a new bicycle wayfinding technology this week. Copenhagenize reports that a student at the University of Copenhagen has developed a bicycle route planner which can find the shortest, optimal, safest, greenest or quietest route depending on user preferences. The route planner is currently in its beta form and the creator has plans for further adaptation to various thematic routes.

• Fantastic Journal asks: what happens when modernism is no longer modern? Many modern buildings are showing their age: problematic for buildings meant to "live in a perpetual present".  The author explores the decay of the Melnikov House, a private residence in Moscow built in the 1920s.

Photo by raisindetre

Vers 1940-2010

Source : Société d'Histoire et de Généalogie du Plateau Mont-Royal

Cette synagogue construite de 1921 à 1923 au coin des rues Duluth et Hôtel de ville fut convertie en édifice à logements vers les années 1960.

]]> http://spacingmontreal.ca/2010/08/17/montage-du-jour-la-synagogue-beth-jehuda/feed/ 7 http://spacingmontreal.ca/2010/08/16/photo-du-jour-riddells-door/ http://spacingmontreal.ca/2010/08/16/photo-du-jour-riddells-door/#comments Mon, 16 Aug 2010 08:22:56 +0000 Alanah Heffez http://spacingmontreal.ca/?p=7959

Given the kind of neighbourhood that Mile End has become, Riddell's storefront can easily be mistaken for work of installation art rather than a bona fide fishing gear store. Sadly, the curious storefront may not be around for much longer as the shopkeeper, George Riddell, passed away on June 30th at the age of 82 after keeping shop on Bernard street for 50 years.

Personally, I ventured through this door only once and quickly retreated, feeling as though I had stumbled into someone's private living room. I suppose I had - according to the Gazette article, Riddell lived in the shop. I was impressed by the posters tacked to the ceiling.

This a short film by Tim Van Horn gives us a glimpse into the shop and shows off the custom fishing lures that Riddell created (although not the ceiling posters...did I imagine them?)

A few more memories of the old man have been collected on Stillepost. I wonder what will happen to the all this fascinating clutter now that its caretaker has passed on?

First stop, I headed out the two new artsy markets that are taking place Saturdays in the Plateau:

Marché La Récré (left) is located in a school yard on Saint-Urbain above Bernard had mix of local crafts (I picked up some handmade pottery) and collections of second-hand vintage-y trinkets, on a background of chill music and cold drinks.

Marché Montréal (right) is in a parking lot on Saint-Dominique below Prince Arthur. Here the offer was even more ecclectic, with jewelry, garage-sale-style vintage clothes, $1 records, designer t-shirts, really really good deals on socks and mexican-style bbq tacos (3 for $5 and super delicious).

How do they pull it off in a city that is not particularly open to street vendors? They sidestep the red tape by hosting the event on private property, renting the space from a parking lot. The market organizers only have to pay for the spaces they set up shop on, a cost which is transferred to the vendors who chip in between $45 and $65 for a spot.

After a nap in Carré Saint-Louis, I had a lucky find: the Under Pressure International Graffiti Convention in Place de la Paix. I've never seen Peace Park so full of life with little kids running about, teenagers popping breakdancing moves, skateboarders flying through the air, rainbows of spray-paint cans, fresh murals, hip hop crews, dogs, punks, and families of curious tourists all mingling.

Under Pressure is working with the City to put on this event for its third year. The festival continues tomorrow in a lot behind Foufounes Electriques (more on the event's Facebook page).

I also swung by Chinatown for to check out the new carnival which is on for the next three weekends. Although there were dozens of people walking around in very extravagant, manga-like costumes, I must have missed the exciting bits: the only action was some pretty horrid Karaoke in Sun Yat-Sen park (no photos supplied).

Finally, I headed down to catch an open air concert at the new DALHOUSIE art space, literally wedged between the New City Gas Co. building and the CN viaduct.

Photo c. Tristan Brand

The Corridor Culturel Griffintown, a grassroots citizens' group with an interest in the neighbourhood's heritage and future development, was able to secure a permit to hold artistic events in the cul-de-sac after impressing the Sud-Ouest borough councillors with their Nuit Blanche event last February. Check out their calendar for the coming weeks - I am planning to go to the poetry event on August 24th and may even read a piece.

Of course while I was at this final stop, I ran into someone who informed me that there was a Japanese festival going in the old port today, and that reminded me that I'd forgotten to zip up to Little Italy for the street fair there...it's all too much for one person. Good thing there are a whole lot of us.

Last month, the Court of Quebec ruled that the City's anti-postering bylaws violates Montrealers' freedom of expression. The ruling would imply that the City must either change the bylaw that currently prohibits postering on public street furniture, or supply a vast quantity of dedicated places for citizens to place public notices.

Fortunately, it seemed that there is already a solution in the works: on July 5th, just 10 days before the court ruling, the Direction de la culture et du patrimoine presented a project to install hundreds of dedicated postering collars and/or kiosks in the Plateau and Ville Marie boroughs.

The city's proposal acknowledged their obligation to provide a space for public notices, as per a 1993 ruling by the Supreme court of Canada. This priority is balanced against concerns about tidiness and the cost of cleaning the street furniture (it is estimated that the Plateau borough alone spends $100,000 per year cleaning hydro poles). The two boroughs currently provide a total of 10 dedicated postering kiosks which the court found was insufficient.

This new willingness to see postering as an essential communications tool for community and artistic groups rather than as a kind of vandalism happened to coincide with the court ruling and it seemed that all the elements were coming together to spark a productive dialogue about the place for posters in the city.

Then the City went tight-lipped on the issue.

When I contacted the office that has been working on the postering issue for months, I was told that they would not comment until the City decided whether to contest the court decision.

"En premier lieu, la Ville doit décider si elle portera le jugement en appel, sinon, elle devra ensuite déterminer quelle sera la solution retenue en matière d'affichage libre sur tout son territoire" wrote Gonzalo Nunez, a communications officer with the City of Montreal.

Even the proposal that was previously made public is off limits for discussion.

One question raised by our readers is whether legalizing postering will simply create one more place for private companies to plaster their advertising. Is the City able to make a distinction between community, cultural, and commercial promotion, with the objective of creating dedicated spaces for community and cultural posters?

Unfortunately questions which would shed light on the complexity of this issue that the city must juggle remain unanswered.

Why are dedicated postering kiosks, like this one on University street, seen as "tidier" than posters on hydro poles? No comment.

In fact, the only concrete information I was able to ascertain was that the City will continue to fine people for postering on public property, a position they can apparently uphold for the next 6 months:

"Il est important de rappeler que les dispositions sur l’utilisation du domaine public sont toujours applicables et valides, tandis que celles visées par le jugement demeurent en vigueur pour les 6 prochains mois," wrote Nunez.

The city's unwillingness to discuss the issue - even the proposal that was already made public - would seem to portray the decision-makers as inflexible, insensitive and closed to public input. Yet when I spoke with Hilary Leftick, Executive Producer of Pop Montreal and member of COLLE she told me that the Direction de la culture et du patrimoine was quite willing to discuss the needs of the arts community in order to develop a viable solution.

Frankly, the only conclusion I've come to right now is that the City is botching their communications job (and not only on this dossier).

I hope to have more info by the end of September when the City must decide whether to contest the court decision or address the underlying issue about expression in public space.

The Main in little Italy is closed for Italian Week festivities. Things were just getting started when I biked by Friday afternoon but these two little girls were taking advantage of the opportunity to plunk down in the middle of what is usually a busy artery.

Corner Saint-Laurent and Saint-Zotique.

You can listen to the sound here.

I love that both the STM's press release and metro newspaper refer to the tones as "le fameux dou-dou-dou," a home-grown noun for an idiosyncratic local sound.

Last fall I wrote about the source of the sound which is unique to Montreal's metro system, a by-product of the 70s technology. The real dou-dou-dou will eventually be lost when the 19631973-edition metro cars are replaced (although at this rate it won't be any time soon). I like that there've found a way to preserve this familiar little audio experience in its natural habitat.

The STM is looking for feedback so if readers have any relevant comments, I'll be happy to forward them...

When I was a small that willow felt like a kingdom of possibilities hanging high above the ground. Later, as teenagers, we straddled the branches and let our legs swing down lazily while we exchanged gossip or plotted pranks.

By that time, the Westmount Park willow had undergone a number of life-saving interventions: its swooping branches were propped up with metal braces, its hollow trunk was patched with concrete. It was hard to ignore the fact that we - among thousands of other tree-climbers - were driving that beloved willow into the ground, but who could resist the invitation of those low-slung branches?

We loved that tree to death, didn't we?

I recently learned that climbing trees is illegal in Montreal - at least trees that are planted by the city (it's in the cleanliess act along with the ban on postering).  I am outraged by this rule, but I am resigned to it. Within the city we are so many many people that any patch of nature we preserve is bound to cave under our collective weight.

This summer I spoke with some educators from Les Amis de la Montagne about the degradation caused by the millions of visitors who romp through Mount Royal's fragile habitats seeking a tiny corner of wildness, a breath of mountain-top freedom. Much of thier mandate has to do with educating visitors to keep to the paths, curbing destructive mountain-biking practices and preventing people from lighting fires.

I love this city - I have written it dozens of times on the blog - but some sacrifices seem almost unbearable: That children should not test their strength and courage in the tree-tops, that teenagers should grow up without the kiss of bonfire flames, that we must not stray from the paths to chase butterflies and inspiration through the forest. That we grow up in the city wondering what we may do before we ever contemplate what we can do.

But what is the solution? Do we surrender that little semblance of freedom? Or do we do what Westmount Park has done all these years and sacrifice the beloved tree, patching it up season after season while its roots and branches wore away under our feet?