Chris Lejambo's Wonder Emporiumbo
So last week my family and I were in Montreal, Quebec for three days to see the sights and experience the city. Having been there I can say that it is a really nice city and I would have no problem living there, and here’s why: The city is incredibly accessible by foot. In the three days we were there, we never once used the car to get anywhere. Granted we were in a hotel that was very close to old Montreal and when you are a tourist, that is the place you want to be. That said, however, there were designated bike lanes right alongside main streets as well as community bikes that you could rent from “stations”. There were bikes available for anyone to use (for a small price of course) and there were a lot of people using this service. Sidewalks were also wider allowing for a higher volume of foot traffic. These are two things that the city of Hamilton is severely lacking and must improve on. Another thing I liked was the various public squares in the city. They were very nice to walk through and there were actually people using the space, particularly office workers on their lunch. So many of the public squares embody the very qualities that Gore Park aspires to have and did have at one time.  A third thing I noticed (although only after it was pointed out to me when I returned by someone who had spent significantly more time in Quebec than me) is that everyone is a lot healthier. This is evidenced by the fact that everyone who lived there was thin. There were plenty of fast-food locations as expected, but a lot of the traditional restaurants had a lot of outdoor seating, which provides an incentive for people to go there instead of the nearest McDonald’s or Starbucks. It is worth noting here that we went to a restaurant called Le Steak Frites and it was one of the best steaks I have ever eaten. It was relatively inexpensive and you can bring your own bottle of wine to dinner with you. Well worth going to for sure. All in all, I loved the city and found that it was actually designed for people to live there. It’s designed for people walk around and enjoy the city as opposed to driving through it. I would go back anytime. P.S. There is something to be said for the language barrier that is very noticeable in Quebec, but there will be a future post about that topic in particular.

So last week my family and I were in Montreal, Quebec for three days to see the sights and experience the city. Having been there I can say that it is a really nice city and I would have no problem living there, and here’s why:

The city is incredibly accessible by foot. In the three days we were there, we never once used the car to get anywhere. Granted we were in a hotel that was very close to old Montreal and when you are a tourist, that is the place you want to be. That said, however, there were designated bike lanes right alongside main streets as well as community bikes that you could rent from “stations”. There were bikes available for anyone to use (for a small price of course) and there were a lot of people using this service. Sidewalks were also wider allowing for a higher volume of foot traffic. These are two things that the city of Hamilton is severely lacking and must improve on.

Another thing I liked was the various public squares in the city. They were very nice to walk through and there were actually people using the space, particularly office workers on their lunch. So many of the public squares embody the very qualities that Gore Park aspires to have and did have at one time. 

A third thing I noticed (although only after it was pointed out to me when I returned by someone who had spent significantly more time in Quebec than me) is that everyone is a lot healthier. This is evidenced by the fact that everyone who lived there was thin. There were plenty of fast-food locations as expected, but a lot of the traditional restaurants had a lot of outdoor seating, which provides an incentive for people to go there instead of the nearest McDonald’s or Starbucks. It is worth noting here that we went to a restaurant called Le Steak Frites and it was one of the best steaks I have ever eaten. It was relatively inexpensive and you can bring your own bottle of wine to dinner with you. Well worth going to for sure.

All in all, I loved the city and found that it was actually designed for people to live there. It’s designed for people walk around and enjoy the city as opposed to driving through it. I would go back anytime.

P.S. There is something to be said for the language barrier that is very noticeable in Quebec, but there will be a future post about that topic in particular.

Posted 6 months ago