If I had liveblogged last night’s circus performance, it would go something like this

(Outside, before the performance) It sure looks like one of those clowns is going to hit a child with a pin. (Inside, waiting for the performance) This place looks like a school. Oh wait, it is a school. A circus school. A torrential downpour. Wind is blowing over flags and stuff. And the title of …

Someone’s got my number

I read more and more Montreal blogs — ones that deal with the city and with urban (and suburban) questions in general. I’ve got a postdoc interested in communication infrastructure and the US/Canadian landscape, and I’m reawakening to old interests in urban planning and suburban form as I start to get inklings of post-mp3-book projects. …

More on Sainte-Marie: Really Reclassified

Last weekend we wandered in and out of some of the attractions of Portes ouvertes design Montreal. There were lots of highlights: I was very impressed with the augmented reality work of Moment Factory. But recycling was big this year and a number of architecture, design and fashion outfits trumpeted their ecological approach. One such …

Reclassified?

For our first three years in Montreal, we lived in a Francophone working class neighborhood, on Frontenac, just south of Sherbrooke St. The ad for the place didn’t mention a neighborhood, and we knew we were east and south of the Plateau. We deduced that we resided in the Hochelaga part of Hochelaga-Maisonneuve. Our landlord …

Villeray in the News

Several blocks around my home have been discussed on Spacing Montreal recently. Three gas stations within a few blocks have been razed and replaced with–wait for it–condos (more here and here). The condo-ization is a relatively straightforward process. Gas stations sit on corners and take up a lot of space yet run relatively low margins …