If you ignore the cliché in the lead (does every Toronto story about Montreal need to mention separatism?), it’s worth checking out Christopher Hume’s latest column in the Toronto Star, in which he lavishes praise on our benches:
Compared with Toronto, where finding a place to sit out on the streets is next to impossible, Montreal positively invites visitors to sit down and watch the passing parade. Benches are everywhere you turn.
In the new Quartier international, for example, the streets and squares are filled with literally dozens of benches.
In their own way, they are even more important than the fountains, the sculptures and the exquisite Art Nouveau Metro entrance designed at the end of the 19th century by Hector Guimard and given to Montreal as a present by the French government.
Simply put, benches allow us to inhabit a city. They help transform a place into a destination. They tell us we’re welcome and give us a chance to be spectators as well as participants.