The corner of Pierce and Ste-Catherine, in Shaughnessy Village.
Unlike many North-American “central business districts”, Downtown Montreal is a lively place with constant activity. It is a part of town where there are many Montreal-wide institutions, major retail streets, three universities, as well as numerous cultural attractions. As a result, it is a destination for people from across the metropolitan region: hundreds of thousands of people pass through the area on a daily basis to work, study, shop, and access institutions.
It is also a living neighbourhood, with over 27,000 residents. The majority of these residents are located in the dense apartment blocks and stately victorian mansions of Shaughnessy Village, between Atwater and Guy. Many are students, but there are also over 2,400 households with children.
It is a neighbourhood of extremes. It includes the heritage mansions of the Golden Square Mile and many new, expensive high-rise condominium developments. Yet over a third of the neighbourhood’s housing stock need repairs and he median household income in around $30,000, making it 10,000 less than the Montreal-wide average. Over 40% of the residents are immigrants.
The streets are filled with action, but you don’t see children playing in the laneways and there aren’t block parties or neighbourhood Saint-Jean celebrations. There are few local services and community spaces. There are no neighbourhood public schools in the area, nor is there a city library. While it is next door to Mount-Royal there are only a handful of small, local parks. It is a neighbourhood that lacks the spirit and cohesion of many others in Montreal.
This summer, local community groups from the neighbourhood are getting together to try to change this with the Quartier en mouvement street festival. Hosting this block party is Pierce Street (Guy Concordia metro), which will be closed down on the 10th, 17th, 24th and 31st of July. The idea of the festival is to give local residents a place to relax, reclaim public space, and get to know one another. Every week there will be a children’s corner with hands-on activities, face painting, sidewalk chalk and puppet shows offered, as well as yoga classes, information booths, urban gardening workshops, food tables, and countless performances by local artists. Activities will be happening from 2pm on, and each day will finish up with a movie projection by Cinema Politica at nightfall.
While this kind of event would be commonplace in much of the city, it’s a rarity in this part of town. These kind of events won’t single-handedly change the face of downtown, but they are a key part in the long process of building community. Organizing such events is a great way to encourage people to stay and socially invest in the neighbourhood. Bringing people together, even for just an afternoon, is a catalyst for sparking citizen mobilization. And that is a necessary feature of any authentic neighbourhood revitalisation.
Quartier en mouvement is organised by the Éco-quartier Peter McGill, Innovation Jeunes, Tandem Ville-Marie and the Ville-Marie Borough. The full schedule of Quartier en mouvement activities can be found at quartierenmouvement.wordpress.com, and all events are free of charge. Devin Alfaro is a member of the organising committee of the festival.
4 comments
It is true that events like this are par for the course in other neighborhoods in Montreal. However, I see a disconnect between the demographics of this neighborhood and the activities being offered here. Composting? Juggling? Eco-menstruel? Somehow it seems unlikely that immigrants from other cultural traditions, on the low end of the income scale, living in borderline slummy apartments, would be particularly in need of these kinds of activities.
Your article does a great job of highlighting the socioeconomic realities of this pocket of the city – so why do the community groups assume that the same activites that are appreciated elsewhere would extend to this population? Were there surveys / research done to ask residents what information and services they actually need, or what they are having trouble finding or understanding in their new home? Or researching culturally-sensitive ways of reaching out to the targeted groups?
Sorry to be so cynical, I just find it somewhat wasteful to spend this kind of energy / money when there are real needs in this community that are being overlooked in favor of a feel-good event that might not be so effective.
Amanda:
I would be interested in the same answers that you are speaking of. I love efficiency and relevance! :D
However, I wouldn’t discount the value of initiative. For the first event of its kind, it’s going to take a lot of energy and make a lot of mistakes — but it’s going make people think of this as something THEY can have too, and they will also start imagining what they WOULD want to do, and better yet, make people want to get involved in planning future events, with more representation of the actual residents.
Furthermore, the organizers will get more experience and be better able to adapt to the needs of the community. When planning is done by volunteers, who may or maynot have any skillset / education related to socio/cultural/economic/urbanplanning/event planning…. first comes passion, then comes experience, then comes excellence.
Anyway congrats Quartier en mouvement!
Thanks Amanda for the reply. I can understand the concern, but allow me to make a few specifications: Yes, on the program there are indeed activities that may not cater to all the needs of low income immigrants. But there is a huge diversity of activities and workshops, because of the huge diversity of people that live and work in Peter Mcgill. Think of the student population, for instance. The environmental activities certainly cater to their interests, There are many artists from diverse cultural backgrounds in the program, with everything ranging from Afro-beat to flamenco. These groups were booked with the intent of representing the cultural diversity of residents in our area. And as to your question regarding surveys and research- yes, that was done at the Innovation Youth centre. Our community development worker asked our youth and their families what they felt was missing in their area. We also interviewed residents who came to pick up their Good Food Box at the centre. Time and time again the same type of answers came back: safe public places, such as parks, were missing. That, and an area where the kids could play sports outside. Simple, and yet in this particular neighbourhood, so very complicated. As you will notice on the program, the 17th of July is a day dedicated to sports where kids will be able to play street hockey, and volleyball outside. So yes, this is a first initiative of its kind, surely to be full of all sorts of imperfections. But please be assurred, we are trying our best to meet the very important needs of our neighbours!
I am curious as to what Amanda thinks are the needs that may or should be fulfilled and services provided at such an event.
For the sake of building better community we all need good, solid educated suggestions.
ncroze
Volunteer teacher (skilled and qualified mind you)