Montreal Neighbourhood: Mile End (Photos)

[christopher dewolf]

these photos were taken over the past three weeks in my neighbourhood in montreal, mile end. questions and comments are welcome.

 

[The Irish One]

Chris, I'm a fan of your photography. It's nice to see you post here! What kind of camera are you using?

 

[Bangorian]

Looks like a great neighborhood! Lots of different sorts about, and a little tatty around the edges (thats a really good thing).

Whereabouts in town is this neighborhood?

What is the story of the neighborhood? Has it always been somewhat bohemian? Is it near a university? Is it being / has it been revitalized by young folks looking for cheap housing??

You're lucky to live in a neighborhood with such character and in such a nice city!

 

[DecaturHawk]

Your shots are excellent. Do you freelance? You've got the talent.

 

[ChevyChaseDC]

Great pictures.

They help shatter the myth among Americans that Canadian cities are sterile and spotless and uninteresting.

If I had to guess the history of the neighborhood from the photos, I'd guess it's an old Jewish neighborhood that's slowly becoming younger and more bohemian, like Brooklyn, NY's Williamsburg area?

 

[christopher dewolf]

mile end has a fascinating history. chevy chase is close... it was an old jewish neighbourhood, but you wouldn't be able to tell that from these photos. from about 1900 to 1950 it was part of montreal's big eastern european jewish ghetto. (montreal was probably the second-most important centre of yiddish culture in north america at the time.) after those jews left, they were replaced by greeks (my street has a lot of greek restaurants and social clubs), italians and portuguese. the jews you see in these photos are hasidic jews who arrived a couple of generations ago; the neighbourhood just west of mile end is heavily hasidic. there's even a direct hasidic-operated bus line to williamsburg, brooklyn.

there are lots of middle-class families living around here, lots of artists and bohos and a lot of students as well. it's really diverse on every level. linguistically, i think about 40 percent of the residents are francophone, maybe a quarter anglophone and the rest allophone (non-english, non-french speakers). it's probably one of the most bilingual neighbourhoods in montreal.

maineman, as i said, there are a lot of students. mcgill university is about 1.5 miles away, downtown, and concordia university is also downtown. the université de montréal is in another neighbourhood a couple of miles west; there's a bus line that connects it to mile end, though, so some of its students might live here.

rents have shot up a lot since mid-late 90s, when montreal went through a deep economic recession, but they're still affordable. a majority of montrealers are tenants (although the recent condo boom is eating into that) so there are some very tenant-friendly rental regulations that ensure there isn't too much instability. the biggest problem is vacancy, which is one percent in montreal and probably close to zero in mile end.

 

[christopher dewolf]

by the way, chevychase, i've heard of that stereotype before. it holds true for, say, ottawa, but then again it would hold true for a large number of american cities. toronto has a reputation for being bland yet it is one of the rattiest, most cluttered and diverse cities around.

 

[Rumpy Tunanator]

Question, in this picture, number 6 in sequence, what is the object in the right side of the pic, that seems to be a hill of some sort, or maybe a cloud.

Nice pics, Montreal is a place I'l have to visit soon. I've got the see their grain elevators as well (death to St. Lawerence Seaway)

 

[christopher dewolf]

it's a big hill called mount royal. part of it is a park designed by frederick law olmstead; there's also a large cemetary, the université de montréal, a giant oratory and some wealthy residential areas on its slopes.

 

[MennoJoshua]

Thanks a lot for your post--I loved these pictures! I lived in Montreal for most of 2000, and I still miss it a lot. (I lived near Berri & Ontario, near the St-Denis neighbourhood.)

 

[Seabishop]

Thanks for the photos.

Going to Montreal has been a resoultion of mine for about 5 years now.