Musing on Montreal

(Picture from Raymondo Person.)


I still haven't put my notes in order about Worldcon and Montreal. I can say that Montreal is a wonderful city. Eminently walkable.

Ben was a little disturbed by the ubiquity of strip joints. American cities, in my experience, cloister their nasty bits in local areas. In Boston, the original nasty area was Scollay Square. Later, when Government Center was created, the nasty bits were moved over on Washington Street in an area known as the Combat Zone. By the end of the 80's, even these were moved out of the city to be lost in some limbo north of here. Probably in New Hampshire.

But in Canada, it's different.

We first noticed this in Halifax but it's more pronounced in Montreal. In an affluent area, you might see expensive restaurant, boutique, office, boutique, local business, etc. But this only works in affluent areas. In less affluent areas-- not poor, mind you. But just lower rent areas-- you'll find a different pattern: restaurant, club, store, strip joint, restaurant, office, restaurant, surplus store, strip joint, etc. Things were mixed up much more by revenue and expense class rather than moral imperative.

Another thing I noticed about Montreal as opposed to American cities. In the poorer sections of American cities there is an racial shift in accordance with an economic shift. As the income level descends across neighborhoods there is an increase in people of color. This gives the American cues as to the income level (and possible threat) of the neighborhood.

None of this applies in Montreal-- or, at least, the demographic and racial mix is different and therefore not as discernible to the American eye. I wandered into several poor neighborhoods and found few ethnographic clues. It was disturbing. At first, it was disturbing to be able to discern poor areas that were not (to my eyes) racially marked. Then, it was disturbing to find myself looking for such marks to determine poor areas.

There is a huge racial component in American society. So great and pervading that it cannot be easily seen until you leave America behind for a bit and see how it's done in a country without that same sort of racial component.

I don't know the racial history of Canada-- I've read about some of it regarding the natives and between the English and French. But the more I read about it, the more I think that what Canada has experienced is vastly different from the American experience: slavery, emancipation, retrenchment through lynchings and other violence in the south, the black diaspora to the North, race riots in the northern cities. None of that ever existed in Canada.

Sometimes, I don't think we Americans know where we live.
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End of the world by zombies
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Arkive: Images of Life on Earth
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Designing for the rising tides
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Bottle cutting
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Wire holder
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