Newbie

Did anyone write the city about the missing/cheap nails? You're acting like there's no solution.

If that doesn't convince certain people that graffiti can be art, nothing will.

Not that I want to make this thread into a pointless discussion but...

(1) I'm sure everyone here knows that graffiti pieces like these ones are by definition art, whether they find them beautiful or not.

(2) However, those tags you see everywhere from building façades to lamp posts are clearly not art, simply because they were not intended to be art.

I can't imagine anybody who honestly disagrees with any of those two statements.

One of my hobbies since I arrived to Montreal has been following construction work and urban development through this site. I don't think I really know why I enjoy it so much, as I have never studied anything remotely related to architecture or urban planning. I feel like I've lost something important now that so many important projects have been stopped.

I have some questions for those of you who do know about these things. Maybe answering these questions will educate other readers too.

Will Bill 33 necessarily pass? If so then when will it be in effect?

How long after the bill passes do you expect projects to get back to their normal speed?

Do construction sites, or the materials waiting to be used, get damaged (by weather or other factors) if workers walk out for a few weeks? What about months?

How much money do you think will be lost by Quebec by the end of this ordeal? Which of the projects do you believe will end up being abandoned? (I hope none)

Huh? Dirty? Where?

 

Campus doesn't seem dirty at all. I'm there every day and "dirty" is the last word I would qualify it as. Sometimes the trash cans are filled to the brim but overall the new open spaces and plazas are great.

Relative to other downtown locations in Montreal, the Concordia district doesn't seem more or less dirty. It seems fine to me!

I'm beginning to think I'm crazy. I will take a couple of photos of what I see next time I'm there. It's the corner of Guy at Maisonneuve the one I occasionally find dirtier than other parts of Downtown. Don't get me wrong, I really like Concordia. It's the litter that bothers me sometimes.

http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/champlainbridge.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Thanks for this. Do you know where the poll is?

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I just read Montréal Fred Metro's posts and WOW I can't even believe there exist people who think like that. I really hope he achieves nothing. It pleases me that he hasn't been able to give ONE good argument supporting his point of view, but what scares me the most is that one wacko who wants to stop development is often given more credibility than several qualified people who support it, mainly because wackos are louder. So what I wish in this situation is for smart, qualified people to be as loud as this guy, in the unlikely case that he does get someone important to hear his proposal (and by his proposal I mean to let every unused building decay until the whole city is a ghost town). I am hardly qualified to even write this paragraph, so this is just a suggestion and a plea for those who could make their voice heard in a serious discussion on urban development.

Meanwhile, across the street:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/story/2011/10/13/concrete-falling-from-montreal-building.html

monctezuma, I think it's everyone, there are just too many people on that corner every day and I don't think there is any way to educate everyone, so I believe the only effective solution would be to spend enough money on it, or set up some volunteer program. The city is not allowed to hire volunteers for cleaning the streets, because cleaning crew unions do not allow this, and for the same reason I don't think Conocordia can do it either. Also I don't think donations to private organizations helping clean up city streets can be tax deductible, so basically what is needed is enough rich people who care about it. If I were rich, this place would be spotless

vincenthewipet, I think the place changes a lot. Sometimes it's very clean. This morning, as well as many other times I've been there, it was too dirty for my taste. I guess I'd like it too be clean all the time, but I'm a bit ocd, so my opinion might sound a little exaggerated.

I hate writing about negative things, but... Concordia needs to do something urgently about the fact that their downtown campus is probably the dirtiest of all of North America. I don't think having some construction work is an excuse for this. It is certainly not an excuse anywhere else I've been to.

I have been offered a great postdoctoral position at Concordia and the only reason I might reject it is because I get depressed one out of every two times I walk around campus (it does look ok for a few hours after it's cleaned by destination centre-ville) Most students don't seem to care, but the international students I've known for long enough do make comments about it once in a while. Local students don't seem to care as far as I'm concerned. The usual argument agains't caring is that there are other more important issues to spend money on. I believe the motivation of students and researchers and the attractiveness of the university to new people should be a top issue.

I'd be a little ashamed to show the place to my family when they come to visit me, and I really hope this changes by then

http://fr.canoe.ca/infos/societe/archives/2011/09/20110929-174242.html

How is your post an answer to Malek's comment?

I'm tired of seeing garbage on the ground inside virtually every bus shelter I pass by every day. Are there any plans to have garbage cans inside or outside the new bus shelters? Or at least any plans to start fining litterbugs? I haven't seen this problem at such a magnitude in any other city. I once wrote the city asking if I could help by cleaning them myself. They said they could not allow that as they already had people cleaning them.

I will get dirty because that's a dense area in terms of cars and pedestrians. What you're observing happens in every large city (Vancouver's Granville street looked old in less than one year, but you still notice the quality difference when compared to other streets) unless the renovated area is relatively empty. It still looks pretty nice to me, as long as it's kept litter-free. This type of pavement has survived several winters in some parts of Quebec city. I'm sure it will survive here too with only minor damage. It will never look spotless again though, but at least it's a lot better than it was before.

There are ads everywhere inside Complexe Desjardins that say they offer free Wi-Fi. As someone who goes there almost every day I can say that this Wi-Fi only works some days and only for a couple of hours in the morning. It never works after 11am.

They also offer the eye-in wireless paid service which is always working. I wonder if this advertisement is an strategy to get more money, as many people expecting free Wi-Fi are forced to pay for it once sitting inside.

Is this legal in Quebec? I couldn't find any information on this. I'll try sending them an email and then a formal complaint if I don't get an answer.

Update: I just sent them an email and they fixed it in less than 10 minutes.

Update: And it's down again 40 minutes later... I can't understand how they could take the time to hire a designer for all that advertisement and then never anticipate their Wi-Fi would be used by more than a couple of people...

I went today with some friends. I don't know much about concert halls but here are some of my comments on its aesthetics, comparing to other halls I've seen:

- I don't know if this is a fair comparison but as my friends noted, the interior is in some ways (mostly in size) less impressive than my undergrad university UCV's "Aula Magna" in Caracas: Image 1, Image 2 (built in 1953). On the other hand, Montreal's hall looks a lot more beautiful, modern, and carefully designed. Also Montreal's hall is much more densely packed, which I really like. It might even be that it has a higher capacity than that of Aula Magna.

- I visited Disney Hall in LA last week and to me it looks cheap and small (or at least does not seem to take advantage of the whole space) compared to Montreal's hall. I am obviously talking about the interior. The outside of Disney Hall looks more expensive and impressive than Montreal's, but aesthetically I still prefer Montreal's by far.

Here is the only one of my pictures of the OSM hall that actually adds something to the set posted by vincethewipet. It's the view of the back seats from the front of the second floor. I really liked it.

I don't know much about anything but I am kind of obsessed with the aesthetics of sidewalks and this seems like a good idea to me. It also looks fine in the pictures. But in most parts of Montreal I know, filling up holes and cracks on sidewalks is not a priority, and when it's done, they mostly use cheap asphalt, so I'm guessing it would take really long for this to become profitable. Also this would need to be cleaned very frequently, because rubber gets sticky when you spill soda on it.

My bed was shaken a lot by a 4.something earthquake a few months ago. No structure was damaged in the city. Don't be so pessimistic. Lots of people read this forum and phrases like "All we need is a small earthquake and this whole city going to go bye-bye" may be taken seriously by a good percentage of them.

In my humble opinion, the UQAM building is not nearly as bad as you guys are implying . Most people from outside Montreal tell me it's really cool (not one has noticed it in a bad way). Most of them find the logo on top and the shape specially nice. I think almost any building looks fine in a place with enough density as long as it is kept relatively clean, in good shape, and in use (like some brutalist buildings in Vancouver and San Francisco).

On the other hand. that flat wall was already grey, and the yellow brick facade will be kept yellow as far as I know.

Let's organize a protest against hooligans! Am I the only person in this city who cares enough to propose something like that?

Protest against proposed tuition hikes starts calm but ends with tear gas, charges

 

 

BY PEGGY CURRAN, THE GAZETTE APRIL 1, 2011

 

 

You just knew things were going to get ugly when the boys in the black hoodies pulled the kerchiefs up over their faces.

 

Thursday's protest against Quebec's plan to raise university tuition by $325 a year over a five-year period started cheerfully enough.

 

It was lunchtime in Victoria Square, and striking CEGEP students wearing red clown noses and silly pants squared off against Montreal police sporting red baseball caps designating their own discontent.

 

Music blared from a loudspeaker as students hoisted placards denouncing the measures that Finance Minister Raymond Bachand announced in his St. Patrick's Day budget. A young man in funereal top hat and tail coat swung an effigy of premier Jean Charest. There was a girl on stilts and a boy wearing a Tête à Claques fright wig and juggling bowling pins. Wasn't that a party. Traffic snarled, yet motorists waved and truck drivers honked in support. Along the sidewalk, observers seemed more bemused than annoyed by the energy and enthusiasm of the boisterous students snaking through the downtown core.

 

For more than two hours, they wended their way from Victoria Square up Beaver Hall Hill, to the Hydro-Québec building, up St. Laurent and down St. Urbain before heading west along René Lévesque Blvd. for what was supposed to be their big finale in front of Premier Jean Charest's office on McGill College Ave.

 

"This is just the beginning," cautioned Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, a spokesperson for the Association pour un solidarité syndicale étudiante (ASSÉ), which claims to represent roughly 45,000 students across the province. "We will not accept this tuition hike. We'll keep fighting until the government reverses this decision."

 

The words were fierce, but the 17-year-olds playing hooky were more raucous and happy than belligerent.

 

But as students started to disperse and meander back to their buses, a handful of young men pulled scarves out of their hoodies so that only their eyes were showing.

 

As the men with scarves sauntered away, a few dozen protesters parked themselves on the sidewalk. Riot police, who had walked alongside the protesters for two hours, formed a human wall in front of the entrance to the premier's office, wearing helmets and carrying batons.

 

The mood was tense but still civil. A police officer bantered with one of the students, who tried to lead the other students in a chant. Then, poof, without warning, the students stood up and waved goodbye.

 

Moments later, a half-dozen police vans, lights flashing but sirens silent, roared by, en route to the Loto-Québec building on Sherbrooke St., where those boys in the hoods were trying to storm the offices of the coalition representing Quebec university rectors and principals.

 

Police used tear gas to quell the disturbance.

 

By the end of the afternoon, five protesters had been arrested, facing charges of mischief, assault on police officers and damage to property, including two police cars and a few luxury vehicles. Police said one person was injured in the melee trying to enter the Loto-Québec building.

 

The students, so desperate to woo public opinion to the justness of their cries for free education, had squandered that springtime goodwill.

 

It's pretty obvious this won't be the last Quebecers will hear from students outraged by the Liberals decision to finally boost university tuition fees a little closer to the Canadian average.

 

But if the protesters want to be taken seriously and treated like smart people deserving of a university education, they would do well to tell the hardliners to take a hike.

 

pcurran@ montrealgazette.com twitter.com/peggylcurran

 

© Copyright © The Montreal Gazette

 

 

Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Protest+against+proposed+tuition+hikes+starts+calm+ends+with+tear+charges/4539613/story.html#ixzz1II6xsTby

I don't think he was serious. I do agree he should be disciplined in some way though. Scary death threats should not be tolerated in any context.

From: http://www.mcgilltribune.com/opinion/an-apology-1.2117696

The McGill Tribune

An apology

By Haaris Khan

My name is Haaris Khan. I am not an anti-Semite. I am not a terrorist. I am not a threat to my fellow students on campus. I can be an idiot sometimes, though. I've learned that using my voice in a public forum comes with great responsibility. Politics can be nasty and human emotion can lead to colossal errors. In my case, I can only say that I erred in such a way. For that I am very sorry. My comments were totally inappropriate and I would never harm my fellow students. I have never been a violent person and I have never had any violent altercations in my life. I came to McGill University wanting to contribute, not destroy.

My comments on Twitter last week have caused quite a bit of concern for some students on campus, McGill security services, school administration, and the police. I recognize the gravity of the situation considering the nature of my tweets, which were meant in jest. After reflecting on my comments, I can only say that I truly regret saying them and that it was a very poor decision.

One question that seems to come up a lot is why I reacted the way I did to the documentary screening hosted by Conservative McGill and Libertarian McGill. Really, it had little to do with the movie itself and more to do with the negative attitude I had going into the event, my pre-existing ideological differences with those at the event, and the fact that I wasn't in the right state of mind at the time.

I am anti-Zionist. The Israel-Palestine conflict is a very sensitive subject and it's easy to become worked up about it if you care passionately about the issue. I also realize that anti-Zionism tends to go hand in hand with anti-Semitism because of the complex relationship between the Jewish identity and Israel. This creates a fine line when it comes to criticizing Israel and Zionism. I do not harbour any hatred towards Jewish people. My Jewish sister-in-law, whom I love very dearly, and my niece who is Jewish by tradition are both people that are close to my heart and their cultural or religious backgrounds have nothing to do with how I see them.

I think that Jewish culture is colourful and its history is inspirational. My objection to the policies of the state of Israel and the treatment of the Palestinians are purely political and in no way reflect how I view Jewish people.

I apologize to those who were at the screening of Indoctrinate U and any other people who were offended or felt threatened by my tweets. It was never my intention to be a divisive or antagonistic figure at McGill. I have strong opinions and a strong passion for justice. My goal now is to channel that into a more responsible discourse.

I just saw a bunch of pieces of paper advertising the protest spread accross the floor on the platform of Place des Arts metro (on both sides). Paper on flat surfaces is very dangerous, specially in front of a train track, so I picked them all up, put them in the recycling bin and washed my hands. I will be happy to do this every day until the protest you're welcome.

I'm kind of optimistic because during the latest Montreal protest against police brutality (following Toronto's event), there were no incidents (it might be because the idiots were still in Toronto). The good thing about Montreal is that it's COLD, so broken glass is repaired or at least covered up very quickly. The bad thing is that graffiti remains in very visible spots in the middle of downtown for years (I have no explanation for this, for example the huge tags made two years ago on Place des Arts' Starbucks' entrance and neighbour stores have never been cleaned up. This is the ENTRANCE to Starbucks, in front of Place des festivals...). Anyway, I have to admit I sometimes understand (not necessarily support) police "brutality" when it is a result of civil idiocy.

No. I am not sure. I actually meant to say that most of them (if not all of them) are not from Downtown. Anyway, I hope they don't break anything this time.

I'm not sure if this is relevant here. According to some stickers I saw on the metro trains, there is a protest against police brutality scheduled for March 15th at 5pm on the corner of Maisonneuve and Jeanne-Mance. I celebrate their right to protest but I am disgusted at the need of some people to destroy public and private property. I am writing to encourage you to take photos of the protest and of any destructive action against street furniture and buildings, and then send them to the police (there are anonymous ways like infocrime). Photos and tips have gotten many vandals charged in past events, so it DOES work. I apologize for taking these things too seriously, but as someone who lives and works Downtown, I get really sad when these mostly suburban kids think protesting means breaking stuff.

Their website does not say anything about homeless people:

Visible and recognizable in their distinctive uniforms,

the 40 members of our cleaning brigade carry out light

cleaning tasks and contribute to making the downtown

core more pleasant throughout the year...

I guess this area is only cleaned up once a year in spring and that's it, which is horrible for such a dense part of town. Am I the only one who finds this crazy?