Downtown Montreal

[Djentmaster001]

Hey everyone! for this discussion, I want to talk about our downtown. I know and we all know that we have a unique and busy downtown compared to other cities and one that is envied by others as well. But I've been noticing a lot of people from the city and tourists saying how quickly the downtown area gets "dead" after 9 pm (in winter and summer). Personally, I disagree 110% since I find the downtown bust from 5am-3am every day no matter what season. But what do you guys think? is the downtown area getting busier or "quieter" as others have been saying, and if so, what would you do to make it livelier? I definitely want to hear others opinions on this and see others observations as well.

[steve_36]

Downtown is not getting ''quieter'', that's for sure.  Downtown is expanding and I think it is a good thing.  After 9pm, Crescent is always full of people, summer like winter (ok, maybe not monday night in january). There's always people on Ste-Catherine, morning like evening and late night.

But I still think there should be some heated sidewalk on Ste-Catherine to make it more walkable in the winter and larger sidewalk in order to absorb all the pedestrians all year long.  The density of the core center is getting better and better.

And one other thing I would like the city to do is to really take care of our businesses. Our pubs, our cafes, our restaurants, our terrasses and our dining scene. These are very good reasons why Montreal is what it is right now and they should be treated in a very important way and not just something that bring in taxes. 

[greenlobster]

Steve_36 is 100% right and the city should embark on a massive program on a 10 year period to reduce buisness taxes by 30%  =3% a year , permit us to cacth up a bit to other Canadian cities.The city really does not give our tourist buisness a break 

 

[Djentmaster001]

21 minutes ago, greenlobster said:

Steve_36 is 100% right and the city should embark on a massive program on a 10 year period to reduce buisness taxes by 30%  =3% a year , permit us to cacth up a bit to other Canadian cities.The city really does not give our tourist buisness a break 

 

I agree, and I'd still push for an economic zone as well so it's lower taxes for businesses here + encourage more business to move. You can generate money like this as well instead of over-taxing and businesses moving/closing up. 

[jesseps]

Il y a 10 heures, Djentmaster001 a dit :

I agree, and I'd still push for an economic zone as well so it's lower taxes for businesses here + encourage more business to move. You can generate money like this as well instead of over-taxing and businesses moving/closing up. 

That will never happen. They love taxes here, more more more. They don’t care who they hurt, as long as they line their pockets. Plus lowering the taxes would show they were wrong all along. Politicians like thinking they are always right. Let them ruin the city. It is everyone’s fault for voting these people in.

[vincethewipet]

Les taxes commerciales ont été baissées dans le dernier budget. 10% de baisse sur le premier 500 000$ d'évaluation. La majorité des commerçants profitent de cette mesure. En plus de cela, il y a un programme d'aide aux rénovations et une compensation financière des pertes dûes aux chantiers.

Il y a toujours moyen de faire mieux. Mais dans les quartiers centraux la baisse des taxes est assez importante pour les commerces sur rue.

[Anderson]

Mon expérience personnelle, en dehors de Crescent et Sainte-Catherine : j’ai vécu sur Anderson jusqu’en 2015. J’ai quitté en partie parce que je trouvais mon quartier (R-Lévesque - Saint-Antoine - R-Bourassa - Saint-Urbain) complètement mort après 17 h et les week-ends. Il n’avait pas assez de résidents, ni assez de commerces de proximité, cafés, restos et bars. J’imagine que c’est trop cher pour opérer ce genre de commerce en plein centre-ville (loyer et taxes). Et pour les résidents, il va s’en rajouter (humanity, Brix) mais je pense que ça n’aura pas la masse critique. 

[nephersir7]

Il y a 10 heures, Djentmaster001 a dit :

I agree, and I'd still push for an economic zone as well 

can you elaborate? what do you mean by an "economic zone?"

[Djentmaster001]

1 minute ago, nephersir7 said:

can you elaborate? what do you mean by an "economic zone?"

Absolutely! So in some cities, they make their downtown an economic zone, meaning after approval with state governments they offer lower corporate taxes in this jurisdiction to attract larger companies to move downtown. They also lower taxes slightly in the area to make sure all businesses don't suffer and to continue to add life in the sector. In turn, cities do see some revenue come from it over the long term since there are fewer vacancies and more businesses moving there. A good example is Denver doing this, where they slashed corporate taxes and ever since doing that a few years ago, generated $130 million. Montreal is overtaxed and it is killing our businesses, and if we lower taxes and encourage more people to locate downtown (business wise) we will generate more revenue because vacancy rates will be lower. If we attract a big company once a year as well, it'll add millions right off the bat. 

[peekay]

12 hours ago, Djentmaster001 said:

Hey everyone! for this discussion, I want to talk about our downtown. I know and we all know that we have a unique and busy downtown compared to other cities and one that is envied by others as well. But I've been noticing a lot of people from the city and tourists saying how quickly the downtown area gets "dead" after 9 pm (in winter and summer). Personally, I disagree 110% since I find the downtown bust from 5am-3am every day no matter what season. But what do you guys think? is the downtown area getting busier or "quieter" as others have been saying, and if so, what would you do to make it livelier? I definitely want to hear others opinions on this and see others observations as well.

I have seen the same in my personal experience. I blame the fact that stores close at 5pm on weekends and 9pm on weekdays. It should be at least 11pm on weekdays and 9pm on weekends like in other areas. That way, people dont rush to leave at a given time to avoid traffic and can hang out longer. There is a considerable void of people after 9pm in old Montreal too.