Montréal: Capitale Canadienne de la mode?

[monctezuma]

(...)

 

Your location states that you are from New-York. May I ask why you are on this forum and how you first went here ?

[Habfanman]

"You forget that Montréal has already hosted the 2 largest events that a city can host: the Summer Olympics and a full-fledged World Fair. No other city in the world has done both. Add to that, the largest sporting event that a city can host: Formula One, whereas Toronto has done fuck-all and will probably never do anything memorable.

 

Toronto is a wannabe, never has been, never will be anything but a second-rate American city."

 

Great accomplishments. 40 years ago. None of which you were around for and non of which YOU contributed to. Listen, no one is going to convince you of anything but answer me this, if you despise Toronto so much, why spend so much of your time commenting on every single thread that mentions it? You only seem to pop up on this forum when the city is mentioned to make some grand unhinged and untrue commentary, throw some mud and then slink away back under your rock until the next time. If that's not the definition of insecure and bitter...

 

Really, you give Montrealers a bad name. There are plenty of cities I've lived that I'm not fond of: I hate Boston, despise the entire state of Florida and I'm not a fan of L.A. (even though I could see myself living there), Seattle, Chicago, Rome etc. but I don't spend inordinate time during my day to hate on them or even think about them. I'm just confident I won't ever revisit or (re)inhabit them (except maybe L.A.) and have moved on. You should too!

 

Really, it's sad, your country is so fractured and regional and on some levels full of hate. It's what prevents it from moving from a mediocre nation to a good or great one and prevents people like myself from wanting to stay and be a part of it.

 

Listen, Dick (I'll assume that's you're first name - it seems to fit!) WTF are you talking about? First of all: I WAS around for both the 76 Olympics and Expo 67. My parents wheeled me around Expo in a stroller so it didn't leave much of an impression but the Olympics certainly did. Second of all: Does everyone alive.. today, have to have 'contributed' to something in order for it to be great? Is the Empire State Building going to suddenly suck as soon as the last 'contributor' to it dies? Will the rest of us no longer be able to speak of it? Will it suddenly DISAPPEAR?

 

Fuck off!

 

So what should Montréal do then? Already had an Olympics, already had a World Fair.. I guess we have to have them EVERY year because according to you, the cachet wears off after 40 years (make sure that you inform every other city which has held these events that, after 40 years - they mean nothing, they have to hold them EVERY YEAR in order to renew the legitimacy). So please, Dick, tell us what we should do to top the Olympics and Expo (other than the Grand Prix because.. you know.. we're the ONLY city in North America which has held it year after year for 30 years).

 

Are you catching Pan Am fever yet?

 

As far as Canada is concerned: It was a great experiment while it lasted. It will never be a great nation - it's already, practically speaking, the 51st state. Québec should (and will, someday) get out.

Modifié 5 juin 2010 par Habfanman

[Habfanman]

Your location states that you are from New-York. May I ask why you are on this forum and how you first went here ?

 

The beauty of the internet is that you can say you're from wherever you want!

 

My guess is that, even if Dick happens to be in New York right now, he's an ex-pat Torontonian. Why else would he get so worked up about people commenting on Toronto, on a Montréal board, if he's actually a New Yorker?

[Habfanman]

London?

Paris?

Barcelona?

Sydney?

Melbourne?

 

Some cities have had multiple Summer Olympics and/or multiple World Fairs (like London, Paris, New York, Seattle, Chicago, Seville, etc.)

 

Francely, the only city on your list which has held both the Olympics and a World Expo is Paris: Olympics in 1924 and Expo in 1937. Keep in mind that before WW 2, neither one of these events was comparable to one held after the war. The late 1950's and 1960's introduced international air travel, which allowed people to actually travel to these events. Before that, 95% of the people who attended the Olympics or World Fairs were either residents of the host nation or of nearby countries.

 

It never ceases to amaze me that internet forums seem to attract all the loser mentality Montrealers. People here (not all of the people here!) and the people on SSP, SSC go out of their way to diminish all the awesomness of Montréal and instead, go out of their way to downplay every single one of the vast number of accomplishments that make this city the best that I've ever lived in. It's certainly not the case with the people in my circle: we eat this city up!! But then, we actually live in Montréal and not in some boring suburb where "50 floors!!!" is more exciting than.. I guess you have to actually LIVE here to understand.

[pedepy]

It never ceases to amaze me that internet forums seem to attract all the loser mentality Montrealers. People here (not all of the people here!) and the people on SSP, SSC go out of their way to diminish all the awesomness of Montréal and instead, go out of their way to downplay every single one of the vast number of accomplishments that make this city the best that I've ever lived in. It's certainly not the case with the people in my circle: we eat this city up!! But then, we actually live in Montréal and not in some boring suburb where "50 floors!!!" is more exciting than.. I guess you have to actually LIVE here to understand.

 

i live here, and i appreciate the many attractions this city has to offer. i haven't been to europe, but i've visited a number of similar sized american cities and montreal does stand out. i'm not sure i would say it is exceptional, as most cities are animated with their own unique charm (if you care to look for it) - but yea, besides new york city, i probably wouldn't live anywhere else in north america.

 

that said, i'm also distressed by the lack of developement - and gradual erosion - this city experiences. it's undeniable montreal has lost alot of it's momentum in the past twenty years to toronto, vancouver, and even calgary. this loss of momentum does not simply deprive us of tall skyscrapers, but also major league sports, world class art shows, etc .. there used to be days where a stop here was a no brainer any touring artist, for any travelling exhibition, you name it. these days however, not so much ..

 

i don't like how the nba & major league soccer set their aims on vancouver before us. i don't like how top names book dates for just about every medium sized cities around us without ever stopping here. i don't like how our film festival became a joke, i don't like how toronto dictates which dates we get to see the best tennis players in the world perform - even though they don't attract nearly as many spectators as we do.

 

some folks seem afraid that montreal could loose it's mojo, that it would get americanized or something. imo, all these things you like, i like, about this beautiful city would not only remain, but get better if this city could ever snap out of it's rut. skyscrapers would just be some collateral consequence of this; and not a bad one for those like us that admire those tall structures.

 

 

the brighter montreal shines, the better is it - for all of us.

[Habsfan]

Listen, Dick (I'll assume that's you're first name - it seems to fit!) WTF are you talking about? First of all: I WAS around for both the 76 Olympics and Expo 67. My parents wheeled me around Expo in a stroller so it didn't leave much of an impression but the Olympics certainly did. Second of all: Does everyone alive.. today, have to have 'contributed' to something in order for it to be great? Is the Empire State Building going to suddenly suck as soon as the last 'contributor' to it dies? Will the rest of us no longer be able to speak of it? Will it suddenly DISAPPEAR?

 

Fuck off!

So what should Montréal do then? Already had an Olympics, already had a World Fair.. I guess we have to have them EVERY year because according to you, the cachet wears off after 40 years (make sure that you inform every other city which has held these events that, after 40 years - they mean nothing, they have to hold them EVERY YEAR in order to renew the legitimacy). So please, Dick, tell us what we should do to top the Olympics and Expo (other than the Grand Prix because.. you know.. we're the ONLY city in North America which has held it year after year for 30 years).

 

Are you catching Pan Am fever yet?

 

As far as Canada is concerned: It was a great experiment while it lasted. It will never be a great nation - it's already, practically speaking, the 51st state. Québec should (and will, someday) get out.

 

I think you should chill a little. No need to start calling people names!

 

i live here, and i appreciate the many attractions this city has to offer. i haven't been to europe, but i've visited a number of similar sized american cities and montreal does stand out. i'm not sure i would say it is exceptional, as most cities are animated with their own unique charm (if you care to look for it) - but yea, besides new york city, i probably wouldn't live anywhere else in north america.

 

that said, i'm also distressed by the lack of developement - and gradual erosion - this city experiences. it's undeniable montreal has lost alot of it's momentum in the past twenty years to toronto, vancouver, and even calgary. this loss of momentum does not simply deprive us of tall skyscrapers, but also major league sports, world class art shows, etc .. there used to be days where a stop here was a no brainer any touring artist, for any travelling exhibition, you name it. these days however, not so much ..

 

i don't like how the nba & major league soccer set their aims on vancouver before us. i don't like how top names book dates for just about every medium sized cities around us without ever stopping here. i don't like how our film festival became a joke, i don't like how toronto dictates which dates we get to see the best tennis players in the world perform - even though they don't attract nearly as many spectators as we do.

 

some folks seem afraid that montreal could loose it's mojo, that it would get americanized or something. imo, all these things you like, i like, about this beautiful city would not only remain, but get better if this city could ever snap out of it's rut. skyscrapers would just be some collateral consequence of this; and not a bad one for those like us that admire those tall structures.

 

 

the brighter montreal shines, the better is it - for all of us.

 

Excellente réponse Pedepy! Entièrement d'accord avec toi!

[francely57]

Francely, the only city on your list which has held both the Olympics and a World Expo is Paris: Olympics in 1924 and Expo in 1937. Keep in mind that before WW 2, neither one of these events was comparable to one held after the war. The late 1950's and 1960's introduced international air travel, which allowed people to actually travel to these events. Before that, 95% of the people who attended the Olympics or World Fairs were either residents of the host nation or of nearby countries.

 

It never ceases to amaze me that internet forums seem to attract all the loser mentality Montrealers. People here (not all of the people here!) and the people on SSP, SSC go out of their way to diminish all the awesomness of Montréal and instead, go out of their way to downplay every single one of the vast number of accomplishments that make this city the best that I've ever lived in. It's certainly not the case with the people in my circle: we eat this city up!! But then, we actually live in Montréal and not in some boring suburb where "50 floors!!!" is more exciting than.. I guess you have to actually LIVE here to understand.

 

Oops, I didn't see this post yesterday.

 

World Fairs before 1945 sure had fewer visitors, but you're actually downplaying their importance. Many of them had a profound impact on industry, architecture, urban life, etc. To be more specific we'd have to go back through our history classes, but I remember London 1851, Paris 1889, Chicago 1893, New York 1939 among the most important.

 

Montréal 1967 was probably the most successful World Expo of all time; and Montréal 1976 were very significant Summer Olympics, especially in the financial aspect. I don't think anyone is really trying to diminish that, and I'm sure yarabundi, acpnc, and you have many more good things to say about those accomplishments.

 

 

Anyway, isn't the actual discussion about Montreal's current cultural influence, in fashion and other things?

[Habfanman]

i live here, and i appreciate the many attractions this city has to offer. i haven't been to europe, but i've visited a number of similar sized american cities and montreal does stand out. i'm not sure i would say it is exceptional, as most cities are animated with their own unique charm (if you care to look for it) - but yea, besides new york city, i probably wouldn't live anywhere else in north america.

 

that said, i'm also distressed by the lack of developement - and gradual erosion - this city experiences. it's undeniable montreal has lost alot of it's momentum in the past twenty years to toronto, vancouver, and even calgary. this loss of momentum does not simply deprive us of tall skyscrapers, but also major league sports, world class art shows, etc .. there used to be days where a stop here was a no brainer any touring artist, for any travelling exhibition, you name it. these days however, not so much ..

 

i don't like how the nba & major league soccer set their aims on vancouver before us. i don't like how top names book dates for just about every medium sized cities around us without ever stopping here. i don't like how our film festival became a joke, i don't like how toronto dictates which dates we get to see the best tennis players in the world perform - even though they don't attract nearly as many spectators as we do.

 

some folks seem afraid that montreal could loose it's mojo, that it would get americanized or something. imo, all these things you like, i like, about this beautiful city would not only remain, but get better if this city could ever snap out of it's rut. skyscrapers would just be some collateral consequence of this; and not a bad one for those like us that admire those tall structures.

 

 

the brighter montreal shines, the better is it - for all of us.

 

What? I'm sorry mate but Montréal has moved beyond the usual 'North American package of events' that tour everywhere. The thing that differentiates us from the rest of North America is that we have our own mojo. The rest of Canada is happy to present sloppy seconds of whatever America- their main source of inspiration- has to offer. We throw ourselves up into everyone else's face. They don't like it? Fuck em! We dig it, that's all that matters.

 

A few points:

 

Montréal was the first MLS expansion choice. Joey Saputo refused to pay the 40$ million expansion fee that MLS was demanding. Good move as it was based solely on an inflated valuation of LA Galaxy which, because of their signing of Beckham, boosted the valuation (falsely) of MLS teams by 10$ million. MLS needs Montréal more than Montréal needs MLS. Joey Saputo rules.

 

Toronto doesn't dictate which tennis players come here. It's simple really: men's and women's tournaments alternate each year. Nothing shady there. Montréal has been chosen as the national team's HQ so.. I guess we won that.

 

I love skyscrapers but I love a liveable city more. I love the fact that Montréal values its natural attributes and liveability more than it values the ability of come-and-go developers to make quick money. I live on the ground and I could give 3 flying f_cks if a building is 30, 40, 50 floors.. only if it fits in with its surroundings.

 

Floor counts are for loser cities that have nothing else to offer and/or third-world cities that are trying to impress. We are neither.

[elketeigen]

Your location states that you are from New-York. May I ask why you are on this forum and how you first went here ?

 

Was an undergrad, at Mcgill but do a lot of travel to Canada for business. Find habfanman a repulsive human being.

 

It saddens me that someone over 40 behaves like a 20 year old with obsessive compulsive disorder. I mean really, what does he contribute to this forum but general negativity? At some point, it's time to let go. There's a lot to appreciate in Canada as a whole without the fake rivalries. Curiosity is a good thing.

 

By the way, I don't find Torontonians focus on the Montreal/Toronto rivalry at all. They seem to like Montreal. They seem to like all cities in Canada and beyond.

Modifié 25 juillet 2010 par elketeigen

[MTLskyline]

I have to say I agree with elketeigen.